WAPPINGERS FALLS — The Ward Melville boys cross country program entered the 2024 season having not been to a state championship meet in five decades. Fifteen months later, the Patriots are going to a national championship meet.

Ward Melville scored 149 points to place second at the state Federation championships at Bowdoin Park Saturday. The finish qualified them for Nike Cross Nationals, scheduled for Dec. 6 at Glendoveer Golf Course in Oregon.

Reaching Nike’s national meet has been the program’s goal since last November, when the team had a decent showing at the 2024 Federation meet. However, that goal was set in jest, as it was thought to be so unrealistic and lofty for a program that was coming off its first trip to a state meet since the 1970s.

Now, it’s a reality.

“Last year, we

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