NYS Champs - Lipari Taking It All In Stride

Stage 2 complete for FM


By Christopher Hunt

    WAPPINGERS FALLS — Emily Lipari sat on a wooden bench a few feet off from the finish line. She smiled a lot. Not because she won, well, maybe a little, but really because that’s just what the Roslyn sophomore does.

    She said she doesn’t get herself pumped out before races. Lipari doesn’t get too excited afterward. She just smiles and lets her brother Tommy do the strategizing and worrying.

    “He practically runs my race for me,” Lipari said. ‘’He tells me who’s in the race. He tells me where I’m supposed to be. He just maps everything out for me.’

    Her brother must have a future in coaching. Lipari won the girls New York State Federation championship, finishing the 5K course at Bowdoin Park in 17 minutes, 58.1 seconds, the fastest time since former Saratoga Springs star Nicole Blood set the course record at 17:27.3 in 2004. Lipari’s time the fourth-fastest time ever run at Bowdoin Park.

    She controlled the race early. Then Courtney Chapman of Fayetteville-Manilus and Hannah Davidson of Saratoga moved up after the first mile. Chapman led through the second mile but once Lipari, the Class A state champion, regained the lead in the last mile, no one could catch her.

    Lipari had a major breakthrough at the state meet last Saturday, running the fastest time of the day, 17:31.6 at Norwood-Norfolk High.  She made her jump last year at the state meet as well. Now she’s all but punched her ticket to the San Diego, Calif., for the Foot Locker Nationals. The Foot Locker Northeast Regional is Saturday, Nov. 24 at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.

    Lipari said she hasn’t given much thought to Foot Locker yet, or her dramatic improvement or any increased expectations.

    “I don’t really let any of that bother me,” she said. “I like to smile and have fun before the race. Then I just go out and race.”

 Fayetteville-Manilus has always had the expectations and the team continues to live up to each one. They crushed the team competition, placing their top five among the first 11 finishers, winning the team title in 26 points. They finished their top seven among the first 26. Chapman finished second in 18:03.8.

    “The race is very significant for us in a very simple way,” FM coach Bill Aris said, “most of our girls had never run this course before and they were able to come her and be successful and of course, winning the Federation.”

    FM, the nation’s top-ranked team, was even more dominant than last week when they won the Class AA state title and finished with 35 points in the overall merge. Aris said the girls ran more conservatively last week. He took the reigns off for Federations.

    “This was just another step on the ladder,” he said. “Last week was Stage One. This is Stage Two.

    

Saratoga finished second with 80 points and East Aurora third with 124. As good as the team was, they genuinely believe they are still improving. The top five were separated by 59 seconds. It was 31 seconds at the state meet but Aris said that was because he allowed the girls to be more aggressive.

    “I think we did really well today,” Chapman said. “We all pushed each other. We all think we can improve still. That’s our goal. We’re always striving for excellence.”

    Reach Christopher Hunt at chunt@armorytrack.com.

Photos by Tim Fulton