XC Weekend Preview: As Leaves Turn

The New York State cross country season is a strange one. It's both long and short at the same time. Most teams didn't start racing until September 10, or even later, and now most teams are done with their invitational seasons and are preparing for conference championships as well as the push for the state meet.

Of course, then there are the top-level teams that will be racing past Thanksgiving and into December. This weekend will be the final one with plenty of invitationals. The championship portion of the season is upon us.

Section 1 Coaches Invitational
Bowdoin Park (Wappingers Falls, NY)

Thirteen races will be contested at Bowdoin Park — which is right next to the Hudson River in Wappingers Falls, N.Y. More than 70 teams will compete, some to preview the Section 1 Championships course and some to get ready for Federations and Nike Cross Nationals.

The boys' varsity I race will see North Rockland, Tappan Zee, Bronxville, and St. Anthony's go for the title. Boys' varsity II has Farrell, Pearl River, Suffern, St. John the Baptist and Arlington racing while boys' varsity III will feature Stuyvesant, Somers, MSIT, Pawling, Bronx Science and Brewster.

Girls' varsity I has Arlington, Garden City and Nanuet; girls' varsity II will see Bronxville, Suffern, Tappan Zee and John Jay EF; and girls' varsity III has Pawling, Pearl River, Brewster and Somers.

Individuals to watch include, of course, Mary Cain of Bronxville, who could make a run at breaking 18 minutes. Only seven girls have ever accomplished that feat. While 17:40 may be a bit fast for Cain right now if she could run 17:56 she'd move into fourth all-time.

All-Time Bowdoin Top 10

17:16.9, Aisling Cuffe, Cornwall (2010)
17:27.3, Nicole Blood, Saratoga (2004)
17:40.2, Aislinn Ryan, Warwick (2004)
17:56.6, Erin Davis, Saratoga (1993)
17:58.0, Emily Lipari, Roslyn (2007)
17:58.4, Hannah Davidson, Saratoga (2004)
17:59.8, Brittany Winslow, Queensbury (2010)
18:00.8, Danielle Winslow, Queensbury (2008)
18:02.6, Molly Huddle, Notre Dame Elmira (2001)
18:03.3, Laura Leff, West Genesee (2010)

South Hudson Championships
Stephen Gregg Park (Bayonne, NJ)

The Dickinson boys and St. Dominic's Academy girls took the titles last year in a small New Jersey meet. The course sits right on the water next to Newark Bay and must be about as flat as they come.

Ocean County Championships
Ocean County Park (Lakewood, NJ)

Close to 20 schools will toe the line at Ocean County Park, which is not far off the Garden State Parkway in Lakewood, N.J. Last year the Southern boys and Toms River North girls won the varsity titles.

Olympic Conference Championships
Gloucester County College (Sewell, NJ)

Lenape and Cherokee are two of the top teams in this meet. Last year Lenape edged Cherokee, 61-68, for the boys title and the girls flip-flopped, 45-52. It should be very much the same this year. Undefeated in 2011, Megan Tracy of Cherokee, perhaps New Jersey's best, is expected to win.

Albany County Championships
Colonie Town Park (Cohoes, NY)

Why not take the Mohawk-Hudson Bikeway out to Colonie Town Park this weekend to watch the Albany County Championships? Thirteen schools should be heading to the line for local bragging rights, though Shaker should be the heavy favorite here. The Bison boys' squad will be looking to get back on track after a sub-par performance at the Manhattan Invitational two weekends ago.

CHSAA Girls Staten Island Championships
Clove Lakes Park (Staten Island, NY)

Some improvements have been made to Clove Lakes State Park after the hurricane season canceled some early season meets there. Just five teams will be squaring off — Moore Catholic, Notre Dame, St. Joseph by the Sea, St. Joseph Hill and St. John Villa Academy.

Fordham Prep Developmental
Van Cortlandt Park (Bronx, NY)

Another small developmental meet at VCP that draws mainly New York City teams. With the trees around the park just starting to change colors, is there a better way to spend an afternoon?

