Girls Individual Race
Breakdown: There were three races happening simultaneously at Feds for the girls. In between two others, there was Kelsey Chmiel (Saratoga), the reigning Federation Champion. She attacked from the gun, was only three seconds off the leader at halfway, and pushed the downhills of Bowdoin like never before. In the best shape of her life, she crossed the line over a minute ahead of the next best girl, garnering her highest Speed Rating ever at 158.14, the 10th highest by a New Yorker, ever. Her time of 17:32.5 was the fourth best ever run on the storied course, only five seconds behind Nicole Blood's previous course record set in 2004 at 17:27.3. It was a historic run, but as we mentioned, there were two other races happening simultaneously.
One minute behind Chmiel, there was a pack of girls fighting for what could have been the lead in any other year. Eva Borton was having a breakout State-Level race. Hannah Reale was fighting for team points. And then there was Mary Hennelly (Suffern), who was fighting for redemption. She would eventually separate down the back straight, to win the battle of the chase pack. It came after a freshman year that saw her sidelined for the near entirety of the season. She simply hadn't been able to run. In 2017, she came back and took third, her highest finish ever, improving upon her fourth place finish in 2015. That year, she was five second behind Chmiel, and eight seconds ahead of another 8th grader, from North Rockland, to round out the Top 5.
And then there was that final race, that almost was happening isolated from everyone else. Katelyn Tuohy (North Rockland) was in a class of her own, with complete respect to a field full of talent. The field was reasonably close crossing the road for the first time, about 1.35 miles in. The next time we saw her, the field had all but disappeared, and she was hammering towards the pace cart. She crossed the 2-mile mark at 11mins, and accelerated even more. She pushed her way through the line, smashing the 17minute barrier, a once unthinkable feat. The clock stopped at 16:52.4, in what may have been the most dominant girls HS cross country run ever. There may have been higher Speed Ratings nationally (Only three at that), but none of them had been done on the same terms as Tuohy's run. Her time would have finished in 42nd place for the Guys Race, a MOC final for one of the top XC States in the Nation. The mark is unprecedented, and may never be challenged again, except Tuohy herself has two more years to try, plus another run here next week.
Girls 5000 Meter Run
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PLACE PTS NAME GR SCHOOL TIME PACE
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1 1 Katelyn Tuohy SO 1 North Rockland 16:52.4 5:26
2 2 Kelsey Chmiel JR 1 Saratoga Springs 17:32.5 5:39
3 Mary Hennelly SO 2 Suffern 18:36.4 6:00
4 3 Hannah Reale SR 1 Shenendehowa 18:39.0 6:01
5 Eva Borton JR 2 Clinton 18:41.5 6:01
6 Dana Lynch JR 3 Middletown 18:52.8 6:05
7 Sarah Connelly SO 3 Mt. Sinai 18:56.1 6:06
8 Sydney Nowicki FR 1 Lockport 18:56.2 6:06
9 Sarah Trainor SO 4 FDR-Hyde Park 19:00.6 6:08
10 4 Maggie Maier SO 5 Sacred Heart Academy 19:02.5 6:08