No. 10 - Watkins Glen Wins Feds
It had only happened twice in the history of the event. Once in 1985, and again in 1999. For most on the Watkins Glen boys cross country team, they weren't alive for either. But those were the only years when a team not from Class A won the New York State Cross Country Federation title. Well, you can now add 2016 to that exclusive group.
The Watkins Glen boys cross country was projected to be good coming into the season, a slight lead on Mount Academy in the Class C ranks. However, they were not listed inside the Top Ten overall in the pre-season. That all changed with a 5th place finish in the merge at Pre-States, which boosted them up to NY #7. They proved they belonged there with a follow up performance at 7th in the McQuaid Merge. Progress continued until the Manhattan Invite, where the team found some struggle.
The Team took two weeks off before returning to racing, taking second to Fairport. But it was Sectionals, where the team began to roll into shape. They took third in the merge behind eventual State Champs Corning, with an even more impressive 35-second split. At States, they rolled through the Class C competition, scoring a low 21-points. In the merge, they would take 6th, but were only ten points out of second.
Feds saw some of the top teams forgo the meet to focus on regionals. However, there were numerous teams ranked #1 or #2 in their division, including Class A State Runner-up Warwick, Class B Champs Burnt Hills, Class C Runner-up Mount Academy, and more. Watkins was seeded second heading into the race, but only a ten point spread for teams 1-3. Front runner Pat Hazlitt had his best race of the year, taking 5th overall. Next across was frosh Gabe Planty. Then 3rd, 4th and 5th. It wasn't clear who had won. Burnt Hills had them beat through 4 runners. But XC requires 5. Watkins Glen were overjoyed when they heard. They took the meet by 9 points, the first time a non-Class A team had won in 18 years.