Kellenberg's Aidan Hopkins wins cross country program's first individual title since 2007; Elle Riches carries legacy for Sacred Heart
Kellenberg junior Aiden Hopkins closes in on the finish line to take first place in the NSCHSAA cross country championship on Sunday at Sunken Meadow State Park. Credit: Connor Lawless
It has been 19 years since a Kellenberg boy won the Nassau-Suffolk CHSAA cross country championship. That drought is finally over.
Kellenberg junior Aidan Hopkins won the 2.5-mile run in 12 minutes, 40.7 seconds on the difficult Sunken Meadow State Park course in Kings Park on Sunday. He defeated St. Anthony’s senior Edward Lessing by 5.5 seconds.
Hopkins, 16, is Kellenberg's first winner since Thomas Elnick in 2007. Hopkins is only the fourth runner in program history to ever accomplish the feat.
For Hopkins, who attended the Latin School — Kellenberg’s middle school — this accomplishment has been a longtime goal of his.
“It’s a really awesome feeling,” Hopkins said. “The school has had some really great runners, and I’m just happy to be in the conversation with them now. Ever since the Latin School, I’ve wanted to run for Kellenberg, so it feels really great to be able to represent them and race really well.”
His path to the championship began exactly a year ago in the 2025 NSCHSAA cross country championships, when he was expected to make a push for the top five but placed 13th overall in 14:14. That was 38.6 seconds slower than his prior race on the same course.
That uncharacteristic performance sent Hopkins into hyperdrive, and he has become one of Long Island’s best distance runners. He went on to run 13:04.2 in the same race, on the same course, just six days later. After another week, he placed third overall and first among Long Island runners in the CHSAA Intersectional championships — which is the Catholic school state championship meet.
From there, Hopkins broke out on the track. He ranked second on Long Island in the 1,600 meters (4:13.25) and fourth in the 3,200 (9:20.03) between the winter and spring seasons. He also won the CHSAA Intersectional outdoor track title in the 1,600.
Now, his redemption arc is complete.
“I never want to doubt myself, but to say back then that I was going to go on this kind of tear would have felt insane,” Hopkins said. “I take a lot of pride in this. All of the hard work that I’ve put in over the summer and during the season has paid off.”
On the team front, Chaminade scored 32 points to win its second consecutive NSCHSAA team championship. Junior Ryan Going led the Flyers, placing third in 12:54.6.
“Going” has been a popular name at these NSCHSAA meets over the past four years. Ryan Going’s older sister, Maeve Going — who used to run for Sacred Heart before graduating this past spring — had won each of the last four individual championships on the girls’ side.
Though Maeve Going’s streak is finally over, it still persists in some ways. Sacred Heart senior Elle Riches was Going’s understudy over the previous three years, running right behind her at practice and in meets every day.
Clearly, Riches picked something up along the way, because she won this year’s individual girls 2.5-mile title in 15:55.5. St. Anthony’s senior Elena Ciaccio placed second in 16:11.9, and was followed directly by five other teammates, leading her squad to 20 points and its eighth consecutive NSCHSAA team championship victory.
Riches’ win marks the fifth consecutive individual championship by a Sacred Heart runner, and the ninth over the last 11 years. Having a front-row seat for the final three of Going’s four championships made this a dream of hers, which has now become reality.
“Ever since freshman year, I remember always saying that I hope to win this one day,” Riches said. “I remember when Maeve would win it, it made everything so much more special for the team. Everyone would always tell me that I was next. That definitely made me nervous, because I knew this could go one way or the other, so I’m just glad to know that I did it.”
Mike Anderson is a high school sports reporter who has covered 12 sports so far at Newsday. He was the sports editor of Stony Brook University's campus newspaper for two years.
