On Wednesday, Sept. 14, the Wheatley School hosted its first-ever Invitational Cross Country Meet. Over 250 runners, representing over 30 Nassau County boys and girls cross country teams, competed in this inaugural event, which featured a newly completed half-mile running trail through the Wheatley woods. The Wheatley Varsity Club sponsored the meet, and the competing teams were seeded into three classes. In highly competitive Class I, the East Meadow girls team dominated the competition while Bellmore Kennedy finished second, and the Wantagh runners took home the bronze medal. The Bellmore Kennedy boys varsity team was the Class 1 champion followed closely by Wantagh, and the Levittown District team finished third. Class II champions were Farmingdale in the girls division and the Cold Spring Harbor boys team. The North Shore girls team won the Class III title and Clarke won the boys race in Class III.

Since this was the first competition on the 3.1-mile course, the individual winners established course records. Brian MacArthur, from Great Neck South High School was the boys overall champion, with a time of 16 minutes and 52.6 seconds. Meagen Krifchin, from Bellmore Kennedy High School won the girls race, and her record-setting time was 19 minutes and 19 seconds.

The running trail through the Wheatley Woods has been a longtime dream of Wheatley Varsity Cross Country coach, Dan Walsh. The creation of the running trail was a joint venture with members of the Wheatley Environmental Action Committee (EAC) and their advisor Steve Finkelstein. Team and club members blazed a trail through the woods, clearing brush, pulling up weeds, and trimming tree branches. Allan Wakefield, the director of buildings and grounds for East Williston UFSD, also played a major role in creating the trail by having the groundsmen spread wood chips along the entire length of the trail and performing routine maintenance such as removing falling branches. During the school day, the running trail becomes a nature trail, used by teachers and students to study wildlife in a woodland setting. A major project is currently underway to restore a portion of the woods to its original Hempstead plains state.

The course received positive comments from coaches and athletes alike, and the Wheatley Athletic Department is planning to establish the Invitational Cross Country Meet as an annual event.