Running the Numbers for Great State Expectations

The States action about individual athletes and relay squads. Whatever team competitions that might have been the heart and soul of the league and maybe county meet action has long since disappeared by time of States in a sport that just doesn't facilitate team versus team competition there, as it does hugely in cross country. But athletes do take pride in the efforts of athletes of their home region, and the favorites with state qualifier marks in the sectional meets may well slacken their pace a bit near the end of their race to let another athlete from another team who does not have the standard to win so that they both can move on to States. Of course each section will bemoan the fact they are missing some athletes who are have been waylaid by conflicting competitions, late-season injuries, or those especially troublesome prom issues, but you got to run with the pack you brought, even if it's missing the guy that just broke the 38 year old record in the 400m hurdles.

So which of NY's 14 sections (11 NYSPHSAA plus PSAL (S12), CHSAA (S13), and AIS (S14)) is likely to be the dominant region this year. If the distant past (2015) is any indicator, the bragging rights may be centered around the downstate region, even if the athletes of teams like Rush-Henrietta, Fayetteville-Manlius, and Saratoga make a lot of noise at CNS. The most balanced and high-scoring sections are Section 1, the PSAL, and Section 11. Although none of the athletes realized it at the time, last year's ferocious contest for top howling chest thumper came down to a single point for the combined mark and just 2 points for the guys. Whether it was the guy's 4x400m race that culminated the meet action or a late-running triple jump, the decisions came down to the smallest of margins.

On the guys' side, it was the Section 11 squad led by William Floyd's Hasani Rathan in the HJ and Huntington's Infinite Tucker in the 400m hurdles that managed to nip by 85-83 the PSAL squad led by Richard Rose and his 4x400m relay team. The S11 guys did get a 2nd and 3rd from Huntington and Half Hollow Hills West in that final 4x400m race to better the 10 points that the PSAL got from Boys and Girls' 1st place, so the teams in this year's 4x400m might think about that effort level this year when the final action rolls around at CNS. Rounding out the close contest for the top 5, Section 9 finished with 66 points, the CHSAA got 63, Section 1 got 62, and Section 2 was 6th on the podium at 55.

On the girls' side, a Section 1 team powered by wins from Suffern's Kamryn McIntosh in the 800m, Arlington's Bella Burda in the 3000m, and Suffern's 4x400m and Bronxville's 4x800m squads used a late surge in the relays to beat out the PSAL team by 100-78 led by a quintet of winners including Medgar Evers' Brenessa Thompson in the 100m, Taft's Ariane Strunkey in the 200m, Clara Barton's Paula Salmon in the 100m hurdles, Paul Robeson's Alyssa Sandy in the 400m hurdles, and the Medgar Evers 4x100 team. Four other sections packed pretty closely together included Section 2 at 68, Section 11 at 65, Section 6 at 60, and Section 5 at 57.

And then there's that single point. The combined action saw Section 1 gather 100 points from girls winners and 62 from the 5th place guys to edge the second place PSAL team's 83 and 78 boys and girls contributions to get the chest thumping celebration going with a 162-161 victory. Section 11's winning guys and 4th place girls took the 3rd spot at 150. Section 2 was 4th at 123,  Section 9 was 5th at 111, and Section 5 just missed the century mark in 6th at 98.