Rochester, NY - It was the site of some record times, and impressive runs. The 49th annual McQuaid Invitational brought about hot temps, hot times, and the foreshadowing of some great seasons to come, both individual and team alike. Check out our coverage below. And be sure to follow us on twitter for our live updates of meets in the future, twitter.com/milesplitny
Full Meet Photo Album Here
Additional Photos Here
Girls Varsity AAA
Individual Winner - Courntey Smith (Unionville) - 16:46.29
Breakdown
When Fayetteville-Manlius registered to compete in the McQuaid Invitational for the first time in four year, the news didn't go unnoticed. Teams saw the opportunity to test their strength on one of the most harrowed programs around. One such team would be Unionville, PA. Returning a State Champion, as well as 2012 PA XC Gatorade Athlete of the Year, in Courtney Smith as well as a strong pack behind her, the team came to McQuaid specifically for the challenge. They got their wish, as the race went out fast. In the first mile, the seven time defending national champions had created a sizable gap. Led by Anika Avery, FM put a solid gap of five before Unionville's back four, with Smith looking around fifth overall. But Unionville was running as a pack, (Seen below in Photo Highlights), and proved to be late race pushers. Smith moved forward, eating up the leaders one by one until she met Katie Lembo (Penfield) at the 2 mile mark. The two sparred for the lead before Smith pulled ahead. Smith would cross the line very fast, with an official time of 16:46.29, exactly one full second behind Kennedy Weisner's course record from 2012. Behind them, the rest of the Unionville squad had spurred forward, spreading thin the competing runners. With three in the top ten, and five in the top twenty, Unionville went on to the win the largest race of the day with an impressive performance. Fayetteville-Manlius, however, still rallied to second overall, in both the race and merge, a clear winner amongst New York State teams. As a program known for late season peaking (note 2013), this season just got interesting. Other interesting developments included the return of Marisa Saenger of Clarence, coming back from a stress fracture, as well as the two underclassmen from Section 4, Jessica Lawson and Abbey Wheeler, having breakout seasons. Top Ten Individuals below under Photo Highlights.
Team Champs
TOPTEAMS:
Points: 45
1 1 Courtney Smith 12 1 Unionville 16:46.2 5:36 151.60 152
7 7 Olivia Young 11 2 Unionville 17:17.0 5:46 141.33 141
8 8 Emily Fisher 12 4 Unionville 17:18.8 5:47 140.73 141
15 14 Kacie Breeding 10 3 Unionville 18:06.4 6:03 124.87 125
16 15 Elizabeth Edwards 9 2 Unionville 18:13.6 6:05 122.47 122
27 26 Birdgette Zerbe 11 9 Unionville 18:43.4 6:15 112.53 113
28 27 Molly Wentz 11 10 Unionville 18:43.9 6:15 112.37 112
29 Cami Rickenbach 10 5 Unionville 18:45.0 6:15 112.00 112
51 Gretchen Mills 11 18 Unionville 19:24.0 6:28 99.00 99
Points: 79
6 6 Annika Avery 11 1 Fayetteville-Manlius 17:13.8 5:45 142.40 142
12 12 Alana Pearl 12 6 Fayetteville-Manlius 17:39.3 5:54 133.90 134
14 13 Jenna Farrell 10 2 Fayetteville-Manlius 17:53.1 5:58 129.30 129
20 19 Megan Menz 10 4 Fayetteville-Manlius 18:26.3 6:09 118.23 118
31 29 Reilly Madsen 9 6 Fayetteville-Manlius 18:45.8 6:16 111.73 112
37 35 Jessica Howe 11 13 Fayetteville-Manlius 18:59.3 6:20 107.23 107
42 40 Olivia Ryan 11 14 Fayetteville-Manlius 19:05.1 6:22 105.30 105
57 Mackenzie Pierie 11 23 Fayetteville-Manlius 19:29.5 6:30 97.17 97
87 Sophie Ryan 8 5 Fayetteville-Manlius 20:20.4 6:47 80.20 80
Points: 153
2 2 Abbey Wheeler 10 1 Elmira 17:01.0 5:41 146.67 147
22 21 Jessica Thatcher 11 7 Elmira 18:27.3 6:10 117.90 118
32 30 Khiere Ashley 11 11 Elmira 18:46.1 6:16 111.63 112
44 42 Mackenzie Tubbs 9 7 Elmira 19:09.1 6:24 103.97 104
62 58 Jordynn Kurcoba 11 25 Elmira 19:34.5 6:32 95.50 96
91 85 Cathi Mewes 10 18 Elmira 20:24.8 6:49 78.73 79
94 86 Imari Johnson 11 36 Elmira 20:30.4 6:51 76.87 77
Points: 159
5 5 Jessica Lawson 9 1 Corning 17:07.4 5:43 144.53 145
23 22 Morgan Gallagher 12 8 Corning 18:31.2 6:11 116.60 117
43 41 Katie Butler 11 15 Corning 19:06.4 6:23 104.87 105
