The qualifying meets for the NYSPHSAA Championships will be held Thursday-Saturday this weekend. Over fifty different races will be held to determine which team gets to represent their section and try to win a NY State Championships.
ArmoryTrack.com's Christopher Hunt and Tim Fulton took a look at nine races that could provide the most drama. They all have one thing in common - state ranked teams trying to extend their season.
This could be one of the best Sectional battles in the state. State ranked Brewster (#7 A), Greeley (#8 A), Fox Lane (#9 A) and Somers (#12 A) all go head to head for the trip to the state meet.
Brewster is the favorite in this one, but only slightly. They have the great 1-2 punch of Mike Thomas and Charlie Carr leading the way and great depth. They lost to Arlington at their county championships last weekend 46-47.
Greeley also has a great 1-2 punch in Henry Koster and Kyle Eager and have added emerging rookie senior Johnny Casey to the front of the pack.
Fox Lane boasts a great 1-2-3 in Chris Sacks, Jamie Mitchell, and Cord Sgaglio. Their weakness WAS their back end 4-5 men but they answered those questions last week when they beat Greeley on a 6th man tie breaker to win the Westchester County title.
Somers is a team that has shown the ability to pack run at times this year. They beat both Fox Lane and Greeley at their league championships 41-42-43 spreading a mere 33 seconds 1-5.
Every team in the race has big meet experience and has been in close races this season. Look for more of the same here.
Favorite: Brewster (slightly)
This Section has proven to be one o the deepest in the state as 5 of the top 13 AA teams will toe the line in this race.
Fayetteville-Manlius (#1 AA) is the best team in the state on paper and that was when they were running with a limited Alex Hatz. Hatz seems to have run all races this season at tempo effort after recovering from kidney surgery in August. If he runs even close to his form from last year FM will be almost impossible to beat.
Liverpool (#3 AA) has proven to be a formidable challenger after dominating the 4x800 scene outdoors last spring. Colin Savage has a tough task ahead of him as he’ll match up against FM’s Brendan Farrell and the FM pack.
Baldwinsville (#5 AA) has a great front three in Nate McCabe, Shaun Thompson, and Adam Pacheck.
FM is so good that they could dominate this race even with the quality of the field.
Favorite: FM
Two rivals that will once again go head to head at Saratoga Spa State Park. Shenendehowa (#8 AA) and Shaker (#9) could be that close in this one.
Shenendehowa has been dominant on the national scene the last few years and will have Danny Harris leading the way. The pack behind will be key as there could be four Shen runners within 15-20 seconds.
Shaker is very similar to Shen this year. They have Ryan Egan out front and then a great pack of five guys coming in right with Shen’s pack. I’m sure they’ll be points taken and given back over the final 200m and this could be a classic 1-2 point meet or even a tie breaker, which if it goes to a tie breaker the advantage could go to Shaker.
Favorite: none
McQuaid is led by Mike Tripp and Robert Hurlbut and should be able to get their entire top five in within 45 seconds. They won their own invitational in October, one of the best Class A field assembled all season long.
Mendon seems to be coming on at the right time. They have the best individual runner in the race with Adam Vanvleck but the question will be how well the can break up McQuaid’s pack and if their 5th can run with McQuaid’s.
The other three teams all have quality runners that will affect the race but they all seem to be a bit behind the top two teams.
Favorite: none
Two Long Island powerhouse programs will square off in this one as Bayport Blue-Point (#2 B) and Shoreham Wading River (#4 B) go head to head. Both teams have storied histories.
The battle for the individual crown will be a good one as Chris Pohlot of SWR will match up against Dan Denis of BBP. Pohlot did not race last weekend so there could be an illness or injury issue there. If he was in the race they would have been right with BBP at their divisionals.
These teams are very close when at full strength. They both have one guy up front that’s dominant and they both have nice packs to back them up. It looks like a dual meet for the most part and it’s very possible that 5 runners from the losing team could qualify individually for the state meet.
