Shelter Island's Kal Lewis wins Suffolk State Qualifier

It’s championship-defense week for Kal Lewis. The Shelter Island junior, who’s outstanding first two cross country seasons culminated in a state Class D public school championship last year, earned his chance to defend it with a 17 minute, 23.26 second victory on the 5-kilometer course at Sunken Meadow State Park in the Class C/D race Friday afternoon at the Suffolk State Qualifier.

Lewis will run for the state Class D title at the public school championships, scheduled for Nov. 10 at Sunken Meadow — a home game of sorts for Suffolk athletes who run the course on a near-weekly basis and have been running the majority of their postseason races at ‘The Meadow’ for their entire high school careers.

“It’s such a big advantage because we run here almost every week,” Lewis said. “It’s definitely one of the hardest courses I’ve been running on in my career…If someone hasn’t run here, they’re going to be in for something completely new. This course is the hardest I’ve ever seen. It’s so deceiving, because the beginning is nice and you cruise for a bit. Then, it’s all hills. It’s going to be hard for someone who hasn’t run this course.”

Lewis said that a leg cramp early in Friday’s race kept him from running a faster time. While he blew past the competition in his class, the cramp provided an unwelcome bit of resistance as he navigated around the damp course.

“It just took ahold of me,” Lewis said. “My legs just weren’t moving eventually.”

Lewis is ranked second in the state in Class D, according to the latest speed ratings on tullyrunners.com. But with a solid October behind him and a course he knows like the back of his hand in front of him, Lewis is confident headed into next week.

“I’m where I need to be,” he said.

Lewis will be joined, albeit in different races, by the cream of the crop in Suffolk when the state championships land on Long Island next weekend. Half Hollow Hills East’s RJ Pleasants won the Class A race in 16:44.54, the fastest time of the day. Pleasants, who needed a late spring to eke out a squeaker at last week’s Suffolk Division championships, won with a little more breathing room this time. Smithtown’s Kevin Cawley was second in 16:49.93.

“I wanted to make sure I had an established lead after Cardiac [Hill],” Pleasants said. “I had a lead, there was just one kid with me. We each went through the moat together and, once we got to the bridge, I said ‘I’m not sprinting to the finish again.’ ”

Miller Place’s Thomas Cirrito won the Class B race in 16:59.56.

Smithtown won the Class A team title with 22 points. They placed four runners in the top six and five in the top 10. Westhampton (41 points) won Class B, Port Jefferson (22 points) won Class C, and Shelter Island (17 points) took Class D.

On the girls side, Bay Shore’s Roshni Singh won Class A in 18:54.54, her personal best time. Singh said she was disappointed in her performance at last week’s Suffolk Division championships, where she ran 19:26.28.

“I got third, but I didn’t push it,” Singh said. “I didn’t even attempt to go with [the field].”

She didn’t need to worry about the field this week. Singh said she lost them on Snake Hill.

“I just try to take short, quick steps to get up the hill faster,” Singh said. “It helps me feel better when I go up there…I used the downhill right before Cardiac [Hill] than there’s a gradual uphill. I didn’t want to go too fast because I wanted to save some for Cardiac. I didn’t feel too great up Cardiac, but it got me the win.”

Mount Sinai’s Sarah Connelly won Class B in 18:38.20. Eighth grader Ava Vaccarella of Mattituck won the Class C/D race in 20:06.13. Sachem East (88 points) won Class A, Kings Park (45 points) took Class B, Mattituck (24 points) claimed Class C, and Shelter Island (15 points) was the only team to score in Class D.