Tartan Invitational: Scotia, NY
In the past years that the Tartan Invitational has been run, we have seen team wins on the boys' side from both Saratoga, Scotia-Glenville, and Queensbury. In 2013, Scotia-Glenville came out on top over Queensbury, 28-55. Daken Broadhead of Scotia-Glenville got the individual victory in a time of 16:15. The following year, Daken Broadhead defended his title with yet another victory. That year, 2014, Queensbury edged out Scotia-Glenville with a tie-breaking run from Andrew Shaw as the sixth runner for Queensbury.The Queensbury team's top runner was Ethan Carey in second place overall. 2015 was a very different year for results as we didn't see the Queensbury team on the course. Instead, the Saratoga team ran their JV team up on Varsity and claimed victory over the rest of the field. Saratoga's Aidan Waite was the top runner in his field last year, winning with a time of 17:01.
This year the Saratoga varsity team will be running down at the Manhattan Invitational, so we definitely won't see the top squad out of Saratoga there, however we could see they're next seven runners take on the varsity race again, which would make for a close race with the competing teams. If we are to see a similar competition at the Tartan Invitational, with the Queensbury and Saratoga teams both coming back this year, we will probably see another victory for the Queensbury team as they look to take down the reigning champs of Saratoga. Ethan Carey of Queensbury would go in as the favorite for the individual win. If these teams don't make a reappearance, then the South Glens Falls team will have the door open to make a move for the top of the podium.
On the girls' side of competition, the Queensbury and Saratoga teams saw wins again. In 2013 and 2014, the Queensbury team took back to back victories in the team race and the individual race. Both years, the Queensbury girls won their races with a low 21 points to runners up Schuylerville (2013) and South Glens Falls (2014). Megan Kellogg won in 2013 with a time of 18:25, and then Sherri Metcalfe took the reins to win in 2014 with 19:23 after a third place finish the year prior. Last year the Saratoga girls ran in a similar format to their boys where they ran their 8th through 14th place runners up on varsity, and they won their race with a low 27 points to second place Essex's 59 points. Ciara Knott was last year's individual winner with a time of 19:12.
If both Saratoga and Queensbury return to the Tartan Invitational yet again, the Saratoga team looks to have slight margin of advantage over the rest of the field. Individually, Queensbury's Emily Atamanchuk looks to be the one with strong contention for the win. However, South Glens Falls' Regina Rosati could run a big race and put pressure on Atamanchuk for the individual win. If neither Queensbury nor Saratoga make an appearance at this years' Tartan Invitational, that will leave the door open for teams like South Glens Falls and Schuylerville to battle it out for the win. In this case, Regina Rosati and her team will go in as the favorites for both individual and team wins.