47 45 Madeline Ustanik 11 17 Corning 19:10.6 6:24 103.47 103
48 46 Michelle Crook 12 13 Corning 19:11.3 6:24 103.23 103
52 49 Natalie Rogus 11 19 Corning 19:25.2 6:29 98.60 99
58 54 Maeve Holman 9 10 Corning 19:30.5 6:31 96.83 97
Boys Varsity AAA
Individual Winner - Mickey Burke (Rush-Henrietta) - 14:25.0
Breakdown
We knew it would be close. Last week's tiebreaker with Liverpool and defending state champ Saratoga made sure to let everyone know of the warriors pressure on competition. And close it was, as Fayetteville-Manlius overtook Liverpool by six points in the end, proving that Section 3 Class A is a powerhouse. The Hornets ran impressively upfront, having six in the top fifteen by the mile mark. As the race took out, and the pack separated, Bryce Millar pushed forward, led by eventual race winner Mickey Burke of Rush-Henrietta. Fresh off a verbal commitment to Syracuse, Burke powered from the crowd when he saw an opening. The gap increased as the clock ticked off, and it became clear the race would be something special. With only the backstretch to go, Burke kicked it into overdrive, powering to the line, eleven seconds clear of the previous course record. For the first race of the season, this could be the start of something special. The top ten individuals are below in the photo highlights, which include other big marks from Section 5 standouts Josh Dyrland and Tyler Ranke.
Team Champs
TOP TEAMS:
Points: 62
2 2 Bryce Millar 11 1 Fayetteville-Manlius 14:45.1 4:56 189.97 190
4 3 Andrew Berge 12 3 Fayetteville-Manlius 14:55.2 4:59 186.60 187
12 10 Adam Hunt 11 4 Fayetteville-Manlius 15:17.0 5:06 179.33 179
25 23 Pete Ryan 10 3 Fayetteville-Manlius 15:41.9 5:14 171.03 171
26 24 Riley Hughes 11 10 Fayetteville-Manlius 15:43.1 5:15 170.63 171
32 30 Kyle Barber 11 14 Fayetteville-Manlius 15:53.9 5:18 167.03 167
49 47 Patrick Perry 9 2 Fayetteville-Manlius 16:14.0 5:25 160.33 160
84 Jon Abbott 11 32 Fayetteville-Manlius 16:46.6 5:36 149.47 149
89 David Benman 12 43 Fayetteville-Manlius 16:49.5 5:37 148.50 149
Points: 66
8 6 Ben Petrella 10 1 Liverpool 15:02.6 5:01 184.13 184
11 9 Dan Muldoon 11 3 Liverpool 15:14.1 5:05 180.30 180
15 13 Connor Buck 11 5 Liverpool 15:20.7 5:07 178.10 178
18 16 Alex Christensen 11 7 Liverpool 15:29.8 5:10 175.07 175
24 22 Nick Leclair 11 9 Liverpool 15:41.5 5:14 171.17 171
30 28 Dylan McCarthy 11 13 Liverpool 15:52.6 5:18 167.47 167
50 48 Sean Brais 12 23 Liverpool 16:14.3 5:25 160.23 160
60 Ryan Comstock 10 8 Liverpool 16:20.2 5:27 158.27 158
Points: 132
13 11 Keith Johnson 12 8 Webster Thomas 15:19.9 5:07 178.37 178
19 17 Nick Neamtu 10 2 Webster Thomas 15:31.5 5:11 174.50 175
31 29 Kevin Witt 12 13 Webster Thomas 15:53.0 5:18 167.33 167
33 31 Josh Goldstein 12 14 Webster Thomas 15:54.7 5:19 166.77 167
46 44 Justin Vestri 11 19 Webster Thomas 16:11.8 5:24 161.07 161
61 58 Sean Welch 11 22 Webster Thomas 16:20.6 5:27 158.13 158
77 74 Ben Whitman 12 37 Webster Thomas 16:42.9 5:35 150.70 151
Points: 139
10 8 Louis Santelli 12 7 St. Anthony's NY 15:12.6 5:05 180.80 181
17 15 Patrick Tucker 11 6 St. Anthony's NY 15:24.7 5:09 176.77 177
21 19 Tyler Wolfe 12 12 St. Anthony's NY 15:38.0 5:13 172.33 172
48 46 John McMullin 12 22 St. Anthony's NY 16:13.7 5:25 160.43 160
53 51 Kevin Solar 12 25 St. Anthony's NY 16:16.4 5:26 159.53 160
85 81 Brian Kreider 12 40 St. Anthony's NY 16:46.9 5:36 149.37 149
Boys Varsity AA
Individual Winner - TJ Hornberger (Lake Shore) - 14:53.2
Breakdown
TJ Hornberger (Lake Shore) was all too familiar with the McQuaid course. He put out an impressive performance last year, nabbing the fourth fastest time of the day in 2012. Coming back, he was stronger, faster, and more experienced. Only one thing stood in his way of bettering his time on the coure: a head cold kicked in early in the week. Still, running through the race with depleted energy, Hornberger powered through the hot conditions, and solo race to come in at only 2 seconds slower than last year. Here's hoping to see what he does at 100%. For the team race, it was Pittsford-Mendon's tiny team compression between it's 3-5 runners that lead to the win over Xavier of NYC. Ranked 6th in Class B in the state, the boys lived up to their title.
