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Tyler Agostino went into the senior race of last weekend's Foot Locker Northeast Regional championships hoping to medal with a top 24 finish. But he had to adjust his goal early in the race.
The Norwalk resident, who runs for Fairfield Prep, cruised to a second place finish, running in 17:20.8 over the 3.1-mile course at Sunken Meadow State Park on Long Island, N.Y. Prep teammate Connor Rog finished 21st in the seeded race. The events were part of the Foot Locker regional series, with runners from participating from Mid-Atlantic and New England states. The top 10 boys and girls from the seeded race advance to the national championships Dec. 11 in San Diego.
Agostino said he quickly readjusted his goal to make the top five. "I stayed in the lead up until a half mile to go,'' Tyler said. "I definitely exceeded my prerace expectations on how I was going to do."
Tyler figured he could do well in the meet because it was limited to high school seniors. He went to help Rog in his premeet routine. Though finishing second in a regional competition was noteworthy, Agostino was more proud of his individual and team accomplishments while running with Prep.
The team finished fourth in New England, outrunning Connecticut Open champion Tolland. Agostino was 49th overall in the New Englands, helping the Jesuits finish as the top team from Connecticut. He finished 19th among state runners after coming in 34th in the State Open.
"Getting Northeast honors at Foot Locker was pretty cool,'' Tyler said. "Other than that and the fact it was my last high school race in cross-country, it wasn't as significant as New Englands. That's the highest we've been in a couple of years."
Agostino is preparing for Prep's indoor season, where he will run primarily middle distance events such as 800 and 1,600 meters.
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