Nicole Giannetti entered her third cross country state meet in her career with one goal in mind: to place in the top 20 and earn an all-state medal. After finishing 38th in 2011 and 26th in 2010, the goal was definitely within her reach.
“She was ranked 25th according to one website, so we knew it was going to be close,” said Coach Kevin Cotter. “After looking at some of the times of her competitors, I told her she could potentially finish in the top 10. If she fell short, at least she would still remain in the top 20 and earn that elusive medal.”
That’s exactly what happened. Giannetti finished with her personal best time of 19:08.8, which was good enough for 14th place in the girls’ Class C race. She was the first top 20 finisher for the Lady Baymen since Kaitlyn Collins did it in 2006. “It was a really tight race and I knew I had to finish strong to remain with the pack I was running with. The difference between 10th and 14th place was less than 2 seconds. I knew if I relaxed, the girls behind me would have caught me down the stretch.”
Upon finishing, Giannetti was immediately visited by two college coaches hoping she would consider being part of their cross country programs. “I haven’t made any final decision yet, but I definitely want to run at that level,” said the Oyster Bay High School senior. Her teammates hope to run in college too and intend to follow in her footsteps.
Junior Captain Linda Cameron also ran her best time of the season and was able to run a very impressive time of 20:49.1, which was good enough for 75th place. Freshman Laura Angelone placed 101st with a time of 21:28.1, while junior Christina Masiakos ran her season-best time of 23:53.7.