Favorite: None
Girls
At the start of the season it would have been safe to say that Arlington (#6) would be the favorite here. But the young North Rockland (#5) squad has proved to be a force this season and has a solid shot at qualifying for the state meet. North Rockland seems to be rounding into top form at the best time, winning the Rockland County championship last week with 37 points and a 54-second spread among the top five. Arlington has been more balanced and more consistent this season and has an advantage up front with Haley MacMahon and Rachel Sorna, which will no doubt put North Rockland on defense, looking to match up with Arlington. That said, North Rockland could simply be hot at the right time.
Favorite: Arlington
These are two pretty evenly matched teams that have flipped in the rankings probably more because of variables in their races than one team actually being better than the other. Twins Brittany and Danielle Winslow provide the advantage up front for Queens bury. I’ll be up to Burnt Hills’ Molly Pezzulo and Kiersten Anderson, who’s having a breakthrough season, to stay close to the twins and hold off Morgan Mueller of Queensbury. At the Burnt Hills Invitational, at Saratoga Spa Park, where they will run the sectional meet, the Winslow twins and Mueller went 1-2-3 and Burnt Hills still managed a four-point win. Queensbury was without Carly Wynn that today, their usual #4. Burnt Hills is also a better team than they showed at Suburban Council Championships, where the team finished third behind powerhouse Saratoga Springs and Shenendehowa. The battle really comes down to both teams’ fourth and fifth runners to keep the packs tight because this one will be close regardless of who wins. The biggest advantage for Burnt Hills is they are likely to have better compression.
Favorite: Queenbury.
These teams are all pretty closely ranked but the fact is that Tully is the clear favorite. CBA’s Katie Bristin is the class of this field but Tully has the most complete team in the race. No one in the race can match Tully man-for-man. CBA’s Bristin and Holland Patent’s Leah Rice may cross first if Tully’s Ashley Evans doesn’t break that up plus Tully has the ability to squeeze in its top five before they see another CBA or Holland Patent jersey.
Favorite: Tully
This one is easy. Northport (#7), Smithtown (#11) and Ward Melville (#12) will all be in it for the team championship and a berth to the state meet. But it’ll be a rematch of division championships at Sunken Meadow Park Oct. 27. The three teams are pretty close through their first four runners but Northport has the advantage with the fifth man and even their sixth. It’s Northport’s depth that gives them the edge. In fact, Ward Melville is probably the best team through four runners but hasn’t been able to find a fifth to close the gap this season. The same is the issue with Smithtown. They’ll depend on eighth-grader Deirdre Connor to pull them closer to victory. It almost doesn’t matter what happens up front in this race, they will all be turning around to see how close the fifth man is.
Ward Melville has the most punch with Caroline O’Hea and Mary Kate Anselmini leading the charge. Northport’s eighth-grader Brianne Bellon and senior Lianne Farber can keep the pressure off by keeping them at bay. Basically, if Northport can match up and let their fifth do the work they can secure a trip to Plattsburgh.
Favorite: Northport
| 11/05 |  Section 4 Championships
|
Chenango Valley, NY |
| 11/06 | Section 1 Championships
|
Wappingers Falls, NY |
| 11/06 | Section 11 Championships
|
Kings Park, NY |
| 11/06 | Section 2 Championships
|
Saratoga Springs, NY |
| 11/06 |  Section 6 Championships
|
Elma, NY |
| 11/06 |  Section 9 Championships
|
Bear Mountain, NY |
| 11/07 |  CHSAA Frosh/Soph Championships
|
New York, NY |
| 11/07 |  PSAL Frosh/Soph City Champs
|
New York, NY |
| 11/07 | Section 3 Championships
|
Jamesville, NY |
| 11/07 | Section 5 Championships
|
Batavia, NY |
| 11/07 |  Section 8 Championships
|
Bethpage, NY |