Two Sachem athletes, one a current senior at Sachem East and the other an alum from Sachem North, traveled to the West Coast last weekend to compete in two separate major running competitions.
Senior Alex DeCicco traveled to Portland, Ore. to compete in the Nike Cross Nationals, with all expenses for the 5 day trip paid by Nike.
One week earlier, at Nike Regionals held in upstate Wappingers Falls, N.Y. the Sachem East Arrows XC squad grabbed fourth overall, one place short of qualifying as a team. But DeCicco qualified as an individual, her eighth place finish earning her a spot in the field of 22 teams and over 200 total runners.
DeCicco placed 93rd overall in Portland, the largest cross country stage an athlete can compete on at the high school level, completing the 3.1 mile race held at Glendoveer Golf Course in 18:43. Not satisfied with her performance, DeCicco was quoted in Newsday stating, “Reaching all my goals this season and not having the race I wanted at Nationals makes me excited for what’s to come next.”
The three teams that finished ahead of Sachem East at Regionals, Fayetteville-Manlius, Saratoga Springs, and North Rockland, placed first, fourth, and 10th, respectively, in the 22 team field at Nationals. A New York team has won the event 11 out of the 12 years that Nike has conducted the event.
Meanwhile, in Sacramento California, 1998 Sachem North graduate Jeanna Composti was competing in the California International Marathon, the last Major International Marathon of 2015.
Having already qualified for the United States Olympic Trials this upcoming February, Composti again improved on her personal best as she finished as the top American woman, fourth overall, in an outstanding 2:39:16.
The race was won by Serkalem Abrha of Ethiopia in 2:31:50.
Interviewed by addisababaonline after the race Composti said, “If someone 10 years ago said I would be running the Olympic Trials in the Marathon I would have laughed.”
Composti was a middle distance runner during her Sachem and University of Virginia years.
She currently lives in Manhattan, competes for the New York Athletic Club, and is Vice President, Assistant General Counsel in the Investigations and Regulatory Enforcement Group at JPMorgan Chase and Company.