Floyd's Zariel Macchia regains Class A title, Bayport-Blue Point's Sophia McInnes retains Class B crown at state cross country championships

QUEENSBURY, N.Y. - After losing  her crown last year, Floyd senior Zariel Macchia reclaimed her spot at the top of the state cross country scene Saturday.  

As a sophomore in 2022, Macchia won the Class A 5-kilometer public school state championship , putting herself in a position to leave a legacy in the coming years. However, last year, she finished just shy of repeating, finishing second to Saratoga Springs' Emily Bush, who graduated this spring. Without Bush in the picture, Macchia restored her distinction as New York’s undisputed best female runner, winning in 17 minutes, 24.7 seconds at Queensbury High School to claim her second  public school state title.

“It’s my senior year, so I wanted to go out with a state win, but mostly just have a good race,” Macchia said. “If someone else had the best race of their life … I wouldn’t have been upset about it. I just wanted to come out and have a good race to finish off my senior year of running cross country for my school.”

Macchia’s time was the best at the meet, regardless of class. She cleared her nearest competitor by 7.7 seconds.

At one point in her race, her opponent stopped being the other girls. Rather, she started racing MileSplit’s cart that carries a camera crew and follows the lead runners around for the popular running website's live stream.

“I wasn’t really planning to put in a big surge [of energy], but at one point, right before the first mile, the cart slowed up because it was trying to turn,” Macchia said. “It was to the point where I could catch up to it. So I was like, ‘Well, if I could catch the cart, I may as well put in a little surge and catch it for fun.’ Then I caught up to it and I figured I may as well pass it, and that would be even better.”

Bayport-Blue Point senior Sophia McInnes followed Macchia’s win with one of her own, as she ran a 17:45.5 (fourth-best overall) to win her second consecutive Class B title.

After missing three weeks while fighting COVID-19, McInnes has regained championship form.  

“I was a bit nervous before [the race] because I haven’t had this big of a race since before I was sick,” McInnes said. “Very nervous, but so thankful that I was able to pull out with the win again. I had a few people around me, which is definitely not usual, so I had a lot of people to push me throughout the race.”

One of those around her was Friends Academy senior Aislinn Frazer, who ran an 18:01 flat to place third . Harborfields sophomore Sayla Fives finished fourth in 18:11.9.

Frazer was proud to be a part of a race that saw three Long Islanders finish within the top four.

“The running community on Long Island is awesome,” Frazer said. “It’s actually a close-knit community and everyone’s so kind. It’s fun to get to race the Suffolk girls and then come up here and show what we can do. New York State running is notorious for being fast, and it’s cool that Long Island girls get to show that we’re a part of that, too.”

Northport had the best team showing from Long Island, placing second to Bethlehem - considered by many to be the best team in the country -  in Class A with 75 points. The Tigers were second in the overall state merge (142).

“I’m extremely proud,” Northport coach Gregg Cantwell said. “Our top runner [Fiona King] was very sick, and we didn’t know that she was going to run until the morning of, and she wound up getting All-State [20th in 18:16.9]. All in all, I feel really lucky to coach these girls.”