An Achilles injury slowed down the start of Georgia Buckley’s cross country season, but the Mattituck High School senior has picked up speed and steam since September. Buckley, the North Fork’s best female finisher (54th place) at the New York State cross country championships last year, has hopes of returning this year.
She continued her return to form at the Suffolk County divisional meet at Sunken Meadow State Park on Friday. She finished 11th overall with a time of 22 minutes, 7.60 seconds over the 5-kilometer course.
“Not my best on the course ever, but it’s okay,” Buckley said. “I do think I could have pushed a little bit harder, but I’m not going to beat myself down. I still had another race to go. Keep the momentum. Keep the positivity.”
That other race would be the state qualifiers at Sunken Meadow on Wednesday, Nov. 6. The state championships are in Queensbury, N.Y. on Saturday, Nov. 16.
Buckley said that her Achilles bursitis came from overwork.
“I did too much summer training, and I didn’t really allow my body to recover from the different workouts I did,” she said. “Over time, it kind of built up, and my Achilles kind of got tired from how much pressure I was putting on it, so I had to take a little time off.”
She missed Mattituck’s season opening meet vs. Southampton on Sept. 10 but returned a week later against Center Moriches.
Buckley gave credit to her teammates.
“We’re a really young team,” she said. “They’re just great people. I had my friends supporting me along the way.”
The injury also gave Buckley a better appreciation of running.
“I’ve always known I’ve loved running, but getting injured made me realize how much I needed it,” she said. “Just being able to not run and seeing these people run allowed me, especially my senior season, to realize how important [it] is to me, and how much I love to compete and how much I love being part of a team. So definitely seeing my teammates running and wishing to be a part of them helped.
“I was able to come to every practice to cheer them on during workouts, but it’s difficult when you’re not a part of it. So, I was definitely eager to come back and to be a part of the workouts. That’s really what a cross country team is, being able to struggle together. That builds the bond.”
The Tuckers captured the team run. Rachel Kubetz (24:04.80) was second among Mattituck runners, followed by Ruby Villani (24:29.80), Madelyn Mignone (24:44.00), Ever Meyer (24:44.40), Haley Lake (25:36.50) and Jillian Fogarty (26:10.10).
On the boys side, seventh-grader Diego Rodriguez led the way (19:04.50), finishing 15th in Division IV and 74th overall among competitors. He was followed by Marlowe Collamore (19:09.90), Logan Carr (19:55.30), Matt Rosato (19:58.50), Colin Fitzgerald (20:11.90), Tyler Malkush (20:49.80), and Gavyn Drago (22:54.90).
Buckley wasn’t the only area runner with hopes of competing at the states.
Sophomore Ryan Duffy paced Southold boys runners (18:38.00), finishing 10th overall in Division IV.
“I ran a PR for this course by about four seconds, so I’m happy,” he said. “I really think it was very good race today.
“I was sticking with a few guys. We kept passing each other. So that was good. My sprint was a little sub par. I need a little bit more on that sprint, just so I can go through the finish at 100 percent.”
Duffy, who finished 71st at the states in 2023, hoped to have another opportunity this year.
“First and foremost, I’m just going to keep running,” he said. “I believe we’re tapering a little bit, so that’ll help me just get my energy, get my running, get my body ready for state qualifiers.”
Settlers boys finishers included Aidan Volosik (19:38.80), Liam O’Neil (19:46.80, (Liam O’Neil, William Sommo (20:16.00), Kyan Olsen (20:34.60), Ryan Luhrs (20:46.50), and Arin McGilvray (21:26.00).
Sophomore Emily Kaelin, the lone Southold girl, finished 20th in Division IV (22:39.30). She said she PR’ed by about 30 seconds and was looking forward to the qualifiers.
“I did pretty good,” Kaelin said. “I haven’t looked at what the other girls that I’ll be racing against, what they got today, but it puts me further than I was yesterday.”