Amanda Mannino's Perseverance Has Paid Off; Southampton Senior To Run At SUNY Cortland

Amanda Mannino has had her share of ups and downs throughout her high school career.

As a freshman in 2018, Mannino had to deal with the fact that Bishop McGann-Mercy High School in Riverhead had closed. She enrolled in her hometown Southampton High School, but then a few years later, a worldwide pandemic gripped the globe that severely cut into Mannino’s junior and senior years.

But last Thursday, May 20, Mannino’s perseverance over the last four years has paid off, as she signed her letter of intent to run track at SUNY Cortland.

Mannino said she had attended Mercy because she liked the school, and her father, Michael, had graduated from there. She was unsure of attending Southampton High School, but quickly warmed up to it.

“All of us were really shocked,” that Mercy had closed, she said. “And I was, too, as a freshman. I was really nervous of switching to a new school again because I thought that was, like, my family, and I thought I was going to run there for the next four years. Then I came to Southampton and I met my new family and Coach [Eddie] Arnold was a great coach. I’ve learned so much from him and it was really meant to be. I think that everything happens for a reason.

“During the whole pandemic,” she continued, “I really trained on my own to become a better runner for my senior season, and I did improve with my times after running during my time off and having no school. It was definitely difficult because junior year is a big recruiting season and I lost that season and I was really devastated. But like I said, I think that everything does happen for a reason, and I’m really happy I’m committed to SUNY Cortland — and I think it was really meant to be.”

Eddie Arnold has coached Mannino in both indoor track during the winter and spring track during the spring. He called her an “old school athlete.”

“It’s going to be sad to see her go because there’s not too many old school athletes out there,” he said. “She’s just a different kind of athlete. I’m from the ’80s and ’90s, she’s that old school athlete. You can’t teach that, you either have it or you don’t. [She’s] not distracted by other things, she manages her time, she’s devoted to the sport and she really loves it.”

Mannino said Cortland was her top choice and that she’ll be studying in the exercise science program there.

“The coaches seemed really nice there and they seemed like they were really into the program,” she explained. “I like being really into the program and the coaches reminded me of myself and the student-athletes seemed really into it.

“I was able to visit the campus,” Mannino added. “I actually did meet up with the coach in person. She showed me a little bit around the school, but not a lot because most of the campus was shut down. The campus was really beautiful when she gave me the tour and I saw myself being there.”

Arnold added that he thinks SUNY Cortland is probably the best spot for Mannino to go because it’s one of the most competitive Division III programs out there.

“The level of competition she’ll be at, she’ll succeed,” he said. “A lot of kids from Long Island go there, and with her major, it’ll be a good fit for her. She could have ran lower-level Division I, but I think this is a good fit for her.

“She has to be better when she leaves here,” Arnold added. “Leaving here with me, I expect her to be better. She has a lot of room to go.”

Mannino has earned All-League and All-Division honors in both indoor and outdoor track. Her main goal this spring is to become an All-County sprinter and she hopes to become an All-American during her college career.

“I’d like to thank my coaches and my parents and my teammates for making this happen,” she said. “Without them, this wouldn’t have been able to happen. I’m really grateful for Coach Arnold. I wanted to thank him for giving me confidence to run in college. I was really sure I wanted to run in college, but he took me to the next level and I really appreciated that.”