2019 NY Boys XC Preview: Class A

Fayetteville-Manlius (Hornets)

Section 3


States Teams: 1968 (A-3rd), 1997 (A-1st), 1998 (A-2nd), 1999 (A-7th), 2003 (A-2nd), 2004 (AA-1st), 2005 (AA-2nd), 2008 (AA-2nd), 2009 (AA-1st), 2010 (AA-3rd), 2011 (AA-1st), 2012 (A-2nd), 2013 (A-1st), 2014 (A-1st), 2017 (A-2nd), 2018 (A-1st)   NXN Nationals: 2004 (2nd), 2005 (3rd), 2008 (16th), 2009 (9th), 2010 (2nd), 2011 (12th), 2012 (16th), 2013 (4th), 2014 (1st), 2015 (21st), 2016 (19th), 2017 (2nd), 2018 (5th)
States Individuals (Top 10 finishers): John Gunn (1961, B-4th), John Jeffrey (1968, A-4th), Adam Wasileski (1996 (A-2nd) (1997, A-1st), Dale Cocca (1998, A-4th), Brian Cocca (1998, A-7th), Jared Burdick (2004, AA-7th), Owen Kimple (2004, AA-8th) (2005, AA-4th), Tommy Gruenewald (2005, AA-7th) (2006, AA-2nd), John Heron (2005, AA-10th), Geoff King (2006, AA-3rd), Alex Hatz (2008, AA-1st), Paul Merriman (2008, AA-3rd), Brendan Farrell (2004, AA-6th), Nick Ryan (2011, A-1st) (2012, A-1st), Matt Deyo (2011, A-3rd), Bryce Millar (2012, A-4th) (2013, A-1st) (2014, A-1st), Andrew Berge (2013, A-4th), Peter Ryan (2013, A-9th), Kyle Barber (2014, A-3rd), Adam Hunt (2014, A-8th), Patrick Perry (2016, A-7th), Ben Otis (2017, A-4th), Garrett Brennan (2017, A-6th) (2018, A-7th), Geoff Howles (2018, A-2nd), Matthew Tripp (2018, A-6th), Peyton Geehrer (2018, A-9th), Sam Otis (2018, A-10th)

Last Year's Summary:  5th at NXN, 1st at NXR-NY, 1st in States A, 1st in Sectionals

Roster
Geoff Howles1212185
Sam Otis12210185
Peton Geehrer1159179
Yakob Kelley101141170
Jake Altimonda11

155
James Peden11

145
Mark Hanlon12

145

Outlook: The Hornets enter the season among the top 5 rated teams in the nation with a top trio of Geoff Howles, Sam Otis, and Peyton Geehrer that finished in the top 10 at States last year. Yakob Kelley could well see a big boost in his sophomore year, and juniors Jake Altimonda and James Peden are also expected to forge higher up to provide a strong FM core for another run at States and NXN titles.


Warwick Valley (Wildcats)

Section 9


States Teams: 1982 (B-1st), 1989 (B-6th), 1991 (B-5th), 1993 (B-6th), 1994 (B-1st), 1995 (B-1st), 1996 (B-6th), 1998 (A-9th), 1999 (B-3rd), 2000 B-3rd), 2001 (A-5th), 2002 (A-4th), 2003 (A-5th), 2004 (AA-4th), 2005 (AA-3rd), 2006 (AA-4th), 2007 (AA-1st), 2008 (AA-5th), 2009 (AA-4th), 2010 (AA-2nd), 2011 (A-5th), 2012 (A-5th), 2013 (A-9th), 2014 (A-3rd), 2015 (A-5th), 2016 (A-2nd), 2018 (A-3rd)  NXN Nationals:  2007 (11th)
States Individuals (Top 10 finishers):  Jim Parietti (1978, B-2nd), Joe Straub (1981, B-2nd), Chris Nippert (1982, B-6th), Todd Giszack (1983, B-5th), Eddie Carmack (1994, B-4th) (1995, B-4th) (1996, B-5th), Jake LaRoe (2003, A-4th), Mike Mark (2005, AA-5th), Zack Price (2006, AA-4th), Terence Prial (2006, AA-5th), Alex Leuchanka (2007, AA-4th), Patrizio Grandinalli (2011, A-5th), Behailu Bekele-Arcuri (2016, A-10th) (2017, A-2nd) (2018, A-3rd)

