On Saturday afternoon, Evelyn Apazidis took the top spot at the annual Bob Pratt Invitational at Sunken Meadow State Park.

The junior paced the field in the girls’ 3.85k race in a time of 17:15, out-kicking Mt. Sinai’s Carli Sheiffele to the finish line by less than two seconds. Sophia Dabbraccio (3rd/17:31), Mia Trama (9th/18:22), Nikki Quartuccio (21st/19:43), and Ali Puopolo (35th/20:55) rounded out a strong showing from the Bears.

Evelyn had this to say about her race:

I had the lead for the first two miles. Once we entered the last 800 meters of the race, I could hear my teammate, Sofia Dabbraccio and the second place runner behind me, so I started to kick, but I sped up a little too soon and died out, which was when the second place runner took the lead for about 100 meters.

However, I pushed a little harder and the last 200 meters we were neck and neck. I just closed my eyes and sprinted. It was very painful and all I could think was how bad it would have been if I got second place in the last 100 meters of the race after being in first the whole time.

Overall it was an amazing start to our season and I am super proud of our whole team. Sofia placed 3rd overall–this being her first meet ever–and Mia Trama placed 9th, placing three out of our five runners in the top 10. SBS came in second place, losing by one point to a team with over 15 runners. I cannot wait to see what this team does next!

The Brook is back on the course this Friday when they host Portledge on the 1st annual Fall Portledge Day.

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