Team Champs
Video Lost Sound 1. 92 Pittsford Mendon (15:52.9 79:24.3 0:31.6) ============================================= 1 8 Jack Wesley 12 15:32.6 2 13 Connor Green 12 15:40.4 3 22 Isaac Goodman 10 16:03.2 4 24 Kevin Dooley 11 16:03.9 5 25 Griffin Hess 10 16:04.2 6 ( 36) David Azzara 11 16:17.4 2. 100 Xavier-NYC (15:52.9 79:24.5 1:00.5) ============================================= 1 3 John Rice 11 15:16.4 2 12 Eliot Kaufmann 12 15:38.8 3 21 Jordan Berka 12 16:02.9 4 29 Christian Raslowsky 10 16:09.5 5 35 Louis Vazquez 11 16:16.9 6 ( 64) Thomas Sternglass 11 16:45.1 7 (104) James Galasso 12 17:38.6
Girls Varsity AA
Individual Winner - Alyssa Bolliger (Lourdes CA) - 17:22.6
Breakdown
Canadians always serve as the unknown factor at McQuaid. With race reports staying across the border, quality athletes sneak into the race with very little pre-race fanfare. That didn't stop Alyssa Bolliger from taking out quick, and keeping the pace on her time. Behind her was Ally Ortega of Sweet Home pushing the pace as well, albeit twenty seconds back off the leader. As for the girls of Burnt Hills, they kept their race as a group, running within sight of eachother. They worked their way to the front of the race together, and finished with an impressive thirty second compression, leading to the win.
Team Champs
1. 76 Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake (18:50.0 94:09.8 0:30.0) ============================================= 1 11 Eva Scott 9 18:38.7 2 12 Jordan Casey 11 18:39.7 3 14 Emily Digman 10 18:42.5 4 17 Marina Jerry 10 19:00.2 5 22 Alexis Scott 11 19:08.7 6 ( 26) Allie Fernandez 11 19:18.4 7 ( 34) Erika Frees 12 19:30.7 2. 99 Walsh Jesuit (18:54.2 94:30.7 1:44.1) ============================================= 1 3 Melinda Renuart 12 17:46.4 2 13 Molly Onders 10 18:41.4 3 18 Abby Lenz 10 19:02.5 4 32 Kelly Brennan 11 19:29.9 5 33 Abbey Cerroni 12 19:30.5 6 ( 51) Miranda Gabriel 10 20:00.9 7 ( 54) Kaylee Larsen 9 20:10.5
Boys Varsity A
Individual Winner - Jeremy Parsons (Maplewood PA) - 15:19.5
Breakdown
As the day played out, individuals time and again were running alone up front, essentially a time trial of sorts. That began with Jeremy Parsons of PA, who pulled away in the final mile to create a gap of 30 seconds. The gap was over second place finisher Kenny Vasbinder of East Aurora, who led his team to the title as well. After three meets, East Aurora remains undefeated on both the girls and boys side of the competition, a very compelling argument for Class B superiority.
