Michael Connor Memorial Boys Seeded Varsity AAA
Individuals: Consider this the first real boys individual matchup meet of the season. Time to shake out the best of the best. Headlining the field, up a division from a year ago, will be Kenny Vasbinder (East Aurora), who took down his home course record the weekend after taking second in the merge at the Pre-State Invite. Rising to meet him will be Ben Petrella (Liverpool), who took a shot at the VVS Meet Record in the early season, coming not too far off topping a list that reads as a who's-who of Section 3. What has the extra weeks of training done to prepare him? Another winner from VVS was Donny Glavin (McQuaid), who has continued his winning streak since. Behind the front trio, will be a close battle. Corning brings two to the table in Peter Kane and Brian Bates. To meet them will be Ithaca's Jake Avery. Jackson Tate (HFL) will also be in the mix, as will Terrell Coleman (Liverpool).
Teams: The team battle will be equally as interesting. East Aurora has emerged as the Top Team in the State, barring an FM team when they run their full Top 5 in a single race. But what of Liverpool. They sat several of their top 5 runners at Baldwinsville, but their 4th man at VVS saw a big improvement. Could they upset the order of things in New York State, and bring the trophy back to Section 3? At Baldwinsville, the home team were no slouches themselves, taking second overall, and making the scoring tight. Corning shone brightest at the Pre-State Invite, and has arguably the best 1-4 compression of the field. Syosset and Shen are always strong competitors, and couple provoe some shocks as well.
Baldwinsville
Canisius
Corning
East Aurora
Fairport
Honeoye Falls-Lima
Ithaca
Liverpool
Lockport
McQuaid Jesuit
Orchard Park
Penfield
Shenendehowa
St. Joes
St. Marcellinus
Syosset
Victor Central
Webster Thomas
Jason DeJoy Memorial Boys Seeded Varsity AA
Individuals: Could the fastest time come from the smaller race at McQuaid? In the 51 year history of the meet, that has rarely been the case. But two athletes could make the difference. Noah Affolder (Carthage) has been undefeated this season. He's raced every weekend since opening at VVS, and won every race. After this weekend, he'll have the Manhattan Invite next weekend. Can the streak stay alive? A different philosophy will be waiting to see what he can do. Conor Lundy (Fordham Prep) has waited until McQuaid to open his season. He was just three slots shy of qualifying for Nike Cross Nationals last season, but saw an emergence as a track star in the winter and spring. How will that affect his senior season? And will his delayed opening keep him race-sharp to run with Affolder? This will be a race to watch.
That's not to say the race isn't stacked behind them. Brother Sam Affolder (Carthage) has only been a step off Noah. Nathan Lawler (Pittsford-Mendon) and Christian Raslowsky (Xavier) will both be leading powerful teams into the mix. Paul Dellinger (Brighton) and Kevin Gideon (Burnt Hills) have some power in their legs as well. Peter Rindfuss (Hamburg) will be up front as he was at Pre-States. And what of Walsh Jesuit (OH), who has brought race champions from across state lines before?
Teams: Pittsford-Mendon is a team on the rise, and will look to recapture the team title they lost last year by merely 2 points. They are NY #3 overall, and are a very real threat to any team in the State. Xavier was the team that took that title the year prior, and are coming off a strong showing with their win at Pre-State. These 2015 rematch could get interesting, especially when you add in Walsh Jesuit, and the unknown Canadian squads.
Birchmount Park-ONT
Brighton
Brockport
Bromfield School
Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake
Carthage
Centre Wellington-ON
College catholique Franco-Ouest
Cortland
East Northumberland
Fordham Prep
Glebe Collegiate
Hamburg
Lake Shore HS-NY
New Hartford
Pittsford Mendon
Simcoe Composite-ONT
Sir Winston Churchill
St. James Catholic
St.Peters Prep-NJ
Walsh Jesuit
West Seneca East
Xavier-NYC
Michael Ardison Memorial Boys Seeded Varsity A
Individuals: After a dominant win at Baldwinsville, all eyes will be on Dawson Bathgate (East Rochester). He is the top returner from this race a year ago (Vasbinder has moved up to AAA), and will look to lower his time even further. But the title won't be simply handed over. Alex Hogue (Wheatland-Chili), Owen Barber (Allegheny-Limestone), and Kyle Fulk (Norwood-Norfolk) are all close enough that the title is up for grabs. Evan Whitaker (Trumansburg), Adam Saucier (Norwood-Norfolk), and Ryan Hetrick (Maple Grove) are also waiting in the wings for their breakout performance, and could come away with the win.
Teams: Possibly the most up-for-grabs title of the Varsity Meet, there are several team who could come away victorious. Watkins Glen is your top entry at NY #3 in Class C. Maple Grove is NY #1 in Class D, and will be mounting the best defense. Marcellus has looked strong, and will be right there as well.
Allegany-Limestone
Bath-Haverling
Cardinal OHara
Cathedral Prep
Cazenovia
Clinton
East Rochester
General McLane
Greenville
Guelph Collegiate
Hornell
Maple Grove
Marcellus
Mercyhurst Prep-PA
New York Mills
Newark HS-NY
Newark Valley
North Clarion
Northeast Bradford
Norwood-Norfolk Central
Notre Dame-Easton-PA
Olean
Pawling
Potsdam
Randolph
Royal St. George's College
Saranac Central
Seton Catholic-Platt
Susquehanna Valley
Trumansburg
Waterloo
Watkins Glen
Wheatland-Chili
Windsor