TRACK

LONG BEACH'S NAUGHTON
PLACES HIGH IN BIG MEET

Dan Naughton of Long Beach is one of the top interscholastic cross country runners on Long Island and in the entire Catholic High Schools Athletic Association.  He is a junior at Uniondale’s Kellenberg High School, a member of the CHSAA.
     All he did recently was place fifth in a field of 13 schools from New New Jersey, Pennsylvania in the Championship race of the Eastern Interscholastic Country Meet, over a 2.5 mile course at Van Cortlandt Park in The Bronx.
     Naughton has a great deal of potential in this, his third year on the team. He covered the course in a school record time of 12:58, 20 seconds slower than the winner.
     “He works unbelievably hard and does everything he’s supposed to do,” said coach Kevin Buckley. “He fits in his school work with his practices. He knows what he is doing and knows how to compete. He’s not unbelievably fast during the last straight-a-way. He does it on pure strength and will power. He works hard.”
     Naughton’s time passed the old school mark of 13:05 set by Nick O’Connor in 1995. And he bettered his own clocking by some 30 seconds.
     On the previous week in the Manhattan College sponsored meet over the same course, Naughton went out a lot faster and ran hard toward the end.
In the Eastern States, he went out a little bit slower and ran faster toward the finish. He picked it up in the back hills.
     Naughton is also on the school’s indoor and outdoor track teams. He attributes his improvement to hard work, which he puts in during the summer; therefore, his times became lower and lower.
     His goal is to keep going down in times. His long range goal is to attend a college on a scholarship, and win the New York State championships.
     In the same race, teammate Sean Hyland of Rockville Centre was clocked in a personal best time of 13:24 for 11th place.
     As a team Kellenberg scored 145 points for sixth place.
     Meanwhile, Chris Plait, a junior at Haddonfield High School in south New Jersey, took the lead near the end from Mark Alizzi of Syosset and captured the race in 12:38, off the meet record time of 12:14 set by Brad Hudson of North Huriterdon located in New Jersey.
     Alizzi, who lost the lead to Platt in the last straight-a-way, was the first Long Islander to cross the finish line. His 12:54 earned him third place.
     Alizzi, who set a personal best at the 2.5 mile distance, along with his Syosset teammates usually run over a 5K course in the Nassau County races.
     “I like the challenging hills,” Alizzi said. “The start of the race was good. I got out with the front pack and took the lead before the bridge..."
     As a team, Syosset wound up in 10th place with 236 points.