Following Week of Saturday, September 23
During the weekend prior to McQuaid, there were some major changes in the rankings for the two biggest classes as teams began to pull together full squads. The action was centered around the invitationals at Bowdoin, Baldwinsville, Queensbury, Monroe-Woodbury Crusader, East Aurora, Xavier, and Owego. The temperatures at many of the meets were way higher than optimal, but likely it was a kiss-off to summer conditions as we head firmly into fall.
The team making the biggest move last weekend was definitely Ithaca while finishing just 8 points behind Class B powerhouse Burnt Hills in the Baldwinsville Large Schools race, jumping the Little Red up six spots to the 2nd position in Class A. Smithtown and Bethlehem also made huge leaps with big performances at Bowdoin and Queensbury. Small teams had a light schedule in front of McQuaid, but Port Byron got a big boost by winning at Baldwinsville, and Saranac Lake with a win in the Salmon River Mud Run earns a little extra love.
At this point to be ranked, every squad needs to have run in a speed rated invitational (or a nonrated one that is easy for me to estimate) and shown it has at least five runners getting to the finish line. There are a number of teams down in Class D that we are waiting for, but McQuaid will set up the rankings for the small school as a base for the rest of the season.