This April, Deer Park High School’s varsity girls cross country team won the league championship for the first time in the school’s history. The team was led by undefeated league MVP and All-County winner Gianna Marquez. Rounding out the top scorers were All-County winner Kylie Kuhn, All-Division winners Kaliyah Hull and Natalia Lee, and All-League winners Alexa Belotti, Daniella Belotti and Madison Mattera.

“We are tremendously proud of these girls,” coach Jim Petti said. “They knew it was a shortened season and understood the work that needed to be put in. Cross-county training should be months in the making and we only had a few weeks. Regardless, they worked hard and smart every single day and made sure to do their part. It paid off. The energy level of this team was unlike anything I’ve seen before. They were excited and looked forward to each race, especially considering the long layoff the COVID-19 pandemic had forced on us. We were happy just to be back doing something. Winning the league championship was a nice bonus.”

At the county championships on April 22, Deer Park earned third, with Marquez coming in eighth place.

“It was an amazing season with high hopes, but it was cut short with a heartbreaker as we missed out on the team county championships by only 0.27 seconds,” Petti said. “That’s the way it goes though, and we couldn’t be prouder. It ended earlier than expected, but the memory of this season will last a lifetime. We said one last goodbye to our seniors who were the biggest catalyst in our success as a team. I thank them for their leadership and compassion. Up next is spring track, but you can bet we are itching to get back at it in September.”