Top 5 newcomers in Long Island girls cross country for fall 2025 season
Valeria Paez of Hewlett. Credit: James Escher
A look at the top newcomers on Long Island in girls cross country this season, in alphabetical order.
CLAIRE DELLI CARPINI, Cold Spring Harbor, Fr.
She used to spend her fall season playing tennis for her middle school team before running track and field for Cold Spring Harbor’s varsity team in both the winter and spring. Now, she is a three-season runner and has been promising. She finished Sunken Meadow’s difficult 5-kilometer course in 20 minutes, 32.7 seconds, which ranked 15th on Long Island as of Thursday, despite having no prior experience there.
KYRA FLORIO-MARINELLO, Massapequa, Sr.
A former soccer player who ran track in the winter and spring for Massapequa, she converted to cross country for her final year, where she helped her team win the Nassau Conference I regular-season title. Her overall best time of 19:03.4 ranks 14th on Long Island, while her 20:41.5 at Sunken Meadow places her in the top 25.
MADDIE LAEZZA, Eastport-South Manor, Jr.
She has progressively fallen in love with the sport after only running indoor track as a freshman while playing soccer in the fall and lacrosse in the spring. Last year, she quit lacrosse to join the outdoor track team. This year, she left soccer to become a year-round runner and has turned in Long Island’s second-best 5K time, a 17:30.8 at the Saratoga Cross Country Invitational. She has led Eastport-South Manor to a 4-0 start in dual meets.
LEAH NOWAKOWSKI, Sachem North, 8th grade
After being called up to varsity as a middle schooler, she has excelled. Her 20:15.9 in the Suffolk Coaches Invitational is the 11th-best Long Island time at Sunken Meadow this year.
VALERIA PAEZ Hewlett, Jr.
Following the common pipeline of soccer to cross country, Paez used to only run track. After being one of the best steeplechasers in Nassau last spring, she decided to give up soccer to run on the trails this fall. That’s paid off so far, as her 19:21.6 in the 5K is a top-25 time on Long Island.
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.
