Burnt Hills Invitational Preview

Burnt Hills Invitational: Saratoga Springs, NY

This year marks the 35^th running of the Burnt Hills Invitational and it is set to be the largest one yet. With just under 100 teams in competition this year, we will see teams from NY, MA, and VT and ten of the eleven sections. The Burnt Hills Invitational has attracted many top state ranked teams which is sure to bring top competition in every race run. We may see new meet and even course records drop this weekend in the freshman races, however Ubriaco's, Burda's, Trautman's, and Blood's records will most likely hold up against the competition this weekend.

Meet Records:

Course Records:

The Boys Division Three Varsity race looks as though we will see a close race up front for the individual win between a large group of runners. At the front of the pack, we will probably see a battle of the Tylers as the top two runners going into this race look to be Tyler Marshall of Champlain Valley Union (CVU) in Vermont and Tyler Berg of Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake (BHBL). Tyler Marshall has run very well on the NY soil as he has won all of his races at the Ed Springstead Invitational, Queensbury Invitational and the Manhattan Invitational, taking down top competitors at all sites. Tyler Berg has also been racing up front as he has placed high at the Guilderland Invitational, the Baldwinsville Invitational, and the McQuaid Invitational. Both competitors are very capable to take home an individual win tomorrow, so it will interesting how each competitor attacks the course. Other notable runners in this race that could challenge up front are Nicholas Andrew out of Brockport, teammates Evan Brennan and Nick Hunziker of BHBL and Paul Suflita of Greece Acadia. The top teams are looking to be BHBL, Niskayuna, CVU and Brockport.

The Varsity Division Two Boys' Race has the top runners going in as Joel Graska of Corinth and Chris Hughes of Glens Falls. This should be another close race as both Graska and Hughes have the experience of running at the front of races which should call for a great race. Chris Hughes' team of Glens Falls comes in as a strong team and they will have a close race with Albany Academy for the team win. Other top runners in this field are Evan Ensslin of Voorheesville, Marcus O'Leary of Albany Academy, and Alex Foyt, also from Albany Academy.

In the Division One Varsity Boys race, the top team coming in is Hadley-Luzerne, with Haldane being a close competing team. Haldane beat the Hadley-Luzerne team earlier in the season at the Queensbury Invitational, but the Hadley-Luzerne team has shown improvements over the past month. The team race will likely come down to how many runners Haldane can get in before Hadley-Luzerne's first runner as the Hadley-Luzerne team has a quicker team spread, giving them just a little bit of an edge over their competition. Individually, the race looks like it will come down to runners Caleb Moore of Seton Catholic and Colin Beasor of Greenwich Central. Both runners have run fast times this season so it should be no different here at the Burnt Hills Invitational. Other runners that could shake things up out front are Nicholas Farrell of Haldane, Nick Styer of Berlin and Andrew Foley of Hadley-Luzerne.

The Girls' Division Three Race has a plethora of competition as top teams in the North East come together to face off to find out who is the best. The top teams in this races will most likely be CVU, Niskayuna, BHBL, and Rush-Henrietta. The top individuals that will be in strong contention for the win include Sophia Gorman of CVU, Eva Scott of BHBL, and Abigail Spiers of Niskayuna. Sophia Gorman has run very well in New York, winning both the Ed Springstead and Queensbury Invitationals to open her season and then placed near the top of the field in her race at Manhattan. Eva Scott has won the Guilderland Invitational, placed second at McQuaid, and was in the top 5 at the Manchester Invitational in New Hampshire. Both Gorman and Scott competed at the Manchester Invitational, where Eva beat Sophia, and this gives them another chance at head to head competition. Abigail Spiers has placed very high in competition this year, winning the EJ Herman Invitational in Utica, NY, and she will probably be up in the front of the race as well. Other top individuals in the race include Regina Rosati of South Glens Falls, Sammy Watson of Rush Henrietta, and Rory Graham of BHBL.

The Division Two Race for the girls sees Rachel Woodruff from Saranac as the front runner as she comes in with top times in 3 miles. Ashley Watson of Schuylerville will be a close challenger, as well as Julia Wilcox out of Skaneateles. All three runners will most likely be seen running up front in the D2 race. This year, Rachel Woodruff has been second at the Guilderland Invitational, John Killen Invite, and the Section 7 XC Invitational. Woodruff saw an early win in her season at the South Jefferson Invitational so she is bound to be looking for another victory under her belt this year. Ashley Watson has been consistently in the top 5 for her races, and Julia Wilcox has seen top ten finishes at the Penfield/Irondequoit Invitational and the East Syracuse Minoa Invitational; and went home with a victory from the Baldwinsville Invitational. Other notable runners in the race include Chance Rice Porter of Waterloo, Sunni Labounty of Schuylerville, and Heather Dutko of Saranac. The top couple of teams in this field include Saranac, Waterloo, and Schuylerville. Saranac goes in with the strongest team, having the potential to have their whole team in the top 20.

The Girls' Division One Race looks like it will be one of the closest races of the day. The two runners that will be in the primary contention for the win are Brynn Wright from Greenwich and Monica Strain from Maple Hill. Both runners have very close seasonal 5K prs this year, but Brynn Wright has a fast 3 mile which may translate better to the course at SPAC. Monica Strain has the experience and three wins this year already to aid her in this race. Other runners to watch for in the D3 girls' race are Emma Cronin of Greenwich and Margo Smith from Mt. Greylock in Massachusetts. Team wise, Greenwich goes in as the team to beat, with a significant margin over the rest of the field. The race will be for second though as Lake Placid, Maple Hill and Seton Catholic are all very closely matched teams.

In the Boys' JV race, we will probably see a close race between BHBL, Bethlehem, McQuaid and CVU, with BHBL being the team to beat. Top runners include Michael Messere of BHBL, Colin Swain of BHBL, Logan Short of BHBL, Leo Rosenblume of Bethlehem and Brandon Millar of McQuaid.

The Girls' JV race will probably be controlled by the CVU team with the Niskayuna team taking close pursuit. Top athletes on both teams include Victoria Padula and Rebecca Cropsey of Niskayuna, and Emma Strack and Geneva Cote of CVU.