H-ton Girls’ Cross Country Has a New Face

The Huntington varsity girls’ cross country team made strides last fall with increased interest and improved performances. The Blue Devils hope to continue their ascent under head coach Alyssa Salese, who stepped in to lead the program while longtime coach Elizabeth Andersen takes time off for a child care related leave.

Salese is a Huntington alum and was last spring’s girls’ track team’s distance coach. She is a very accomplished runner herself, winning last spring’s Long Island Marathon and winning medals in races all over the country.

The Blue Devils are led by seniors Emma Boyle and Kiley Barch and junior Julia Goodwin. Barch was Huntington’s top runner last fall. Her season best time in a 5K (3.1 miles) race at Sunken Meadow State Park came at the divisional championships when she clocked in at 21:03. The talented teenager garnered All-League, All-Division and 2nd Team All-County honors.

Barch placed No.11 in Suffolk Division II and 27th among 355 runners in the merged (combined) results of all divisional races. At the state qualifier she finished 12th in the Class A race in a time of 21:18.8 and 19th overall for merged results (Classes A,B,C,D),”

Among runners in Huntington’s league, Barch turned in the seventh fastest time on the Belmont Lake State Park 5K course and the tenth fastest on Sunken Meadow’s 2.5 mile course.

Boyle held down the No. 2 position in the Blue Devil lineup last fall and she is even better a year later. Her season best 5k time at Sunken Meadow was 22:24.20, which gave her a berth in the state qualifier meet. She also garnered All-League recognition.

At the state qualifier, Boyle placed 26th in the Class A race in a time of 22:45. She was 54th in the field of 355 in the merged results. Boyle ran the 8th fastest time in the league at Belmont Lake and 13th fastest on the Sunken Meadow 2.5 mile course.

Goodwin maintained the No. 3 position in Huntington’s lineup throughout the 2024 season. She notched a personal best time of 24:14 at Sunken Meadow.

This year’s roster also includes freshmen Tallulah Koepele, Vivian Morrissey and Katie Van Horn; sophomore Briana Mata; juniors Emma Marsala and Kaylee Mata and seniors Mildred Hernandez Veliz, Shannon Koepele and Kiera McGuire.

Salese hopes to use her experience as a top distance runner to help all 12 Blue Devils on the team to achieve personal best times and to continue the program’s upward momentum.