After this year's graduation of Aidan Tooker and Jake Johnson, there are voids needed to be filled in Section 2. While Noah Carey has already proven himself, and is ready to take over the reins in Section 2, there is also a plethora of young talent in the making. This past outdoor track season, NY had 25 freshmen boys under 4:40 in the 1600, or a mile equivalent. Of those 25, 11 hail from Section 2. In the 3200, Section 2 had 5 of the fastest 9 freshman male runners. Look for Section 2 to solidify themselves again as a state power in the coming years.
Last year Greg had a decent freshman cross country season, with a 17:32 for a 137 speed rating at the Burnt Hills Invitational, but continued to improve during track. He finished that season with a pr of 4:38 for the mile and a 10:09 in the 3200. Greg has shown continued improvement over the summer months, and ran a very strong 167 speed rating to start off his season. This mark lands him on the Section 2 sophomore boys top ten list.
9: Nick Hunziker - BHBL Class B
Nick Hunziker is a strong runner across the board. Nick had a top speed rating of 158 and was a part of Burnt Hills' 3rd place finish at last years' state meet. Last year at the McQuaid Invitational, Hunziker was one of the many unknown runners in the field but raced all alone to a second place finish in the Varsity B race. Hunziker made a large jump this past outdoor season to move up onto this list. On the track he has run a 9:50 3200, a 4:37 mile, and a 2:04 800. Coming off of performances like these, you will probably see Nick jump in team ranks and drop solid times in races. He has already raced and won at the Fonda Invitational and put up a 157 speed rating at the Guilderland Invitational this season.
Shenendehowa was last season preseason #1 in New York, but failed to improve in the way many other teams did. Evan is hoping to team up with a younger squad of Alex Hislop and Gregory Langone and make an impact on Shen's Varsity. Lafleche ran a very strong track season displaying strong speed with a pr of 51.95 in the 400m. He also ran a 4:32 1600 and a 10:08 3200. With only a 17:12 3 mile pr to his name, look for Lafleche to make a large jump this cross country season given his progress during track.
As a sophomore, Francisco Beltran has already competed at track nationals and last year's cross country state meet, placing 24th, and hitting a seasonal 3.04 mile best time of 16:24. Going into the 2016 cross country season, Beltran will be coming off of big track prs with a sub 2 800, and a 4:30 1600. This should give him a great kick going up against his competitors. He is coming off a 3rd place individual finish at his sectional championship last year, however, Beltran's team moves up a class, and Francisco must now vie for a state's selection in a more difficult class.
Evan
Brennan has the experience from running at indoor and outdoor nationals and is
the fourth returning scorer from last year's Burnt Hills state meet 3rd
place team. Evan comes into the season with a 3.04 mile best at 16:01 and a fast track season taking huge
amounts of time off of his 800, 1600, and 3200. Coming off of fast new prs, we
should see Evan sail under the 16 minute barrier and join his fellow sophomore teammates at the top of the Burnt Hills team. Evan Brennan has consistently improved throughout the cross country season so it should interesting where he
will be at come post season racing. Evan posted his first speed rating at 164
this past weekend at Guilderland.
Which 5 runners make the top of this list? Find out here.