New York's Top Runners
Again, with last year's action being greatly curtailed and split across both fall and spring for different sections, a clear picture for the upcoming XC season is hard to assemble. Listed alphabetically, here's an alphabetically order list of nine of this season's known guys expected to top the leaderboards this year. All are seniors. There's also a big list of this year's unknown guys who we actually do know but are keeping secret until later in the season.
Nathan Brimhall (Shenendehowa). The Plainsmen star was 2nd in the Suburban Council race last fall and he'll be looking to lead Shen's defense of its 2019 Section 2 Class A title against Guilderland and Saratoga.
Ryan Bush (Saratoga). Bush's Blue Streaks were 5th in the 2019 S2-A race but were tops at the Surburban Council meet last year led by his 3rd place finish.
Jayson Chichelli (McQuaid). Chichelli had an enormous 30 point boost in his speed ratings last year as a junior with his 2nd place finish in the Section 5 Class A race, and this year he will be leading the Knights' likely battle with Webster Thomas for the sectional crown.
Gavin Ehlers (Westhampton Beach). The Hurricanes' star won the Section 11 championship in spring XC and also placed in the top 10 at the East Coast championship last December. He will be leading his team's quest for the States B title this year.
Julian Franjieh (Niskayuna). The Silver Warrior leader was the champ in last season's Suburban Council race and then topped off the season with a 7th in the Northeast XC championship.
Gitch Hayes (LaSalle). The 2019 Class C runner-up and NXN finalist posted a huge 189 speed rating with a 4th at the Northeast XC championship last fall and also took 6th in the East Coast championship.
Myles Hogan (Fordham Prep). The Ram leader ran away with the CHSAA laurels last fall and will be leading his team in another head-to-head battle with Xavier as the two teams seek to replace Chaminade as conference champ.
Colton Kempney (Beaver River). Kempney was the heir-apparent to Kal Lewis for the States D title going into 2020 before the meet got cancelled. After some injuries last year, he is looking to return to form and lead the quest for the Beavers' 19th States title.
Micah Tindale (Guilderland). Tindale had a strong series of races at 12th Rock last year, and this year's Flying Dutchmen team should be strongly in the hunt for the Section 2 Class A title.
More Runners with High Expectations: Two dynamic duos for NY's top 2 rated teams are Jack Gregorski and Matthew Gensel of Corning and Ryan Allison and Matthew Rounds of Burnt Hills, while Xavier's Michael Hawkes and Quincy Flett lead the X-men's CHSAA hopes; at a smaller school level, Alden's Kyle Urban leads the way for the Class C crown and Trinity's Nikhil DeNatale is a likely pick for the NYSAIS title.