Greenwich Invitational
Saratoga Spa State Park (Saratoga Springs, NY)

It may be a small meet, but any meet held in Section 2 always has quality teams. Last year 16 girls' teams scored in the varsity race with Cobleskill-Richmondville beating Tri-Valley, 62-72. The boys' title went to Fonda-Fultonville as it scored a mere 17 points to beat the other 19 teams. I guess teams with hyphens do well at this meet.

Port Chester Invitational
SUNY Purchase (Purchase, NY)

There will be more than 1,000 runners at this anual middle-school invitational which has moved from Port Chester Middle School to the SUNY Purchase campus for the first time. Meet director Liam McGirk, formerly one of the best field coaches you'll ever find at Pearl River High, will have the music pumping for the future stars of the Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess and Rockland counties.

Rensselaer County Championships
Grafton Lakes State Park (Grafton, NY)

Only six teams will head to Grafton Lakes State Park to square off on this 2.7-mile course. Would you believe that Eamonn Coughlin won this race a year ago? Well he did — he was a senior at LaSalle Institute. The Columbia girls are the heavy favorites to repeat as champions.

Clarence Fall Classic
Akron Falls Park (Akron, NY)

This is one of Western New York's biggest meet as close to 40 teams competed last fall. Hopefully this meet provides as much drama as last year's boys large school race where McQuaid beat Clarence, 53-54. The girls small school was also a one-point affair a year ago with Greece Odyssey beating Immaculate, 75-76.

The course has flat and rolling hills with a few steep grades. The 3.1-mile course is mostly grass with 200 meters of dirt trails and some pavement. The junior high course is 1.7 miles of nothing but grass.

Halloween Harrier Classic
Veteran's Memorial Park (Rochester, NY)

One of New York's bests — Rush-Henrietta — hosts this invitational which saw about a dozen teams compete a year ago. The meet is one of those which breaks up team's runners into different races for each grade. While this seems like a great idea for early season meets, it seems a bit odd to run this fomat so late in the season.

Marathon Invitational
Marathon Elementary School (Marathon, NY)

The meet and the town have a great name for running — that's for sure. Maybe that's why almost 50 schools competed last year in the 22nd annual event. This meet is a good mix of both Section 3 and Section 4 teams.

Marion Invitational
Marion High School (Marion, NY)

Close to 20 Section 5 teams should be out at Marion High School, which is located between Syracuse and Rochester, not far from Lake Ontario.

PSAL Marty Lewis Challenge
Van Cortlandt Park (Bronx, NY)

It's time to represent your borough is this unique meet that could only be held in New York City. Six races will be run beginning at 10 am and finishing at noon. The only team score compiled will be for Manhattan vs. Queens vs. the Bronx vs. Brooklyn vs. Staten Island. A year ago the Brooklyn girls and boys won both titles. Some teams will be missing from the meet as they head to The Section 1 Coaches invitational at Bowdoin Park — the site of the NYS Federation Championships.

Sandy Creek Invitational
Sandy Creek High School (Sandy Creek, NY)

This meet provides a nice day for the entire family as it features a kids' race, an open mile and a community 5k in addition to middle school and varsity races. Sandy Creek is located 45 miles north of Syracuse.

Northeast-10 Conference Championships
Stanley Park (Westfield, MA)

Meet information can be found here for this 16-team conference with members in New England and New York.

Bergen County Group Championships
Darlington Park (Mahwah, NJ)

This is actually a qualifier for the Lou Molino Memorial Meet of Champions, where the top two teams per race plus four wild-card teams earn spots. Additionally, the 10 fastest runners in each race and 10 wild cards will get to run.

East Coast Conference Championships
C.W. Post campus (Brookville, NY)

Mostly local college teams will head to C.W. Post for their annual Championship races. The women go off at 10:30 am followed by the men at 11:30 with a 12:45 pm awards ceremony. Meet information is posted here.

Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Championships
Belmont Plateau (Philadelphia, PA)

Last year Felician College won the men's title while the Philadelphia University women have won the last three crowns.