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

Kyle Brazeil

Boys All-Decade Team

We sorted through all the results to pick out our Top Seven athletes of the decade.  Times, Titles, and margin of victory all had a contributing factor to narrowing down the field.  Because it is Cross Country, we picked our five top scoring members, with two alternates, ranked in the order we'd select them in a fantasy draft.  Meet our All-Decade Squad below.  Honorable Mentions included as well.

- - - Top 5 - - -


1. Nick Ryan (Fayetteville-Manlius)

Graduation Class: 2013

Highlight Race: 2012 Regionals Bowdoin Course Record

Rationale: He went toe-to-toe with Cheserek.  He finished 5th in the Country at NXN... as an underclassmen. He won the State Meet his senior year by almost thirty seconds, smashing the Elma Meadows Course Record.  And he was the last New York runner to ever crack the 200 Speed Rating Barrier.

Ryan had a slow start to his HS career, not making the Varsity 7 on a team that would win States that year.  A year later, he was among the Top 5, placing 13th at States, then 5th at Regionals.  But Junior year, he was setting up a strong reputation. He finished 5th in the Eastern's Race at Manhattan, then lobbied the success into an undefeated streak the rest of the season, besting the merge at States by 30-seconds.  The success didn't stop there, as he won the Regional in a relaxed effort, then came back with a 5th place finish at NXN.

Flash forward a year, and the plan had been accelerated.  He was coming off the Junior State Record in the 1600m from that Spring.  Invited to the Elite Camp over the Summer, and coming into the season as the countries top returner.  He opened at Manhattan, battling with the then-untouchable Edward Cheserek, pushing him to the Course Record.  Ryan would take second, only fading in the final stretch. Ryan dominated the rest of the Season, leading up to Regionals.  There, Ryan not only dominated the field, but dominated the course, pulling away in the first 1000m, and piling on the pace the whole way through.  He became the first athlete to ever break 15:35 on the fabled 5K course.  It would make him the favorite heading into NXN.

But conditions at Portland Meadows would not cooperate.  The muddiest it had ever been, Ryan was pushed down at the starting line.  Recovering, he worked his way up to 5th by the 2500 meter mark, but the exhaustive effort took it's toll.  He would finish 15th.  Regardless, it was the two most dominant years of XC running by a male all decade, with plenty of Course Records to go with it.  And for that, he's our runner of the decade.

  • Nick Ryan went on to run for Syracuse University, before falling to injury.  He now lives in Oregon, pursuing a teaching degree.


2. Mickey Burke (Rush-Henrietta)

Graduation Class: 2014

Highlight Race: 3rd Place at Foot Locker Nationals

Rationale: It's not about getting knocked down, it's about getting up again.  For Mickey Burke, his Senior season saw some ebb and flow, but it was undeniable that he could line up against the best in the country.  He pushed off the open to his season until McQuaid, where in his first race of the year, ran away with the race in a 10-second bettering of the Course Record.  Riding high, Burke would enter into Manhattan Eastern's, but illness struck the week of the event.  Gutting it out, Burke raced to a third place finish, under the fitness he had demonstrated back in Rochester.

He took until Sectionals to get back to race ready.  There, he once again dominated the competition, winning by 25-seconds over a future NXN-Finalist.  He was ready for States.  However, once there, a tactical error turned the race into a sprint to the finish, wherein he took third overall.  His father later told MileSplit, "The disappointment that followed was immense but fleeting. [He] didn't want to dwell on it; he said he needed to focus on Foot Locker Northeast Regionals."

It would be a good decision. Resisting the urge to run Feds for redemption, Burke waited for Foot Locker Northeast. There, he unleashed a huge performance, running the 12th fastest time ever run on the VCP 5000m Course. It was off to San Diego.  Out West, Burke regained his race confidence, and ran without fear.  He would finish 4th, behind two athletes who would break 4mins in the mile later in their HS career.  It was a defining race for an athlete who had to settle for third, back at States. Burke also became only the second NY male athlete to be All-American at both NXN and Foot Locker, behind Steve Murdock.

  • Mickey Burke went on to run at Syracuse University through 2017, missing some time with a rare, previously undiagnosed medical issue.