Last Year's Summary:   3rd in States A, 1st in Sectionals

Roster
Behailu Bekele-Arcuri1213184
Adam Stanton11446166
Dan Walker121969154
Jordan DeSotle121698153
Matthew Santiago12

148
Ethan Tillinghast1128100144

Outlook: The Wildcats have much of last year's 3rd-place States squad back and will be the favorites in S9-A again this year. Senior Behailu Bekele-Arcuri returns after another big year that saw him earn a spot to NXN. Warwick Valley's speed ratings are hugely boosted by their top guy and the team won't be ranked in the top 5 of the early Class A rankings unless there are some big developments at the back, but junior Adam Stanton could join with a group of seniors to build a strong pack behind Bekele-Arcuri.


Shenendehowa (Plainsmen)

Section 2


States Teams: 1977 (A-8th), 1984 (A-7th), 1991 (A-9th), 1992 (A-4th), 1994 (A-1st), 1995 (A-2nd), 1996 (A-3rd), 1997 (A-2nd), 1998 (A-1st), 2002 (A-1st), 2003 (A-1st), 2006 (AA-1st), 2007 (AA-2nd), 2008 (AA-1st), 2009 (AA-6th), 2014 (A-2nd), 2018 (A-4th)   NXN Nationals: 2006 (6th), 2007 (14th), 2008 (7th) 
States Individuals (Top 10 finishers): Bob Horan (1981, A-6th), Joe Wirgau (1992, A-8th) (1993, A-3rd), Rick Busch (1994, A-3rd), Scott Wirgau (1995, A-2nd), Dan Tebbano (1997, A-4th), 1998 (A-10th), Rob Cloutier (1998, A-3rd), Darrel Andruski (1999, A-8th), Jacob Gurzler (2002, A-4th), Ryan Gaedje (2002, A-10th) (2003, A-7th), Scott Mindel (2003, A-10th), Steve Murdock (2006, AA-1st), Alex Leuchanka (2008, AA-2nd), Dan Harris (2008, AA-8th) (2009, AA-10th)   

Last Year's Summary:   8th at NXR-NY, 4th in States A, 1st in Sectionals

Roster
Bryan Spence121267167
Nathan Brimhall101856163
Jakob Quail121451161
Ryan Shanahan122271159
Aidan Hickey12

154
Nolan Hickey1238
154
Kyle Gronau1247
154

Outlook: Shen was a bit of surprise as the S2-A winner last year but caught Saratoga by getting a big boost of an average 5 TR points at Sectionals from a top 5 that all finished in the top 20. Alex Hislop and Greg Langone are gone from the top group, but Bryan Spence, Nathan Brimhall, Jakob Quail, and Ryan Shanahan return from the 2018 varsity 7 to form what looks to be the strongest and deepest squad in S2-A and a top contender for a spot at NXN.


Ithaca (Little Red)

Section 4


States Teams: 1967 (A-5th), 1968 (A-4th), 1969 (A-4th), 1970 (A-1st), 1971 (A-1st), 1972 (A-8th), 1973 (A-4th), 1976 (A-10th), 1979 (A-4th), 1980 (A-7th), 1981 (A-7th), 1982 (A-1st), 1983 (A-7th), 1988 (A-9th), 1989 (A-7th), 1990 (A-2nd), 1991 (A-9th), 1995 (A-8th), 1996 (A-8th), 1997 (A-7th), 1997 (A-7th), 1998 (A-5t), 1999 (A-5th), 2000 (A-5th), 2001 (A-6th), 2002 (A-7th), 2003 (A-7th), 2004 (AA-9th),2005 (AA-8th), 2006 (AA-5th), 2007 (AA-4th), 2009 (AA-7th), 2010 (AA-6th), 2011 (A-7th), 2013 (A-8th)
States Individuals (Top 10 finishers): Rob Williams (1959, A-2nd), Lynn Cunningham (1961, A-7th), Bruce Earle (1965, A-2nd), Tom Hartshorne (1970, A-8th) (1971, A-4th), Mike Allen (1970, A-9th), David Pannell (1973, A-5th), Drew Hart (2006, AA-7th), Matt Johnson (2010, AA-4th), Dan Dracup (2014, A-5th), Silas Derfel (2016, A-9th) (2017, A-1st)

