2016 NY Girls XC Preview: Class D

2015 lived up to the billing for Class D as Greenwich, Tully, and Maple Grove battled to the finish line in the best ever States race in recent memory, and the Witches flew off with their first title in six years. Now, after the departure of the most storied class of runners in Class D history, what remains for 2016?

First, there has to be a tribute to the big group at the top who gave their all in their senior year and combined to take five of the top six spots at States, a far cry from their own entry year back in 2010 when there was only one senior among the top 14 finishers at States. Hamilton's Sage Hurta won that race back in 2010, and she did it again for the second consecutive time last year. Maple Grove's Hope Pietrocarlo finished 4th back in 2010 with fellow 7th grader Megan Marsh one place behind as they helped lead the Red Dragons to the first of three consecutive championships, and after taking the individual crown in 2013, in 2015 Pietrocarlo kicked in 5th to lead her team to 3rd place. Seton Catholic's Margaret Champagne added to her family's luminous XC history by picking up the first of her six States medals in 2010, and she finished 4th last year. Tully's Ashleigh Crawford didn't show up at States until 2012, one year after her teammate and classmate Ellen Jaworski, but after leading the Black Knights to state championships in 2013 and 2014, the duo finished in 6th and 9th to lead Tully to 2nd place in 2015. Norwood-Norfolk's Kaycie Saucier waited till she was an 8th grader in 2011 to appear at States and finished one place out of the medals at 21st, but she kept moving up and last year finished in 2nd behind Hurta. And finally there was Greenwich's Tori Spiezio who had kind of a tough first States up in Class C as a 7th grader as she finished 40th and her team lost to Bronxville by 3 points, but as a freshman she finished 2nd in States D behind teammate Madeline Montague, and last year a pack of young Witches helped carry her to her first state championship.

The likes of that class will never be seen again, but what we will see this year in Class D is a very new landscape. The solo returning finisher from the top 6 of last year's States race will be 8th grader Brooke Rauber of Tully, but the Black Knights need to pull a team together around her since they appear to be down to two runners. Seton Catholic-Plattsburgh is also missing most of the pieces needed to replace the lineup for last year's 5th-place team, but that is such a normal situation for the Knights that without a blink we will be placing them 3rd in the ratings to start the season. The 2015 States 4th-place team Addison has moved up to Class C, leaving behind a likely Section 5 Class D successor with a name so long that we will be mainly referring to them as the Wolves, or maybe HACkers.

But there is also a lot of continuity in Class D as reigning champs Greenwich will start at the top of the ratings again with a full squad back except for Tori Spiezio, one led by a trio of freshmen Brynne and Brooke Wright and Emma Cronin. Greenwich should also have some strong competition as Maple Grove has a decently stocked team led by junior Grace Auer and 8th grader Carling Lockwood to lead the way in yet another showdown with the Witches. Four-time States champion Beaver River appears to be also stepping back into the limelight, and a rising Trumansburg team is looking to find the final pieces to move into Class D's elite.

At the top of the list for a new States champion to replace Sage Hurta is Brooke Rauber, running far far ahead of the rest of the Class D group. But Rauber was an unknown and not featured in last year's preseason previews, so it is always possible that another spectacular phenom will appear on the scene this year, or simply that some of the other established young runners will go to another level. Greenwich freshmen Brynne Wright and Emma Cronin and Trumansburg freshman Molly MacQueen are probably the likeliest runners to be in the hunt for a top 5-place at States.

Going up the first hill at States. Hamilton's Sage Hurta leads a front group that included States 2013 champion Hope Pietrocarlo of Maple Grove at left and Norfolk-Norwood's Kaycie Saucier at right, who finished 2nd to Hurta.