3. Bryce Millar (Fayetteville-Manlius)

Graduation Class: 2015

Highlight Race: 2014 Manhattan Eastern's Runner-Up

Rationale: He's one of eleven boys to ever attend NXN four times (another happens to be on this list).  He was a member of only the second ever boys team from NY to win an NXN title. Like his teammate Nick Ryan, he managed to take home two overall State Titles by the end of his XC career. And also like his teammate, his best race may have come at the defeat of a head-to-head effort at the Manhattan Invite.

It wouldn't be the first time that happened, either. As a Junior, Millar was already making waves.  He took second to Mickey Burke as he was on his Course Record run. At Manhattan, Millar would best a sickened Burke at Manhattan, however taking second place to Tony Russell of PA by less than a second.  Millar would go on to win his local league and Sectional meets, before the sprint to the finish at States at Queensbury for the win. Two weeks later, he would take 4th at Regionals, and 67th at Nationals.

Coming back a year later, he was a year stronger.  He won the VVS Invite with a strong performance, and in almost a repeat of the year before, he would place runner-up at McQuaid.  Then, it was down to Manhattan.  There, as did Nick Ryan, the senior battled with Alex Ostberg of CT, pushing him to become only the second ever athlete to break 12mins on the Course.  Millar would take second at 12:02.3.  It still stands as the third fastest time ever run on the Course. Not only that, Millar led his team to break the 5-Man Average at VCP that day, no small feat.  Millar would continue on his season undefeated through Regionals, where he finished with the 10th fastest time ever run at Bowdoin Park.  At NXN, he ran with the lead pack for much of the race, however fading to become FM's 2nd man.  Still, it was enough to grant his team the win, a historic sweep.

  • Bryce Millar currently runs for Indiana University, having broke both 14mins for 5K and 30mins for 10K.



4. Mikey Brannigan (Northport)

Graduation Class: 2015

Highlight Race: 2013 NXN-NY Regional Win

Rationale: While consistency was sometimes an issue, when Mikey Brannigan was "on," lightning was ready to strike.  As a Junior, he opened his Season with a rough showing at Queensbury, placing 38th overall.  A week later, he put up the 9th fastest time ever at the Shore Coaches Invitational in NJ, winning by 15-seconds.  The rest of the season went smoothly, winning local competitions, before coming up just shy at States in that sprint to the finish at Queensbury.  He ran away from the field at Regionals, but Nike Nationals that year proved difficult, finishing 44th overall.

Back his Senior year, the story continued.  His season delayed, he returned to Shore Coaches, and took 4th overall in 16:23.00.  After two weeks of recovery, he finished 3rd overall at Divisionals, running 16:49.62. But that wouldn't deter Mikey.  10 days later, on the very same course, lightning struck.  Brannigan blew away the field, running to a 15:44.98 performance. It was the 11th fastest time ever run at Sunken Meadow, and the first mark under 16mins since the Hurricane Sandy reconstruction. However, once again, rough cold conditions at States took their toll, and Mikey would finish 7th overall, after coming in the favorite. He would rebound at Feds with another All-Time mark (we'll get to that later), but his Season would end at Foot Locker Northeast, where he took 18th overall.

It's hard to channel lightning, but no course could do so for Brannigan better than Bowdoin Park.  There, he would run his two marquee races of his HS Career, at least in XC.  At both the NXN-NY Regional his Junior year, and the Federation Championships his Senior year, Brannigan blew away the competition, and proved why he was considered to be one of the best runners in the country.  Both times, he ran 15:30 or better, twice going #2 All-Time in Course History.  In 2013, he beat the field by ten seconds.  A year later, and it dropped to eight.  Each time, he led one of the deepest races ever held on the course, and reiterated his dominance over the course.  He blew away the State Champ in 2013 at Regionals. At Feds, one precise execution ended the race.  Brannigan was the king of Bowdoin Park from 2013 to 2014.  His marks still stand as the third best ever run.

  • Mikey Brannigan went on to run for the NYAC, setting numerous Paralympic World Records on the track.


5. Ben Petrella (Liverpool)

Graduation Class: 2016

Highlight Race: NXN-NY Regional Title at Bowdoin

Rationale: It never hurts to have a little extra motivation. That much could be said for Ben Petrella, whose rise as an individual was bolstered by the potential of his team. Because of the State Qualifying system, his team hadn't been able to attend a State Meet in eight years.  He saw the opportunity, and never looked back.