Last Year's Summary:    2nd in Sectionals

Roster
Marco Van Wijk12757163
Ben Supron11661162
Cade Eells129
161
Sasha Coyote9865160
Alex Simpson1214
152
Thomas Sauer1119
148
Elias Stroock1118
148

Outlook:  Ithaca returns the top 7 from last year's 2nd-place Sectionals squad, so the Little Red is well set to catch a Corning team that lost three of its top 5. Marco Van Wijk, Ben Supron, and Sasha Coyote are back along with seniors Cade Eells and Alex Simpson to form a deep team that should be one of the most improved of 2019 and very capable of ending Ithaca's five-year title drought in S4-A.


Guilderland (Flying Dutchmen)

Section 2


States Teams: 1990 (A-4th)  
States Individuals (Top 10 finishers): Dieter Drake (1987, A-2nd), Tom Ryan (1994, A-5th), Brian Rhodes-Devey (2004, AA-4th) (2005, AA-1st) (2006, AA-8th), Seth DuBois (2005, AA-9th), Noah Carey (2014, A-9th) (2015, A-4th) (2016, A-3rd)

Last Year's Summary:  5th at NXR-NY, 3rd in Sectionals

Roster
Sean O'Brien1225
165
Jack Persons1216
163
Micah Tindale1051
158
Daniel Spanbauer1239
155
Alexander Gent1237
155
Will Cusato1041
153

Outlook:  Guilderland finished 3rd in S2-A last year and also their top 2 of Nicholas Soldevere and Noah Tindale to graduation. The rest of last year's top 8 are back though, so the Flying Dutchmen will have a team with decent depth and the best compressed pack among the top Class A contenders. Seniors Sean O'Brien and Jack Persons are back from last year's S2-A top 25 to lead Guilderland's campaign for its first Sectionals title in 29 years.


Saratoga (Blue Streaks)

Section 2


States Teams:  1987 (A-3rd), 1988 (A-1st), 1999 (A-2nd), 2000 (A-3rd), 2001 (A-1st), 2004 (AA-3rd), 2005 (AA-1st), 2012 (A-1st), 2013 (A-3rd), 2015 (A-4th), 2016 (A-4th)   NXN Nationals:  2005 (1st), 2012 (12th)
States Individuals (Top 10 finishers):  Steve Kaye (1963, B-8th), Bill Briell (1963, B-10th) (1964, A-8th), Dennis Schwartz (1967, A-9th) (1969, A-10th), Matt Wood (1994, A-10th), Dylan Welsh (1996, A-5th) (1997, A-2nd) (1998, A-1st), Chris Dore (2001, A-9th), Sean Curran (2001, A-6th), Mike Foley (2002, A-9th), Steve Murdock (2004, AA-6th) (2005, AA-2nd), Greg Kelsey (2005, AA-3rd), Dmitri Goutos (2007, AA-9th) (2008, AA-7th), Sam Place (2009, AA-7th) (2010, AA-2nd), Jay Navin (2012, A-10th), Aidan Tooker (2014, A-4th) (2015, A-2nd), Shea Weilbaker (2018, A-1st)

Last Year's Summary:  6th in NXR-NY, 2nd in Sectionals

Roster
Aidan Waite1215
165
Brady Tooker1117
163
Ryan Bush1035
157
Dawson Tooker1130
157
Max Fredette1155
151
Noah Flanders12

150

Outlook: Saratoga got edged last year at Sectionals by 60-63 on a day that the favored Blue Streaks didn't run badly, but Shen just packed it in better. With the top duo of States champ Shea Weilbaker and Ezra Ruggles gone along with Peter Moller and Anthony Verro from the top 7, Saratoga has a big rebuilding job to do in 2019. With senior Aidan Waite on the lead junior Tooker twins Brady and Dawson bringing sophomore Ryan Bush along, Saratoga has a good core to begin boosting the speed ratings.


