CROSS RIVER, N.Y. - John Jay traveled north to Bowdoin State Park on Saturday, Oct. 17, and while the winner of the girls race cruised to a comfortable victory, the battle for second place was much tighter.
Junior Mia Haimelin found herself among a pack of runners fighting for the runner-up spot, but she knew exactly what she needed to do.
“I knew what I had to do,” Haimelin said.
“Alright now, it’s my time,” Haimelin recalled telling herself. “I trust myself for having a really good kick. So I started sprinting and caught them all.”
Her late surge didn't come out of nowhere. Haimelin credited her summer training for helping her shave 90 seconds off her time from last year and earn the silver medal.
“I did summer training with everyone,” she said.
The decision to commit to a rigorous offseason program was about more than individual improvement.
“I knew the training would make us better,” she said. “We lost Sloan and Emma last year and knew we had to train super hard to go to the states or win the states.”
The extra mileage paid dividends throughout the race, particularly on the challenging terrain.
“It really drove me — especially up the hills,” Haimelin said.
She also had some company early on, with teammate Maya Serai helping set the pace.
“We came out, me and Maya (Serai) in front, so we got a good position,” Haimelin said.
The two ran together for the first half of the race before Haimelin pulled away on the downhill stretch.
Serai, a sophomore who finished seventh, said an injury had prevented her from joining her teammates for summer training.
“I couldn’t train this summer. I was injured. So I couldn’t join, but I’m picking it back up now,” she said.
Despite the setback, Serai has worked to maintain a positive mindset, particularly when tackling the course's difficult hills.
“I say to myself watching the people in front of me, trying to chase them down and knowing everyone is having the same difficult time,” she said.
As she approached the finish, Serai found herself cheering on her teammate.
“As I was watching Mia, I was like, ‘oh pass them,’” Serai recalled. “I really wanted her to win. She’s such an inspiration and such a team leader.”
On the boys side, twin brothers Rohan and Tarun Patel turned in strong performances, with Rohan finishing among the top 20 and Tarun placing in the top 35.
Tarun, a senior who typically struggles with hills, was pleased with how he handled the course's climbs.
“I went up pretty well and went up powerfully,” he said.
That effort put him in position to take advantage of the faster second half of the course.
“The second half of the course is downhill and fast,” he said.
After spending the early portion of the race among the top 50 runners, Tarun began making his move.
“At the top of the hill, I kind of kicked it into gear,” he said.
With the postseason approaching, Tarun has set his sights on another milestone.
“We have three weeks of training, so I’m hoping to break the 18 minute barrier,” he said.
Rohan followed a similar strategy, conserving energy early before accelerating on the downhill sections.
“We didn’t open up too fast. We went slow up the hill and then accelerated down,” he said.
The chilly conditions presented an additional challenge.
“Today, it was really cold,” Rohan said. “It’s hard to breathe when your muscles are stiff.”
Still, he found another gear over the final stretch, using the runners around him as motivation.
“Around the loop, the last 1K, I accelerated and passed as many people as I could,” he said.
For Rohan, the race provided a valuable opportunity to test himself ahead of the biggest meets of the season.
“Today I ran faster, but we’re still pacing ourselves. We got the counties, the sectionals and states, so it was a good chance to get out and run hard,” he said.
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