Petrella had been a key runner for Liverpool his junior year, giving inklings of the senior season to come. He was the third top underclassmen at the Manhattan Easterns Race, where he placed 7th overall.  He improved throughout the season, grinding against the team that would go on to win the National Title that year. The push would bring him to a second place finish as an individual at States.  He followed that up with a 10th place finish at Regionals, and a 17th place All-American finish at NXN. Even more importantly, his team finished fourth at NXN.  He saw what his front running could produce from the guys on his team.

That motivation rolled over to the following year. He opened with a win at the VVS Invitational, as well as a win in the Class AAA race at McQuaid.  Coming back down to Manhattan, he improved to 5th overall.  Into Sectionals, he improved yet again, this time his team doing what they needed to make their way to States.  It was a fight worth having, as both Petrella and Liverpool would win their first State Title since 1991.

Onto Regionals, where Petrella produced the race of his career. He beat the reigning Federation Champ by 20-seconds, producing the 3rd best time ever run at Bowdoin Park, with his 15:31.4. It lined him up nicely for NXN, where he placed 6th overall, the highest finish for a New Yorker since Nick Ryan's 5th in 2011.

  • Ben Petrella went on to run for the US Military Academy at West Point, where he is currently the team captain.

- - - Top 7 - - -


6. Aidan Tooker (Saratoga Springs)

Graduation Class: 2016

Highlight Race: SPAC Duel Meet

Rationale: He's the other athlete on this list to have attended NXN four years in a row, and with good reason.  As a five-foot-freshman, his run was key to the team State Title over the favored Fayetteville-Manlius at Elma Meadows. Over the next three years, Tooker would continually mix it up with some of the best in the country, never once finishing out of the Top 10 at a Major In-State Championship.  He would win a Federation Title as a senior, run the Course Record of 15:04 at Queensbury, and land in the Top 20 All-Time at Bowdoin Park.  Of all the inclusions on this list, Tooker had the most impact, and staying power, over his entire four years of High School.

However, just like Kelsey Chmiel, Tooker knew no course better than the one at home, back at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.  There, he would continually drop impressive marks year over year, three times dropping below 15mins for the fabled course, when only nine athletes had ever done so before him.  And yet, unlike many on this list, whose best performances came while others were there to push them, Tooker's came when he was all alone.

Running a dual meet his senior year, at his final dual meet of his XC career, Tooker let loose, just to see what he could run without pressure.  He would never come within 8-seconds of the mark ever again, mainly due to the tactics needed to win a Championship Race, rather than run a fast time.  But Tooker managed to clock a 14:44.0 all by himself, the fastest time for over a decade.  In fact, it was the third fastest time ever recorded at SPAC, completely self-motivated.  To us, that's as impressive as it gets.

  • Aidan Tooker went on to run at Syracuse University, overcoming injury issues to break 4mins in the Mile Indoors. He still has a full year of eligibility left.



7. Noah Affolder (Carthage)

Graduation Class: **2017

Highlight Race: 2015 McQuaid Course Record

Rationale: It is a testament to Affolder that he is on this list, despite transferring from the State in what is typically a male athletes most distinguished year.  In spite of that, Affolder was a two-time State Champ, Foot Locker Regional Champion, and Federation Runner-Up all before his family had to make the move to Pennsylvania. In his time in the Empire State, he never lost a regular season meet, sometimes winning by big margins over others in his Classification.  Only beginning his running as a Sophomore, he made an impact on the state landscape immediately, and was a factor in every race he was entered.

Most notably, it would be his Junior year at the McQuaid Invite that would be the highlight. Despite running in the lesser seeded race, Affolder managed to hold his pace from the gun, putting up impressive splits throughout the course.  He knew he was racing the clock, and didn't let go of the pace.  He continued through the finish line, crossing in 14:14.9 for three miles, a time that would hold up through the day by fifteen seconds.  It was a Course Record drop by 10 seconds, on a Record that was dropped another ten seconds just two years prior.

Affolder would go on to move to PA, but would return to lower his course record by two seconds the following year. He went on to win the PA State Meet, repeat as Foot Locker Northeast Champion, and place 6th overall at Foot Locker that year.

  • Noah Affolder committed to Syracuse University as a Junior in HS. After his Sophomore year at SU, he transferred and is currently competing at the University of Oregon.


Honorable Mention:

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