Corning (Hawks)

Section 4


States Teams:  1978 (B-7th), 1982 (B-9th), 1994 (A-5th), 2012 (A-7th), 2013 (B-2nd), 2014 (A-5th), 2015 (A-2nd), 2016 (A-1st), 2017 (A-1st), 2018 (A-2nd)   NXN Nationals: 2017 (12th)
States Individuals (Top 10 finishers):  Dave Van Alstyne (1967, A-8th), John Duke (1988, B-1st), Krys Usack (2001, A-10th), John McCarthy (2013, B-5th), Tom Moshier (2013, B-9th), Peter Kane (2015, A-5th), Kevin Moshier (2016, A-5th), Quinn Nicholson (2017, A-3rd), Dan Gahagan (2017, A-8th), Torrey Jacobson-Evans (2017, A-9th), Bryce Derick (2018, A-8th)

Last Year's Summary:  4th at NXR-NY,  2nd in States A,  1st in Sectionals

Roster
Torrey Jacobson-Evans12416178
Steven Segal121136165
Robert Kesterson121393151
Matthew Hong111297149
Brayden Hayes-Glick1115
148

Outlook: The Hawks had their two-year streak of States titles broken in 2018 and lost three of their top 5 to graduation. States medalist Torrey Jacobson-Evans is back with fellow senior Steven Segal to lead Corning's quest for a seventh straight Sectionals title, but the Hawks will need to be beefed up to hold off an Ithaca team that has everyone back.


Shaker (Bison)

Section 2


States Teams: 1961 (B-4th), 1962 (B-5th), 1975 (A-7th), 1976 (A-8th), 1978 (A-7th), 1986 (A-8th), 2010 (AA-1st), 2011 (AA-3rd)     NXN Nationals:  2010 (13th) 
States Individuals (Top 10 finishers): Ron White (1961, B-2nd), Justin Corelli (1999, A-2nd) (2001, A-2nd), RJ Sniffen (2007, AA-7th), Christian DeLago (2010, AA-6th), Michael Libruk (2010, AA-7th) (2011, AA-9th)

Last Year's Summary:  4th in Sectionals

Roster
TJ Randall1210
170
Francisco Mendonca1119
160
Vinny Levchenko1133
156
Christopher Garretson1146
152
Daniel Pavelec1142
146
Zack Diehl1150
146

Outlook:  Shaker finished 4th in last year's S2-A, but the Bison could be the big surprise at Sectionals this year with all ten runners returning from the 2018 race. Senior TJ Randall was 10th at Sectionals last year and leads a Shaker team that will be seeking its first title in eight years.


Frontier (Falcons)

Section 6


States Teams: 1977 (A-6th), 1990 (A-6th), 1992 (A-9th), 1993 (A-6th), 1994 (A-8th), 1996 (A-10th), 1998 (A-10th), 1999 (A-6th), 2001 (A-8th), 2016 (A-9th), 2018 (A-8th)
States Individuals (Top 10 finishers): Peter Quinlan (1977, A-9th), Jim Kruszka (1983, A-6th), Nick Larosa (1991, A-6th) (1993, A-1st), Mike Deren (2004, AA-5th)

Last Year's Summary:  17th in NXR-NY, 8th in States A, 1st in Sectionals

Roster
Joshua Peron11242169
Brian Gleason12762162
Connor O'Brien12966160
Alex Monaco1219103149
Patrick Petronsky1225105141

Outlook: Frontier has everyone back except #2 guy Joey Groth from last year's Sectionals champ, so it is decently set for its title defense versus Orchard Park. Junior Joshua Peron and seniors Brian Gleason and Connor O'Brien will lead the Falcon effort to pick up their third Sectional win in four years.


