Tim Fulton Armory Track

Running Cold

by Tim Fulton — posted on 10/28/2011

WEATHER ADVISORY: The Westchester County Championships have been moved from Saturday to Sunday at Croton Point Park and the start time has been moved from 9am to 10am. All races will run one hour later than scheduled. If there are any other changes caused by weather, coaches and meet directors are encouraged to notify us at Armory@ArmoryTrack.com and we will help spread the word.

He or she who wins this weekend might well be the one most prepared for winter's arrival. While snow accumulations could be deep in the areas northwest of I-95, the question of the day for a lot of meets will be: "Will it be cold enough to snow?" And even if not, expect a cold, soaking rain accompanied by windy conditions. This weekend is not for the meek!

Rockland County Championships (Bear Mountain State Park: Bear Mountain, NY)

A classic meet on a classic course — this should be another good one in the rain today (it was backed up a day after Thursday's rainy weather). The boys meet will match up the slight favorite of North Rockland against the challengers in Pearl River and Suffern. Add a strong Tappan Zee team to the mix and this could be a very deep race.

The girls should see Pearl River, Nanuet, Suffern and North Rockland all vying for the title. Pearl River looked the best last weekend with a 19:57 average at Bowdoin but anything can happen in inclement weather — though much of the course is on pavement. Full meet preview here.

Section 1 Northern County Championships (Bowdoin Park: Wappingers Falls, NY)

The Arlington boys return to Bowdoin Park and should be able to pull off another victory here, though they should get a race from a very good Brewster team. The Arlington girls should also be able to win here with Mahopac being the challenger.

Westchester County Championships (Croton Point Park: Croton-on-Hudson, NY)

One of the biggest county meets in New York State moves to a new course at Croton Point Park, right on the shore of the Hudson River. The Bronxville girls should run away with the title, but the battle for second should be between Somers and Lakeland/Panas.

The Somers and Bronxville boys will go head-to-head for the title. Somers won last year and Bronxville is trying to win for time in at least 15 years. Both teams are evenly matched with Bronxville having a superior front three and Somers a better back end. This race could have more 250 finishers so a fifth-man advantage might be the difference.

OCIAA Championships (Bear Mountain State Park: Bear Mountain, NY)

Another classic meet contested at Bear Mountain State Park — this one is tough to call. Monroe-Woodbury and Cornwall should make it close in the girls' race. MW is ranked No. 18 in NYS Class A while Cornwall is ranked No. 15 in Class B. The boys of Warwick Valley are the only ranked team coming in at No. 9 NYS Class A.

If you've never been to Bear Mountain in late October, why not head on over on Friday afternoon? It's absolutely beautiful and Friday's weather looks much better than Saturday's.

Section 9 MHAL Championships (Ogden Mills State Park: Staatsburgh, NY)

New Paltz, Onteora, Red Hook and Rhinebeck are the usual teams battling for a title in the Mid-Hudson Athletic League. The Rhinebeck boys are the highest state-ranked entrant at No. 3 in Class C.

Section 2 Colonial Council Championships (Cuba Rushford High School: Cuba, NY)

Section 2 ran some county championship meets last weekend and held their conference championships throughout this week. It concludes with two of the better ones this Saturday. The girls of Holy Names and boys of Fonda-Fultonville will be trying to defend titles from last year, and both are very good this season.

Section 2 Suburban Council Championships (Saratoga Spa State Park: Saratoga, NY)

The Suburban Council Championships have to be on the best league championship meets in the country. Averill Park, Ballston Spa, Bethlehem (Boys No. 14A), Burnt Hills (Girls No. 2B, Boys No. 11B), Colonie (Girls No. 11A, Columbia (Girls No. 22A), Guilderland (Girls No. 12A), Mohonasen, Niskayuna (Girls No. 14A), Saratoga Springs (Girls No. 2A, Boys No. 10A), Shaker (Boys No. 4A) and Shenendehowa (Girls No. 6A) all toe the line at Saratoga Spa State Park.

That's seven strong girls' squads and four strong boys' teams.

Section 8 Conference Championships (Bethpage State Park: Farmingdale, NY)

This is the week that Section 8 — also known as Nassau County — runs its conference championships. This will give us a look at the North Shore girls — the No. 1 team in NYS Class B and No. 5 in the U.S. Garden City will be Shore's toughest challenge as the only other Section 8 team ranked in the state. That's surprising considering Nassau County's size and population.