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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Saranac Lake would almost certainly have claimed a third straight Class C crown last year if States had been held, and last June the Red Storm graduated the top five runners from the 2019 champs. The race to replace Saranac Lake at the top this year appears to be being held with invitations mainly going out to teams from just two sections. Ten of the thirteen top selections in preseason for Class C's leading teams are evenly split between Section 6 and Section 1, and if Windsor selects to run up in Class B as it did in 2019 and Norwood-Norfolk opts for Class D, it will leave just Section 2's Fonda-Fultonville as a lone squad trying to crash the 6-1 party.
But taking a drive through the most recent data for Class C is basically a giant mystery tour, so for now we'll just say it seems likely that Allegany-Limestone will be trying to hold off a pack of pursuers including Alden, Southwestern, Newfane, and Falconer in Section 6, and Briarcliff will be facing a similar attack from Irvington, Pleasantville, Dobbs Ferry, and Hastings in Section 1.
Check out the preseason previews below.
PREVIEW OF RUNNERS | PREVIEW OF Teams |
|---|---|
Individuals | Teams |