6. Perfect Scores
The boys of Fayetteville-Manlius notched a perfect score of 15 points to win their Section 3 Class A Title. It was the lowest score of the weekend of any race with more than 3 teams. Beaver River scored 17 points in Class D of the same meet to nearly match the effort, while the Girls of Greenwich hit 17 for the lowest girls point total of the weekend. All three teams are the respective favorites for the State Title next weekend.
7. Tie-Breakers
It's the definition of a full team race. Tied through 5 runners, the tie-breaker is decided on the 6th man. That's what happened in Section 9 Class A, as Warwick's 6th man finishes in 17:44.86 over Washingtonville's 6th man at 17:45.75. The final score stands at 54, with Warwick getting the nod. Warwick had 19 straight Sectional titles before Monroe-Woodbury ended that streak last year. Now, Warwick is looking to restart it with 1.
8. Close Calls
Two races over the weekend came down to one point. Fayetteville-Manlius has won States 12 years running, and Sectionals for 13. This year, Liverpool had looked like they were ready to close the door on the streak, but on a muddy day, the fates reversed, with a final score of 43-44. In Section 5, Waterloo overcame HAC in a similar fashion, scoring 60 points to 61.
9. Upsets
While there is sure to be competitive races at Sectionals, upsets occur when unranked teams, or those ranked lower than the projected favorites by a big enough margin, come back and blow out the field. The Shenendehowa boys did so in Section 2 Class A, zooming past Guilderland, and sneaking by Top Ranked Saratoga, to win by 3 points. They won the State Title in 2008, and have only been back to States twice since. Likewise, Westhampton Beach boys jumped up 10 Speed Rating Points by average to claim victory in Section 11 Class B.
10. First Timers
Some teams heard to States almost every year, but for others, that's very different. Eva Borton may be the top Class C ranked athlete in the State, but her team Clinton had not attended States since 1990, well before she was born. They pulled out an 11-point win to send themselves to the big show for the first time since the first Bush was in Office.