Team Champs
1. 84 East Aurora (16:16.5 81:22.4 0:59.0) ============================================= 1 2 Kenny Vasbinder 10 15:44.0 2 12 Matt McLaughlin 10 16:10.1 3 14 Tj Murray 10 16:12.0 4 26 Will Zink 10 16:33.3 5 30 Aubrey McLaughlin 12 16:43.0 6 ( 54) Kevin Murnock 10 17:25.9 7 ( 94) Pat Murray 9 18:09.3 2. 96 Northeast Bradford (16:21.8 81:49.0 0:56.2) ============================================= 1 8 Brandon Devonshire 12 15:59.1 2 9 Levi Upham 10 16:00.4 3 16 Garret Smith 9 16:14.9 4 29 Derek Allabaugh 11 16:39.3 5 34 Sam Beers 10 16:55.3 6 ( 50) Austin Senn-Bishop 9 17:11.4 7 ( 51) Ben Horton 11 17:11.8
Girls Varsity A
Individual Winner - Kennedy Weisner (Elk County Catholic) - 16:54.6
Breakdown
It was a race against the clock for senior Kennedy Weisner of Elk County Catholic. Her competitor? That would be herself, as she set the course record last year in 16:45.3. That time didn't quite come as easily this year, yet she still won with the second fastest time of the day, still retaining her course record. As it was for the boys, the second place finisher came from East Aurora, as Marta McLoughlin pushed her own pace. The teams from East Aurora are undefeated in Class B, despite a unique situation. By the numbers, they should have been classified as a Class C school the past three years. However, with Sections delineating differently, they are currently only 10 kids above the Class C level. While they still compete well against competition well above their own enrollment, there is still the thought of what could become of a great in-state rivalry between East Aurora and Bronxville in Class C. It may be something we get to see next year, as their enrollment will drop for 2014.
Team Champs
1. 68 East Aurora (18:36.2 93:00.9 1:24.0) ============================================= 1 2 Marta McLaughlin 12 17:50.7 2 5 Maisy Webster 9 18:09.3 3 17 Sidney Spaschak 12 18:47.2 4 20 Fiona Danueu 10 18:59.0 5 24 Carlin Sullivan 12 19:14.7 6 ( 40) Rebekah Zee 12 19:39.6 7 ( 50) Liz O'Brien 11 19:57.3 2. 148 Tully (19:16.0 96:19.9 1:43.6) ============================================= 1 9 Ashleigh Crawford 10 18:28.5 2 14 Ellen Jaworski 10 18:41.7 3 22 Christine Gambell 12 19:08.2 4 45 Mackenzie Bolt 9 19:49.4 5 58 Alison Congellli 8 20:12.1 6 ( 99) Colleen Ward 12 21:33.4 7 (104) Maureen Murphy 9 21:50.4
Unseeded Highlights
Autumn Albreacht (Brockport) pushes the pace in an unseeded race at the tail end of the day, winning in 18:02.2
Corey Wefing (Maple Grove) ran the small school unseeded race earlier in the day, winning 15:12.6, which would go on to be the twelfth fastest of the day.
Photo Highlights
Mile Mark
1 1 Mickey Burke 12 1 Rush-Henrietta 14:25.0 4:49 196.67 197
2 2 Bryce Millar 11 1 Fayetteville-Manlius 14:45.1 4:56 189.97 190
3 Josh Dyrland 12 2 Irondequoit 14:48.2 4:57 188.93 189
4 3 Andrew Berge 12 3 Fayetteville-Manlius 14:55.2 4:59 186.60 187
5 Tyler Ranke 12 4 Hilton 14:56.0 4:59 186.33 186
6 4 Nick Ciolkowski 11 2 McQuaid Jesuit 15:00.3 5:01 184.90 185
7 5 Dan Huben 12 5 Clarence 15:01.8 5:01 184.40 184
8 6 Ben Petrella 10 1 Liverpool 15:02.6 5:01 184.13 184
9 7 Samuel Chauvin 12 6 Corning 15:07.7 5:03 182.43 182
10 8 Louis Santelli 12 7 St. Anthony's NY 15:12.6 5:05 180.80 181
Mile Mark
1 1 Courtney Smith 12 1 Unionville 16:46.2 5:36 151.60 152
2 2 Abbey Wheeler 10 1 Elmira 17:01.0 5:41 146.67 147
3 3 Katie Lembo 12 2 Penfield 17:03.1 5:42 145.97 146
4 4 Marissa Saenger 12 3 Clarence 17:04.5 5:42 145.50 146
5 5 Jessica Lawson 9 1 Corning 17:07.4 5:43 144.53 145
6 6 Annika Avery 11 1 Fayetteville-Manlius 17:13.8 5:45 142.40 142
7 7 Olivia Young 11 2 Unionville 17:17.0 5:46 141.33 141
8 8 Emily Fisher 12 4 Unionville 17:18.8 5:47 140.73 141
9 9 Alex Cooper 11 3 Rush-Henrietta 17:26.4 5:49 138.20 138
10 10 Siobhan Quinn 11 4 Rush-Henrietta 17:27.7 5:50 137.77 138