Cain Runs Alone

Today at Bowdoin Park Bronxville sophomore Mary Cain ran 18:03.0 to win the Girls' Varsity II race at the Section 1 Coaches Invitational by more than a minute.

Her time ranks 10th all time on the course, less than a half second behind U.S. star and native New Yorker Molly Huddle, who ran 18:02.6 for Notre Dame of Elmira back in 2001. Cain also set a Section 1 record, breaking Kristin Reese's time of 18:12.4 she set in 2004. Reese went on to run for Stanford University.

Cain looked smooth and relaxed as she always does and was ready for an interview within seconds of crossing the line.

"I wanted to run those hills hard and get up to the top — and then just run down the darn hills," she said.

Cain and her coach Jim Mitchell still haven't made a decision on what meet she will run Thanksgiving weekend — the NXN Regionals or the Foot Locker Regionals. The decision will most likely depend on just how well the Bronxville girls finish the season. Today the Broncos won their race with a 19:50 average — the fastest of the day — outscoring a strong Suffern team 47-92.

Cain's teammate Meredith Rizzo continues to be one of the most overlooked athletes around. Rizzo ran 19:11 to place third as she was edged out at the line by Suffern freshman Kate Zendell.

Nanuet and Garden City staged a good battle in the girls' Varsity I race. After four girls were in, Nanuet held a two-point edge and added eight more to that with the fifth girl to win, 44-54. Both teams had virtual idential averages of 20:23 and 20:22. Up and coming star Stephanie Gerland of Garden City won in 19:12.5 while her sister Jen was in third only seven seconds back. Nanuet then started streaming in, led by Megan Young and Mary Kate O'Meara in fifth and sixth to lead the Knights to victory.

The Pearl River girls dominated the Varsity III race, beating Monroe-Woodbury, 31-73, and averaging 19:56. Brewster's Arianna Bottalico won yet another race, but Pearl River placed 2-3-4-6 to secure the win. Molly Shine, Kelly Hayes and Ceili McMorrow led the Pirates.

The Arlington boys — ranked third in the state behind FM and Rush-Henrietta — won the Varsity I race with an average time of 16:49. Mike Turi of John Jay East Fishkill won in 16:15.1, the day's best time and the 14th-best Section 1 time ever. But the story of course was how Arlington continues to run well week after week. This time Coach Arnett credited usual seventh-man Corey Chiavelli with stepping in as the team's fifth man and placing 15th in 17:10.2.

The North Rockland boys beat St. Anthony's in the Varsity I race, averaging 17:13 in the process. St. Anthony's Patrick Ginty won in 16:33, but he was supported mostly by jayvee runners. That opened the door for North Rockland to sneak a pack of four runners in. The Red Raiders placed 5-6-8-9 as all four finished between 17:01 and 17:14 to secure the victory.

The final boys' race of the day, Varsity III, was the deepest as the top five averaged between 17:21 and 17:34. Brewster won on a sixth-man tie-breaker over Suffern. Both teams scored 104 points. One couldn't help notice that Suffern had five jayvee runners run faster than Brewster sixth man while its own varsity sixth and seventh finished more than a minute behind Brewster's sixth.