The Section 1 Coaches meet is the traditional get-to-know-your-State-Qualifiers-course meet, and this year the runners will get a chance to climb up their favorite hill at Bowdoin Park. The weather is supposed to be ideal, unlike two years ago when the Coaches race was last held at Bowdoin and "mud" was the operative word, combined with "slides," "bogs," "baths," and "tattoos." Last year, the meet was held, much like the Sectionals and States, at Pawling's Green Mountain Lake course, and the races were expanded to 4 varsity races apiece for the boys and girls since so many teams attended from around NY.

This year's meet returns to the usual format with three varsity races on each side, and the field will not be quite as strong at the public school level without 2010 attendees East Aurora and Honeoye Falls-Lima. Instead, a powerhouse field of NYC and LI Catholic schools will be bringing boys squads, and creating some exciting matchups in the races. For the boys, three of the top 6 NYS Class A teams and 5 of the top 20 will be running, along with 5 top-20 NYS-B teams, and 4 of the top 20 NYS-C teams. Both the Varsity-2 and Varsity-3 races feature duels between a pair of runners with TRs over 180, and at 179 Stuyvesant's Konrad Surkont is only a few steps back in the third race. Action should definitely be hottest in the last two races, but the face-off in Varsity-1 between #4 NYS-A team St. Anthony's and a North Rockland team that was dumped from the state rankings last week will be one to watch.

The Coaches meet has extra meaning for the Section 1 teams, because even if it is just a test run for the Sectionals meet 13 days later, the fact is that the S1 teams that do the best among their fellow team classmates usually end up going on to States. Last year Arlington, Brewster, Pearl River, and Pawling were dominant among the teams in their class based on average time, and they repeated that performance at Sectionals. This year following the reclassifications, the competition among the four S1-B powers Pearl River, Brewster, Somers, and Tappan Zee is especially ferocious, and Brewster and Somers will square off in Varsity-3. Bronxville and Pawling will also be trying to show that they have the right stuff to be the S1-C champs, and they will run in races 1 and 3. Any team that believes they have a prayer of taking on Arlington for the S1-A crown will also need to show that they are not running an average of over 30 seconds behind the Admirals.

Race Info: The boys first race begins at 12:30. St. Anthony's looks like the best team in the group by a fair measure with a pack of five guys including Patrick Ginty and Thomas Diliberto with 4 TR points of each other between 168-172. North Rockland is led by Brett Bernard and Liam Purdy and comes in 2nd rated, but Tappan Zee behind Joe Dinan and Nathan Kotch, Bronxville with the triumvirate of Dayton and John Flannery and John Vetromile, and Calhoun and Zachary Toner, Nick Hale and Chris Landi will all be battling for top spots.

Top 7 Teams: St. Anthony's (NYS-A #4) 170.2, North Rockland (S1-A #3) 159.2, Tappan Zee (NYS-B #13, S1-B #4) 157.8, Bronxville (NYS-C #2, S1-C #1) 157.4, Calhoun 154.9, Middletown 145.2, Iona Prep 142.4. Next: Clarkstown South, Nyack, LakelandPanas, Dover, Yorktown

Top 30 Runners: Joe Dinan (TZ) 174, Dayton Flannery (Brx) 173, Patrick Ginty (SA) 172, Thomas Diliberto (SA) 171, Jake Hensler (SA) 170, Matthew Taddeo (SA) 170, Kevin Kreider (SA) 168, Nathan Kotch (TZ) 168, John Flannery (Brx) 167, Zachary Toner (Cal) 167, Cullin Burdett (North Salem) 166, Brett Bernard (NR) 166, John Vetromile (Brx) 164, Liam Purdy (NA) 164, Tim Hefferon (Iona) 163, James Shea (York) 162, Nick Hale (Cal) 161, Chris Landi (Cal) 161, Kunal Shah (LP) 159, Luke Gavigan (TZ) 159, Brian Smith (SA) 159, John McMullen (SA) 159, Alex Shodai (Mid) 158, Jonathan Miklos (NR) 157, Cameron Rasmussen (Hendrick Hudson) 155, Charlie Fraoli (Rye Neck) 155, Asad Jeffrey (NR) 155, Matt Lee (Dover) 154, Julio Melendez (Nyack) 153, Thomas Landes (NR) 153

Varsity Race II

Race Info: Race II kicks off at 1:30. As the third ranked team in the state, undefeated Arlington has the edge here, but Monsignor Farrell is #6 in NYS-A and the battle should be terrific. Farrell's Dan Galford should have a good match with John Jay-East Fishkill's Mike Turi and Arlington's tandem of Sibby Hanson and Eddie Merenda. Running a little ways behind the top duo are a strong quartet that includes Pearl River, St. John the Baptist, Suffern, and Turi and Kevin French's JJ-EF, who are all within about 6 TR points of each other. This race will be where the fire is the hottest.

