2018 NY Girls XC Preview: Class A

2018 XC Previews

Perry King

Aug 14, 2018

Smithtown

Bulls

Section: 11

Class: A

Colors: Red, navy and white

Smithtown's Gabrielle Schneider sprinted in 23rd as the Bulls' representative at States last year.

XC History

States Teams:

States Individuals (Top 10 finishers): Cindy Burger (1983, A-8th)

Last Year's Summary: 2nd in Sectionals A

Roster
Name	Grade	Sect. Place	Top Notes	States Results	Season TR
Catherine Farrell	12	9	4th in Manhattan-C		118
Gabrielle Schneider	12	7	5th in Section 11-Champ		115
Emily Ginty	11	6	15th in Manhattan-C		109
Kate Manalstas	11	22	34th in Manhattan-C		88
Catherine Eng	12	83	11th in Manhattan-JV		50

This Year's Outlook

Smithtown was 34 points back of Sachem East at a brutally hot Sectionals last November, but with the Flaming Arrows a bit depleted by graduation, the Bulls enter the season as the top rated team in S11-A. States finalist Gabrielle Schneider returns with fellow senior Catherine Farrell and junior Emily Ginty to give Smithtown a strong 1-2-3 of runners who finished in the top 10 of the S11-A. The issue with the Bulls is always their lack of depth, and without a few more runners beside Kate Manalastas to fill out the back line, Smithtown could find itself losing out again to a Sachem East team with more depth.

Sachem East

Flaming Arrows

Section: 11

Class: A

Colors: Red, black and gold

Sachem East's Rachel Ruggiero and Lindsey Dodenhoff were the first Flaming Arrows across the line at States for their 7th place team last year.

XC History

States Teams: 1997 (A-2nd), 1998 (A-6th), 2014 (A-6th), 2015 (A-4th), 2017 (A-7th)

States Individuals (Top 10 finishers): Linda Detlefsen (1978, A-2nd), Karen Labbadia (1992, A-8th), 1993 (A-7th), Jackie Berman (1996, A-6th) (1997, A-6th), Jeanna Composti (1997, A-5th), Rachel Paul (2011, A-9th)

Last Year's Summary: 7th in States A, 1st in Sectionals A

Roster
Name	Grade	Sect. Place	Top Notes	States Results	Season TR
Lindsay Dodenhoff	12	3	5th in McQuaid-AAA	47	116
Melissa Merone	11	2	20th in Manhattan-ES	88	112
Bridget Abraldes	11	31	43rd in McQuaid-AAA	87	87
Rachel Weber	11		2nd in Manhattan-JV		80
Sabrinna Mena	10		68th in McQuaid-AA2		77
Anna Murphy	10		72nd in McQuaid-AA2		70
Emily Venturi	12		16th in Manhattan-JV		68

This Year's Outlook

Sachem East's XC year ended a little earlier than usual in 2017 for its veteran squad after a scorcher of a State Qualifier and a bogfest at States for a 7th place finish. Now with the Flaming Arrows missing four graduated runners from last year's varsity, holding on to the S11-A title will require a big rebuilding effort. Fortunately the top two from last year's Sectionals, Melissa Merone and Lindsey Dodenhoff, are back as the building blocks for a team that always seems to pull together the deepest squad in S11-A, and that could mean three straight weeks enjoying Sunken Meadows' Snake and Cardiac hills between Divisionals,SQs, and States.

Webster Thomas

Titans

Section: 5

Class: A

Colors: Navy and gold

Webster Thomas's Heather Ashton finished 21st in the McQuaid AAA race last year in her freshman season.

XC History

States Teams: 1985 (A-3rd), 2013 (A-5 ^th), 2014 (A-8th), 2015 (A-6th), 2016 (A-7th)

States Individuals (Top 10 finishers): Erica Schwartz (1983, A-6th) (1985, A-5th), (1986, A-3rd), Ulrika Tornquist (1989, A-7th), Kristen Coon (2001, A-3rd), Amanda Vestri (2016, A-9th)

