- October 16, 2024
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It had been 10 years since Flagler Palm Coast cross country coach David Halliday last brought his team to New York City to run in the Manhattan College Cross Country Invitational.
The meet which is run at historic Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx is the nation’s largest single-day high school cross country meet. Olympians, pro runners and college All-Americans have run in the meet.
“We have a really strong girls team. And if I have a team that’s strong, I like to take them,” Halliday said.
Both the FPC girls and boys teams fared well in their 2.5-mile races on Sunday, Oct. 13. But the race was only part of a unique experience that will provide memories for a lifetime.
“We had six or seven kids who had never been on an airplane before. Only three or four had been to New York City before,” Halliday said.
The students rode the subway, had dinner in Little Italy, walked around China Town and visited Times Square, Rockefeller Center and Radio City Music Hall. They took pictures next to the charging bull statue on Wall Street, stopped in Battery Park where they could view the Statue of Liberty from a distance. And they fininshed their sightseeing tour at the 9/11 Memorial Pools.
While that was an awe-inspiring experience, Halliday said, the kids were overwhelmed at the sheer number of people and the diversity of cultures when they went to Times Square, where “the bright lights make you feel like you’re in the center of the universe,” Halliday said.
On their last day in New York, they had a final run through Central Park.
“They were just amazed to see this preserve in the middle of New York City,” Halliday said.
In Sunday’s 52nd Manhattan College Invitational, FPC’s girls placed fifth out of 23 teams in their race and 22nd out of 132 teams overall. Freshman Peyton Cerasi placed ninth with a 4K time of 16:09.7, while Arianna Slaughter was 14th in 16:22.2. Cassidy De Young, who had been slowed by Achilles tendinitis, was 28th in 17:05.6, and Madison Lagarde was 33rd in 19:22.8.
The boys were eighth in their race and 80th out of 165 teams overall. Jevin Luna led the Bulldogs with a time of 14:32.9 for 25th place, Braedyn Wormeck was 34th in 14:47.4 and Ayden Peterson was 36th in 14:49.5.
The course is hilly on the backside, going up and downhill, Halliday said. The kids compared it to their annual preseason camp in the North Carolina mountains. Halliday asked them how it compares to the state championship course at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee.
“They said, ‘Coach, that’s a piece of cake compared to this.’
“The runners from Pennsylvania and New York, those girls and boys, they’re used to those hills,” Halliday said. “But I’m very proud of our kids and their grittiness. I think they proved their toughness. They ran it and they had fun.”
This is the fifth time Halliday has brought his runners to New York for the invitational. The first time was 2005. Halliday knew it was one of premier races for high school runners, and he wanted to give Justin Harbor some national exposure. Harbor became the overall winner that year and got plenty of exposure.
“That gave him the opportunity to earn a scholarship at Oregon,” Halliday said.
The trip this year gave the runners a chance to go somewhere after the hurricane, Halliday said. The weather was nice and the leaves were starting to change. But four days after flying back home, the Bulldogs will be back in action Oct. 19 at the New World Spectacular at Cecil Field Golf Course in Jacksonville.