Orchard Park (Quakers)

Section 6


States Teams:  1964 (B-2nd), 1997 (A-2nd) 
States Individuals (Top 10 finishers): Clarke Rublee (1966, B-8th), Peter Meindl (2000, A-1st) (2001, A-1st)

Last Year's Summary:  3rd in Sectionals

Roster
Noah Sayoc12360165
Jack Heraty12670162
Christopher Bartola11879158
Michael Kane1221
152
Blake Kasper1230
140

Outlook:  Orchard Park finished 3rd in S6-A last year, but it has its top six back and may be able to close the gap on reigning champ Frontier. Seniors Noah Sayoc and Jack Heraty and junior Christopher Bartola are back from last year's States to lead the Quakers' quest for their first Sectionals win in 22 years.


Smithtown (Bulls)

Section 11


States Teams:  1999 (A-9th), 1998 (A-7th), 2004 (AA-9th), 2005 (AA-4th), 2006 (AA-2nd), 2007 (AA-3rd), 2016 (A-5th), 2017 (A-4th), 2018 (A-3rd)
States Individuals (Top 10 finishers): Jim Uhrig (1969, A-2nd), Robert Brail (1972, A-9th), Tim Kelly (1998, A-8th), Giovanni Signoretti (2006, AA-6th) (2007, AA-2nd), Brendan Martin (2006, AA-9th), Jason Santos (2008, AA-5th)

Last Year's Summary:  5th in NXR-NY, 3rd in States A, 1st in Sectionals

Roster

Michael Danzi12625171
Brayden Vassilas121874157
Patrick Grasing12

151
Dennis Mensch11

147
George Maidhof11

147
Luke Muratore12

145

Outlook:  In 2018 Smithtown won its third straight Sectionals title and then climbed up another spot to 3rd at States. Only seniors Michael Danzi and Brayden Vassilas are back from last year's States group though, so the Bulls have a lot of rebuilding to do. The top teams in S11-A were all hit hard by graduation though, so Smithtown will enter the season as a small favorite over Northport


Penfield (Patriots)

Section 5


States Teams: States Teams: 1994 (A-7th), 2005 (AA-5th), 2007 (AA-7th), 2016 (A-6th), 2018 (A-7th)   
States Individuals (Top 10 finishers): Paul Stemmer (1971, A-3rd), Allen Smith (1985, A-6th), Paul Little (2000, A-3rd)

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

Roster

Garrett Hall12734172
Jonah Cuestas111272159
Colin Sauter111686154
Nathan Johanneman1246101148
Micheal Green12

138

Outlook:  Penfield captured its second S5-A title in three years in 2018. Among the trio of seniors lost was one of its top two with the departure of Zach Gauronski. Senior Garrett Hall is back to lead the Patriots after a 34th at States last year, and the team should be one of the top contenders in S5-A if it can fill out the back.


Liverpool (Warriors)

Section 3


States Teams: States Teams: 1970 (A-3rd), 1991 (A-1st), 1992 (A-5th), 2000 (A-7th), 2001 (A-2nd), 2006 (AA-3rd), 2007 (AA-5th), 2015 (A-1st), 2016 (A-3rd)    NXN Nationals: 2013 (20th), 2014 (4th), 2015 (10th), 2016 (9th)
States Individuals (Top 10 finishers):  Mike Padil (1979, A-8th) (1980, A-8th), Dave Aman (1984, A-6th), Dan Brown (1985, A-9th), Mark Fadil (1990, A-4th), Jay Conover (1991, B-10th), Joe Head (1992, A-3rd), Dan McKenna (2001, A-4th), Ethan Hickey (2007, AA-6th), Dan Muldoon (2012, A-8th), Ben Petrella (2014, A-2nd) (2015, A-1st), Ty Brownlow (2015, A-9th) (2016, A-1st), Stevie Schulz (2015, A-10th) (2016, A-4th)

Last Year's Summary:  3rd in NXR-NY, 2nd in Sectionals
Roster
Jake McGowan11639171
Carter Rodriguez1123
170
Ryan Cartwright1126
151
Ethan Glashauser1240
144
Ryan Hagan1038
132

Outlook:  Like all the teams in NY, Liverpool ran far behind Fayetteville-Manlius in its hot recent rivalry in S3-A. Nathan Reeves and Spencer Ruediger are key losses from last year's team, but a trio of juniors including States finalist Jake McGowan along with Carter Rodriguez and Ryan Cartwright provide a good two-year base to build around.