Who Will Be Well Fed?

They're at it again in New York this weekend, this time in Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls for the 2011 New York Federation Cross Country Championships.

Back-to-back state championships, this time including New York City teams based on results of last weekend's PSAL and CHSAA Championships at Van Cortlandt Park.

This weekend's course is known as a tough one with a big climb early and a flat sprinter's finish. Bronxville sophomore Mary Cain — familiar with the terrain — took an early-season stab at sub-18 (and just missed) at the Section 1 race. She will be among the favorites individually.

With the girls from Fayetteville Manlius and North Shore taking the weekend off to gear up for a run at Nike Nationals, the team favorite will be the nation's No. 2 squad — Saratoga Springs. That young team, combined with FM, had 13 of the first 23 finishers in the team hunt at last week's state championship.

Locally, this could prove a coming-out party for Benjamin Cardozo's Alexis Panisse, who ran the fastest PSAL time in more than 20 years at Vanny last week. Can she run with Cain, West Genesee's Laura Leff and the other frontrunners this weekend?

On the boys' side, Arlington along with CHSAA favorites St. Anthony's and Monsignor Farrell will look to unseat Shaker, which won the NY Feds by a wide margin in 2010. Other teams to watch are the top-ranked squads in both Class B and C — East Aurora and Collegiate, the latter which dominated the NYSAIS meet in the Bronx last Saturday.

Tim Fulton of Armory Track will be on hand at Bowdoin on Saturday, providing updates, photos and maybe a video or two. The girls' race is slated for 12:15 pm, the boys to follow at 1 pm.