Cross Country Weekend Review III

Much of the news this week comes from the Garden State as Edward Cheserek's performance at the Passaic County Coaches Invitational forced this assessment from Matthew Murphy of NJ Runners:

With all the talented runners that the state of New Jersey has witnessed over the past few years, and all of the course records that have gone down with them, this one may have been the most convincing and impressive. Kenyan-born Edward Cheserek of St. Benedict's Prep made his season debut on Saturday at the Passaic Coaches Invitational and put on a show for the fans at Garret Mountain, demolishing the 5k course record with a remarkably fast time of 14:53. With a sizzling early pace and a flawless charge up the final hill, Cheserek left no doubt that he is the greatest runner to ever traverse the rugged layout of Garret.

Also in Jersey was the Six Flags Wild Safari Invitational, which is detailed here.

Bruce MacDonald Invitational

New Balance Ocean State Invitational

Austin Lane of Greenwich (N.Y.) placed fifth in the Championship division, running a strong 16:16. The Greenwich girls won the Championships race, 48-65, over Bishop Feehan (Mass.). Vicky Houser won the race for the Witches in 18:46. Benjamin Cardozo's Sabrina Sutherland and Alexis Panisse ran 19:15 and 19:19 to place third and fourth, respectively.

Greenwich coach Steve Patrick was pleasantly surprised with his squads win:

We knew this race included some of the better teams in the Northeast region. This meet is a great early season test. Although it's always nice to get a win, the girls were a little surprised we had taken it. They didn't feel they had good enough performances.  We actually ran pretty strong up front but we've got lots of room for improvement. We're very happy for Vicky (Houser). She's establishing herself as a solid front runner.

Baldwinsville Invitational

Ryan Manahan of Marcellus keeps on rolling with another win while teammate Joe Fallon was right behind in second. The one-tow punch was too much for Tully to overcome as Marcellus won the small schools' race, 60-108.

Alex Peinkofer of Baldwinsville won on his home course in the large schools' race in 15:27, but Franklin Academy beat Burnt Hills-Balston Lake, 77-84, in a battle of the fifth- and seventh-ranked teams in the N.Y. State Class B rankings.

The Tully girls' team flipped the results of the boys' meet, beating Marcellus, 63-79. Lauren Mullins of Johnson City took the individual title in 18:30. In the girls' large school race, Clarence used a 1-2 finish of Kaitlin McCadden and Marisa Singer to best Ithaca, 64-73.

Bowdoin Cross Country Classic

In a meet that has become a great chance for out-of-state teams to preview the Nike Cross National Regional course, the visiting teams dominated again. C.B.A (N.J.) looked every bit the best team in the country, placing runners 1-3-4-8-10 and averaging 16:30.

La Salle (R.I.) won a close race over Weston (Mass.), 58-66, on the strength of its fifth girl, who beat Weston's fifth by 14 points.

Carlisle High School Invitational

Lauren Herir of Washingtonville ran 19:13 to place fifth in the Puma Challenge race. The boys of Washingtonville pulled out the win in the Champions division, easily beating Paul VI (Pa.), 73-168, and averaging 17:18.

East Aurora Invitational

In the girls' large school race, East Aurora and Westhill had a nice race. East Aurora won, 34-52, but Westhill's 19:19 average should move them into the N.Y. State rankings this week. The East Aurora boys won another invitational while the Barker boys held off Fredonia in the small school race.

E.J. Herrmann Invitational

In yet another example of how team average and order of finish do not always correlate, the Holland-Patent boys beat Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons, 75-83, despite averaging 15 seconds slower per man. Beaver River's Logan Kempney was the fastest on the day with his 17:07 win.

In a Class D battle, NY No. 3 Beaver River beat NY No. 2 Remsen, 94-111. Leah Triller of Holy Names won the DI race in 20:08, the best of the day.

Fred Gressler Invitational

The Lakeland/Panas girls, Notre Dame (NYC) girls, White Plains boys, and Irvington boys were all champions.

Nicki Nesi of Pelham, who won the varsity II race, told the Journal News, "It means a lot because I won this race my sophomore year also, so it feels good to come back."

