History Made! Girls Cross Country Wins First State Championship

Sophomore Naomi Gomel led the way, becoming the first Daltonian to win the championship race, running a school-record time of 20:13. The race came down to a sprint to the finish on the 3.1-mile course. Gomel, 10 seconds off the lead entering the last half mile, came from behind in the last half mile, edging her nearest competitor by just one second to secure the individual victory.

The Tigers had five runners finish in the top 30 among 130 competitors from 11 Independent Schools. Fellow sophomore Zoë Lester was the next Tiger to cross the line, coming in 13th place, with a time of 21:30. Junior teammates Sofia Gulati and Ciara Balanzá were the next two to finish for Dalton, coming in 25th and 27th. Sophomore Annika Jha completed the Tigers scoring, placing 29. Freshman Hannah Diker and Ani Sharma finished off Dalton's top seven runners and helped displace some of the team's nearest competitors. Seniors Charlotte Sadelain and Audrey Liu and freshman Anouk Sethi rounded out the Tigers squad for the day.

The Boys team also had a strong showing finishing fourth in their race led by senior Connor Rust with a time of 17:42.1. He finished eighth in the race, becoming the fifth Dalton boy to qualify for the New York State championship. Junior Luke Rostan also medaled for the Tigers, coming in 17th and qualifying for the state championship.

By winning the NYSAIS Championship, the Girls qualified automatically for the New York State Federation Championship on November 20 for the first time in school's history. The team finished 25th overall in the Federation Championship concluding their historic season. They were ranked seventh in the final state rankings for Class C, and Gomel became the first Dalton runner to receive all-state honors, earning fourth-team in the class.