Top 7 Teams: Arlington (NYS-A #3, S1-A #1) 171.4,  Monsignor Farrell (NYS-A #6) 168.4, Pearl River (NYS-B #10, S1-B #1) 163.8, St. John the Baptist (NYS-A #20) 160.2, Suffern (NYS-A # 17, S1-A #2) 159.8, John Jay - East Fishkill (S1-A #5) 157.4, Horace Greeley (S1-A #7) 140.4. Next: Scarsdale, Mahopac, Rye, New Rochelle, Briarcliff

Top 30 Runners: Dan Galford (MF) 186, Mike Turi (JJEF) 181, Sibby Hanson (Arl) 177, Eddie Merenda (Arl) 177, Kevin French (JJEF) 175, Evan Ward (Suf) 171, Taylor Love (Rye), Chris Wise (Arl), John Bentivegna (MF) 169, Kieran Brennan (PR) 168, Aaron Ryley (Arl) 168, Stephen Shine (Briar) 168, Sean Ferguson (SJB) 167, Joe Clinton (PR) 167, Brian Edsall (PR) 166, Steve Arnone (MF) 164, Alex LoPresti (MF) 163, Jimmy Hamilton (SJB) 163, Stephen McNiff (PR) 162, Corey Chiavelli (Arl) 162, Ash Dean (Maho) 160, Daniel Lewandowski (MF) 160, Joe Luchesi (MF) 159, Chris Koenitzer (Arl) 159, James Lafortezza ((HG) 158, Shawn Vettom (Suf) 158, Sean Hall (SJB) 158, Jake Morales (SJB) 157, Paolo Fiore (SJB) 156, Brian Tress (MF) 156, Brian Cook (PR) 156

Varsity Race III

Race Info: Start time is 4:00. Any of five teams could win a race that just goes to who wants it more. Brewster has the top TR, but close behind are Bronx Science, Stuyvesant, Bishop Gibbons, and Somers. Likewise for the individual winner, Eldred's Alex Campanella has the top rating at 182, Justin Maguire is at 180, and Manhattan-F race winner Konrad Surkont is at 179. It will not be a surprise if any of those teams or runners win a title. Further spicing the action is the confrontation between two S1-B powers Brewster and Somers, and two top NYC public schools Bronx Science and Stuyvesant will also be battling for supremacy in their conference. In Class C action, Pawling hopes to round into shape to defend its  S1-C title.

Top 7 Teams: Brewster (NYS-B #4, S1-B #2) 163.4, Bronx Science 160.8, Stuyvesant 160.2, Bishop Gibbons (NYS-B #14, S2-B #3) 157.8, Somers (NYS-B #16, S1-B #3) 156.8, Pawling (NYS-C #4, S1-C #2) 152.6, Monroe-Woodbury 146.6. Next: White Plains, Harrison, Our Lady of Lourdes, Dobbs Ferry, Irvington

Top  30 Runners: Alex Campanella (Eldred) 182, Justin Maguire (Brew) 180, Konrad Surkont (Stuy) 179, Brendan Wortner (DF) 176, Jordan Pantalone (BG) 175, Jason Lange (BG) 175, Jack Stevenson (Stuy) 173, Pier Berkmans (BSci) 172, Adam McIe (Brew) 171, Matt Lange (BG) 171, Adam Yohanan (BSci) 171, Justin Zorn (Som) 170, Matt Jorgensen (Pawl) 167, Charlie Ropes (OLL) 167, Charlie Carr (Brew) 167, David Sammel (Som) 166, Hunter Proscia (Eldred) 166, Tom Higgins (Westlake) 164, Colin Souter (Pawl) 163, Andrew Rock (BSci) 163, Mark Schramm (Stuy) 162, Kevin Trimmer (MSIT) 157, Omar Lopez (OLL) 157, Chris Cardon (WP) 157, Michael Michell (WP) 156, Trey Wasilesky (Har) 156, Llaney Hernandez (MW) 156, Zach Snel (James O'Neill) 156, Kai Crannell (Som) 155, JM McIntyre (MW) 154, Joseph Ledger (BSci) 154, Nick Cortina (Brew) 154