Yesterday afternoon, on a balmy day that brought welcome relief after five days of cold rain, the cross country teams outpaced the PSAA in a home meet on the 2.5-mile S.T. Hsaio course.

The girls were dominant in beating Portledge, 17-45. Martin Luther, Waldorf, Kew-Forest, and Solomon Schechter did not have enough individuals for a team score. They look unstoppable in their pursuit of a fifth consecutive PSAA title.

Eighth-grader Sophia Dabbraccio, who seems to grow stronger and more confident with every race, took first overall in 16:49. Evelyn Apazidis, who was on Sophia’s shoulder for most of the race, took second in 16:58. Mia Trama rounded out a Brooker trio at the top of the standings in 18:05. Portledge nabbed the fourth spot, but Nikki Quartuccio (5th/19:20) and Yasmin Tinaz (6th/19:29) allowed the Bears to take five of the top six spots for a commanding win.

On the boys’ side, Zack Xu looked strong as he continues his recovery from an early season injury. His time of 15:07 was good enough for first place, though he would tell you he’s still over 40 seconds off of his best time. Troy Meng (3rd/16:04), Nathan Stortz (6th/16:32), Roger Zhou (7th/17:07), and Andy Wang (11th/17:31) rounded out the scoring for the Bears who racked up 23 points to dispatch Portledge (48), Solomon Schechter (78), and Kew-Forest (94). The win avenged a one-point loss to the Panthers on Portledge Day. Though our rivals were without their top runner, yesterday’s showing should make the Bears a favorite to retain a fifth straight PSAA title.

Both our boys’ and girls’ teams are back in action tomorrow when they take on Sunken Meadow’s Cardiac Hill in the Suffolk Officials Invitational.

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