Galway Invitational

From Section 2 Harrier

For the boys, Amsterdam placed three in the top six to take the big schools' race over league rival CBA, 60-103. Amsterdam was led by a 4-5-6 finish by Nick Raponi, Matt Raponi, and Jon Nelson. Albany High's Philo Germano took the individual title by 11 seconds over Gloversville's John Knox. Fonda-Fultonville placed four out of the top six to easily take the small schools race over Mekeel Christian, 26-98. Fonda-Fultonville's Michael Scott won the individual title over Jacob Urys of Mekeel Christian.

Amsterdam — led by fifth-place finish from Megan Ottati and an eigth-place crossing by Deborah Johnson — edged Gloversville, 49-60, for the girls' big schools title. Granville's Alicia Clark won the individual title over Gloversville's Kelly Lawton. Fonda-Fultonville — led by a 1-2 finish from Kimberly Geniti and Jamie Kasza — claimed the small schools' race over Mechanicville, 32-50.

Hickories Invitational

Brian Crimmins of Horseheads won a close one over Tim Banach of Corning, 15:24.9 to 15:27.0, but Corning claimed a 34-77 team title. Maddie Zeitz ran a very fast 17:47 to win the varsity race as the Elmira girls dominated with a 43-101 win over Corning.

JFK Sterling Invitational

Katherine Doyle of Sleepy Hollow won by more than a minute, stopping the clock at 20:46. The Yorktown girls won the title, 29-36, over Horace Greeley. Tom Higgins of Westlake beat James Lafortezza of Greeley, 17:30 to 17:36, yet Lafortezza's team still won the meet with 49 points.

Manchester Invitational

Champlain Valley (Vt.) beat Burnt Hills (N.Y.), 78-83, in the Elite division by using a balanced attack. Chloe Maleski of Kenne (N.H.) took the race in 18:30 while Dani Martino of Burnt Hills was fifth in 19:10.

The Brookline (Mass.) boys beat Bishop Hendricken (R.I.), 89-95, in what could very well have been two teams fighting for a spot at Nike Cross Nationals.

PSAL Group Run

Port Richmond's Jaclyn Panepinto led her team to victory with a 20:59 win. Bronx Science dominated the boys varsity race, placing 1-2-4-10-25 to win with 42 points.

Queensbury Invitational

The Saratoga Springs girls' team made their its debut a week before heading to the Great American Invitational. Taylor Driscoll won the race in 18:24 and her teammates placed 2-3-4-7-8-9 behind her to win with 17 points. The Blue Streaks averaged 18:44 and clearly look to be the second-best team in the country again.

The varsity boys' race was a rematch from last week with Arlington and Shaker going at it again. The results were very much the same as Arlington won, 46-51, with both teams averaging 16:24-16:25.

Suffolk Coaches Invitational

The Northport boys beat Smithtown in the all Long Island Invitational, 45-53, as sophomore Mike Branigan won in 16:57. The score was an even 30-30 after four runners before Alex Kramer crossed the line in 18:10 on the tough Sunken Meadow course to give his team the win.

St. Anthony's dominated the Varsity B race, averaging 17:16 and packing up well. The girls' races were not that close as Northport won the Varsity A and Ward Melville the Varsity B. Northport sophomore Brigid Brennen's 19:33 was the day's best.

Warwick Wave Mania Invitational

It was a muddy day in Warwick, N.Y., but the meet went on as always. Bronxville's Mary Cain continued to dominate, running 18:14 to beat a very good Holly Cavalluzzo of Valley Central by 44 seconds. The Broncos won for the third straight week. Coach Jim Mitchell was impressed with his runners in the mud, noting that times were all slowed by around 30 seconds a girl.

Warwick Valley won both its girls and boys varsity races. Pope John XXIII (N.J.) took the other varsity race.

Meet director and boys head coach Mike Potter was pleased with the meet. "It was an honor to host the teams that we did today. From cross country to track, we had some of the nation's perennial powers on hand. For my boys, it was a nice opener on a very tough course because of the mud. I will take these results, analyze them and fix where we need work."

Xavier Invitational

The New Rochelle girls, generally known for their track and field prowess, bested South Side, 52-55, for the win. Byram Hill's Marc Violone ran a strong 13:12, but Thomas Jefferson (NYC) took the team title over host Xavier, 46-49, despite a slower fifth man. This time it was the third and fourth runners who did the damage, outscoring Xavier's three and four runners, 16-24.