NY's Female Cross Country All-Decade Program & Individuals

1. Katelyn Tuohy (North Rockland)

Graduation Class: 2020

Highlight Race: 2017 Manhattan Course Record

Rationale: Not only is Katelyn Tuohy a direct product and culmination of the past decade of standout athletes, she, at the same time, managed to redefine the entire sport in the process. It's the mark of a true influencer to have onlookers second guess not only what an athlete could accomplish, but what the ceiling for female distance running might actually be.  That in itself is why Tuohy is our Female Athlete of the Decade, an honor also bestowed by the National All-Decade List.

There are plenty of instances to point at where Katelyn Tuohy raised the bar.  Not only was she setting Course Records, she was doing so on some of the most storied courses in the countries, besting times by leaps and bounds.  She became the first athlete to ever break 17mins on Bowdoin Park, doing so not once, but twice.  No one had ever broken 17:15 before.  No one had ever run under 16mins at Bear Mountain before. The record was 16:27.  Tuohy did so twice.  She took her talents abroad, astonishing crowds at Holdmel Park, NJ, McAlpine Park, NC, and running an unthinkable 16:06 for a full 5K at Goddard Park.  She became the only athlete to win three NXN National Titles, twice breaking the Course Record, and on her third time, under the most pressure of her career, managed to persevere under adverse conditions, demonstrating she can win a race under any tactics.

But one race remains the highlight. We named it our moment of the year back in 2018.  From nowhere, Tuohy went out at the Manhattan Invite, and dropped a 13:21.8 on the running world, a Course that Greats past and present had never thought possible to even breaking through 13:50. Tuohy's mark redefined what was possible.  Her Speed Ratings were off the chart. She was routinely placing Top 10... in the boys results. As a senior, she would return to Manhattan, once again clocking a fast time, just shy of her record. Junior Year was her peak fitness, in which search of new territory prevented her from running Manhattan. Translating her Speed Rating from Shore Coaches, the competing meet on the Calendar, shows that Tuohy would have run 12:45 at VCP day.  Any other athlete, and we'd call that impossible.  But this decade, Tuohy redefined what impossible was.

• Katelyn Tuohy is currently undecided on College, but has raced her first 6K distance last week, finishing second overall at USATF Club XC Nationals, in strong field. Her time translates to 16:38 for 5K.

2. Aisling Cuffe (Cornwall)

Graduation Class: 2011

Highlight Race: 2010 Foot Locker National Champ

Rationale: Limited by her single year of eligibility within the decade, Aisling Cuffe was nothing short of superb her senior year.  Not only was she demolishing Course Records alongside the competition, she was doing so in a period where female superstardom was only just beginning. Social media existed on MySpace, texting was replacing AIM, and the thought of an athlete so dominant was just beginning to sink in.  Yes, there had been stars before.  But with the rate at which information could travel, things were starting to turn.

Every time Cuffe would hit the ground, she would be setting an All-Time Great Mark.  She opened with a Course Record at PTXC.  A week later, she cruised to a sub-18min mark at Bowdoin, back she was only the 5th athlete to ever do so.  Next, she flew down to Great American to set the Course Record in 16:40.9.  Back up North, she became the 4th ever girl to break 14mins at Van Cortlandt Park. A short break, she set the Course Record at Bear Mountain Park.  Undefeated the entire season, she headed out to Balboa Park, where she had placed 4th the year before.

Cuffe bided her time, sitting in second through the first mile.  After the first hill zapped the legs of the competition, Cuffe surged, and took a big lead down the first big hill.  The race was over.  Cuffe piled on the gap over the second place runner, and kept up the pace.  She crossed the line in 16:53.0, the fastest time in two decades.  At the time, only five girls had ever run faster.  A dominant performance, winning by almost 40-seconds.

• Cuffe went on to run at Stanford, her highest finish at NCAA D1 Cross being a 4th in 2013, and now races professionally for Saucony.

3. Kelsey Chmiel (Saratoga)

Graduation Class: 2019

Highlight Race: SPAC Course Record

Rationale: Why is Chmiel the best New York athlete to never win a National Title?  This stat says it all.  In four years of High School Cross Country Running, Kelsey Chmiel only finished outside the Top 5 of a single Championship race, which included 4 State Meets, 4 Fed Meets, 4 Regional Meets, and 4 Nike Cross Nationals appearances. Throw in her International Title, at the Great Edinburgh Challenge, toppling 2x Foot Locker Champ Claudia Lane.  Her Junior year, with illness, she fell to 15th at Regionals.  Within a week, still not at full health and after a week of traveling across the country, she was took second fastest in the US.  In fact, at NXN, twice she would have been the National Champion, if not for the emergence of Tuohy.

The key to Kelsey Chmiel's success in High School comes down to patience, and adaptation.  During the four years she raced, she saw the sport evolve both in top end talent, and in depth.  She learned how to run her own race within the context of the overall fluidity of the venture. She learned how to adapt to a runner like Katelyn Tuohy after Chmiel had been conditioned to lead races from the front.  She knew how to be a team racer when leading younger athletes on her team.  And most of all, no one knew better how to attack the course at SPAC.

Of all Chmiel's success, none more demonstrated her talent than her races at home.  Many legends of the sport, many from her own school, had taken to the trails of the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.  By senior year, Chmiel had blown past all of them.  Only six other girls have ever broken 17mins at SPAC.  Kelsey did so every year of competition, six times in total (not including dual meets), and broke the Course Record by almost eight full seconds, running 16:34.02, bettering marks by Foot Locker Champ Erin Davis and NXN Team Champ Nicole Blood.  No short order.

• Kelsey is now running at NC State, where this Fall she became the highest placing freshman at the NCAA D1 Championships since 2010 when she placed 22nd overall.

4. Mary Cain (Bronxville/Unattached)