MileSplit NY is once more kicking off the previews of another XC season like no other with an in-depth series of articles that will continue through the month!
Following
on a 2020-21 year for cross country that was shortened or missing
entirely for teams in New York and was held in the fall in some places
and the spring in others, this year the outlook seems more promising for
an extended schedule that will culminate with state and national
championships. Still, in mid August we are keeping our XC fingers
crossed that all the sections and conferences can be restored to the
traditional fall slate of action.
We begin coverage of this year's XC season with previews that will try to pull together the somewhat murky info from last year's XC meets along with more insights from the track season's long distance races. In 2020, only Section 5 and 6 and the CHSAA held championships that fairly closely resembled their usual local competitions, though many of the other sections held large end-of-season alternatives in November or April. In the NYC area, however, the NYAIS independent schools had no XC season and the PSAL public schools had neither XC nor track and field competition. So yes, this year we begin the XC campaign with a lot more questions than in past years.
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The
previews and rankings for the XC runners and teams will as usual be
based as much as possible on the speed ratings posted by Tully Runners
rather than the raw "best times" generally used in other states. Speed
ratings for XC runners are composed from comparing the times from
individuals on a wide variety of courses under varying conditions and
are much more informative than the "best time" lists.
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Again, the key to being at the top of the ratings in this year's Class B battle is two-fold. One, a team need to be reasonably strong during last year's disjointed XC seasons. And two, then return almost all of last year's team for this season's campaign.
Only two teams managed that trick successfully. Four-time consecutive champ Burnt Hills returns just about everybody from last year's squad, and the Spartans' top 7 of seniors Ryan Allison, Peter Fulgieri, Nick Grock, juniors Matthew Rounds, Keller Casey, and sophomores Matt Windecker and Silas Marvin look ready to keep the winning streak going at States and make another bid for NXN Nationals. Burnt Hills' reign at the top of B began at Chenango Valley in 2016 when it unseated three-time reigning champ Pittsford Mendon.
Another team that is looking to keep a winning streak alive is Westhampton Beach, which won the Section 11 Class B titles in 2018 and 2019 and was the top B team in Suffolk County last year. The Hurricane squad led by senior Gavin Ehlers and junior Max Haynia looks set to win S11-B again and then see if it can challenge Burnt Hills at States after a 5th place finish in 2019 at Plattsburgh.
Check out the preseason previews below.
PREVIEW OF RUNNERS | PREVIEW OF Teams |
|---|---|
Individuals | Teams |