Nike Cross Regionals - New York Girls
1 1 Annika Avery JR Manlius XC 18:05.3 9:05 9:01 147.23 147
2 2 Abbey Wheeler SO Express XC Club 18:25.4 9:14 9:12 140.53 141 ***
3 3 Alana Pearl SR Manlius XC 18:33.1 9:09 9:25 137.97 138
4 4 Sophia Tasselmyer SO Aurora 18:34.8 9:16 9:19 137.40 137 ***
5 Erin Jaskot SR UNA-NY-Orangeburg 18:38.2 9:25 9:14 136.27 136 ***
6 5 Alex Cooper JR Comets T.C. 18:38.7 9:15 9:24 136.10 136 ***
7 Stephanie Gerland SO UNA-NY-Garden City 18:39.2 9:29 9:11 135.93 136 ***
8 Bella Burda JR Jacovino XC Racing 18:41.1 9:12 9:30 135.30 135
9 6 Siobhan Quinn JR Comets T.C. 18:46.6 9:31 9:16 133.47 133
10 7 Kate Zendell JR Suffern Track Club 18:48.9 9:27 9:22 132.70 133
Breakdown
It was hard to miss Fayetteville-Manlius. They weren't here to make a statement, just to take care of business. And, in typical fashion, the Hornets stole the show, running 1-4 for more than half the race. Junior Annika Avery pulled away with a mile to go, and put an insurmountable gap on the field. Teammate Alana Pearl took third, running well as well. However, the pack was not alone up and down the hill. Abbey Wheeler, a frontrunner all season for Elmira, hung with the upper classman through the tangled trails up and down the hill. She would end up splitting the pair in the last 1000m, booking her ticket to Portland. Using Pearl to pace off, newly inducted East Aurora member Sophia Tasselmyer ran her best race of the season to book her ticket. Likewise, Section 1's Erin Jaskot of Tappan Zee earned a personal best in solidifying her spot on the plane. The final individual qualifiers Alex Cooper and Steph Gerland were only steps behind, and are in as well. Surprisingly, all five individual qualifiers have never made the trip before. Here's to a repeat next year.
Team Champs
Fayetteville-Manlius proved there was little reason to worry after an early season pair of losses. That's because the process is more important that its pieces, and the final goal is the one that matters. With another week to train, it will be only fine tuning needed, as they scored a very strong 32 points in winning the regional. It also puts them again as the favorite to take home their 8th straight title next week. Behind them, Saratoga rebounded off a rare Fed loss to take a solid place. They were followed by a 4-point gap that separated places 3-5, which would not include an At-Large bid. On to the next one.
1st Place - Fayetteville-Manlius
2nd Place - Saratoga
1. 32 Manlius XC (18:44.5 93:42.3 1:08.1) *** Fayetteville-Manlius NY 2. 88 Kinetic RC (19:24.1 97:00.1 0:21.2) *** Saratoga Springs NY 3. 142 Aurora (19:32.3 97:41.2 1:33.7) *** East Aurora NY 4. 143 Express XC Club (19:31.5 97:37.5 1:47.3) *** Elmira District NY 5. 146 JJ XR XC (19:39.4 98:16.8 0:37.8) 6. 206 Adirondack Runners (19:55.5 99:37.3 0:47.8) 7. 222 Running Lady Pirates (19:59.1 99:55.1 0:32.3) 8. 229 Titan Ridge Runners (20:03.1 100:15.2 1:13.7) 9. 254 BHBL Track Club (20:08.9 100:44.1 0:20.3) 10. 259 Liverpool TC (20:19.2 101:35.9 2:12.7)
Photo Highlights
Putting the distance between other teams was the name of the game on Saturday
The front pack separated earlier than it did for the boys, giving more room to run.
The Hornets soon moved into the front 4 positions, giving them complete control of the race.
Avery soon began to pull away up the winding hills.
By the 2-Mile mark, she had a full on ten second lead on the rest of the field.
Continuing the winning tradition proved rewarding for the Junior.
Abbey Wheeler booked her ticket in a fast mark as well, going west for the first time.
