East Aurora Union Free School District

The East Aurora Boys Team ranked number one coming in did not disappoint.  The strong squad of talented athletes turned in great performances across the board to take the NY State Class C Team Title scoring a low 33 points to runner up Irvington's 98. This was EA's third consecutive state meet win for the boys team, showing how dominant they have become.  The team had earned the number one overall ranking in Section 6 earlier this season and were poised to show their strength at the state championships.

Leading the EA charge was Jonah Sebolt and Max Fraser who passed several runners in the last 800 meters to finish 7th and 8th place followed by: Noah Faherty 18th, Luke Wright 26th, Paul Hulme 29th, Tony Czenaski 32nd and Nate Kubiak 37th in overall scoring.

The EA Girls Team raced to 3rd place in the highly contested Class C Race scoring 103 points.  Bronxville took top honors with 77 followed by Saranac Lake with 86.  The team was coming off their Section 6 Championship two weeks ago which ranked them as the number one girls program in Section 6 among all schools. The squad returned only two runners from last year's state champion squad and improved all season to finish strong at the state championships. Leading the way for EA was Reiley Pierce 22nd, Kailyn Houghton 29th, Emma Martino 42nd, Hannah Wall 49th, Katelyn Zabawa 81st, Alisha Wahl 91st, and Lilia Degaetano 100th.

We are really proud of both squads, Coach Walt Mclaughlin said.  They have been working hard together not only this season but this past summer and last track season. They put the time in preparing and it was their time to shine this past weekend.  There are never any automatic performances in athletics, he said. You have to line up and perform. Everyone had a job to do and  both of our teams were able to earn spots on the podium.  As most know, it's really hard to win a state title.  You have to be the best on that day.  One injury or mistake can cost a team several points and places and that can be the difference of several team places.   It was a total team effort for EA and all of their hard work this past year paid off.

The boys team qualified for the NY State Federation Championships this upcoming weekend at Bowdoin Park in Poughkeepsie.  Not only will the team be matched up against the best public and private schools in New York, they have a chance of qualifying for the Nike National Championships if they finish in the top two spots or an individual in the top five.  East Aurora has qualified three boys, a girl three times and a girls team to the Nike Nationals which are held in Portland, Oregon each December.