Last Year's Summary: 4th in Sectionals A

Roster
Name	Grade	Sect. Place	Top Notes	States Results	Season TR
Heather Ashton	10	25	5th in McQuaid-AAA		104
Sadie Cunnigham	12	--	66th in McQuaid-AAA		92
Katherine Peterson	10	9	13th in McQuaid-Soph		91
Maizie Grunwald	12	--	56th in McQuaid-AAA		90
Haley Brennan	12	36	20th in Monroe County		90
Molly O'Brien	10	29	60th in McQuaid-AAA		90

This Year's Outlook

Webster Thomas lost a major part of its 2016 Sectionals champion team last year, especially with the loss of star Amanda Vestri. No team better exemplifies the crazy chaos for Section 5 last year in the double mud bowl of SQs and States than did the Titans while trying to rebuild the team to its customary championship level. A 4th place finish at Sectionals was not what WT was hoping for in 2017, but it was better than the 6th place at Monroe County. The Titans' top two at Sectionals, Katherine Peterson and Heather Ashton, are back as sophomores this year, and with the expected return of a few runners who were (maybe happily for them) not at Sectionals, Webster Thomas will again be entering the season as one of a quartet of teams that are expected to be at the top of S5-A.

Ithaca

Little Red

Section: 4

Class: A

Colors: Cardinal and gold

Ithaca freshman Quinn Howe was the second runner in for the Little Red after senior Lizzy Rayle as she battled Sachem North's Jordyn McDonnell for 33rd place.

XC History

States Teams: 1980 (A-4th), 1986 (A-10th), 1991 (A-9th), 1992 (A-8th), 1993 (A-4th), 1999 (A-5th), 2001 (A-6th), 2002 (A-6th), 2003 (A-9th), 2006 (A-8th), 2009 (A-6th), 2010 (A-7th), 2011 (A-7th), 2017 (A-5th)

States Individuals (Top 10 finishers):

Last Year's Summary: 10th in Federation, 5th in States A, 1st in Sectionals A

Roster
Name	Grade	Sect. Place	Top Notes	States Results	Season TR
Quinn Howe	10	7	40th in Federation	33	111
Anona Pattington	10	10	105th in Federation	68	96
Margo Lee	11	--	53rd in McQuaid-AAA	65	89
Ingrid Comella	12	16	22nd in Manhattan-D	91	82
Heather Lazzaro	10	30	23rd in Marathon		80
Anna Gra	10	24	27th in Newark Valley		72
Caroline Duthie	10	22	1st in Marathon-JV		72

This Year's Outlook

Ithaca lost three runners from last year's 5th place States team, but fortunately five of 2017's top 10 for the Little Red were freshman. Now as sophomores, Quinn Howe and Anona Pattington return from last year's S4-A top 10, and with some progress in the back part of the lineup Ithaca may have a small edge over Corning.

Hilton

Cadets

Section: 5

Class: A

Colors: Scarlet and white

Hilton's Maddy Mason got a taste of the States' fun in her sophomore season as she finished 60th.

XC History

States Teams: 2004 (AA-3rd), 2005 (AA-2nd), 2006 (AA-2nd), 2007 (AA-6th), 2009 (AA-8th) NXN Nationals: 2005 (1st), 2006 (2nd)

States Individuals (Top 10 finishers): Sue Parkhurst (1985, B-7th), Caroline Schultz (2005, AA-7th) (2006, AA-5th), Allison Sawyer (2005, AA-8th) (2006, AA-1st)

Last Year's Summary: 2nd in Sectionals A

Roster
Name	Grade	Sect. Place	Top Notes	States Results	Season TR
Maddy Mason	11	2	4th in Monroe County	60	109
Alison Reigle	11	10	24th in Burnt Hills-3		100
Riley Mason	9	20	22nd in Monroe County		90
Sabrina Antonini	10	12	41st in McQuaid-AAA		90
Elizabeth Wessman	10	64	5th in Monroe County-JV		70
Riley Johnson	12	63	9th in Monroe County-JV		62

This Year's Outlook

The Cadets are rated preseason among the top teams in S5-A for the first time in many years following a 2nd place finish in the mud at Sectionals. Most of last year's varsity is back including States finalist Maddy Mason and her fellow junior S5-A top-10 finisher Alison Reigle, so Hilton should be in the hunt at Sectionals with Webster Thomas, Canandaigua, and Rush-Henrietta.

2018 NY Girls XC Preview: Class A

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