NY Looking For Rare Sweep - Eastern State Champs Preview

Oct 06, 2021

Girls Eastern State Championships

Race Time: 2:46pm

Top Individuals: Karrie Baloga (Cornwall) - 151, Juliette Whittaker (Mount De Sales Academy) - 135, Sarah Lawson (Corning) - 131, Leonni Griffin (Shaker) - 125, Tiffany Herrera (St. Mark's) - 124, Rylee Davis (Bethlehem) - 124, Faithe Ketchum (Corning) - 124, Zariel Macchia (Floyd) - 122, Olivia Shattuck (Ridgewood) - 121, Sophia Gorriaran (Moses Brown) - 121, Hannah Palmer (Villa Maria) 120, Kaleigh Higgins (Shaker) - 118, Lily Williams (Ridgewood) - 115, Sarah Clark (Villa Maria) 115, Charlotte O'Meara (Bethlehem) - 110, Marisa Poe (Maret School) - 110, Allie Martin (Preston) - 110, Caroline Deiss (Ridgewood) - 108, Annie Bolke (Bethlehem) - 107, Anna Chrapowitzky (Bethlehem) - 107, Emily LaMena (John Glenn) - 107, Katherine Bannigan (Bethlehem) - 105, Maeve Conway (Bethlehem) - 105, Alice Burke (Ithaca) - 103, Logan Brasacchio (Victor) - 102, Ciara Bullington (Shaker) - 101, Charlotte Dunkel (Shaker) - 99

Breakdown: Letter race winner Karrie Baloga is stepping up to the Easterns race, and looks to be the clear favorite. She put on a strong showing at Six Flags two weeks back, and could put down something special here. Her Speed Rating suggests being right on the cusp of that 14min barrier, and it could be a race against the clock at the finish.

Behind her, the race is wide open. Juliette Whittaker has experience racing the Olympic Trials, so the pressure of Manhattan shouldn't faze her here. She's the next best ranked athlete, with a slight edge over McQuaid winner Sarah Lawson.

Teams at the Top: Bethlehem (109.6), Corning (105.2), Shaker (102.2), Cornwall (100.6), Ridgewood (97.6 - 2020 rating), St. Mark's (97.0), Villa Maria (92.0), Trumbull (85.0), Victor (73.2), Northern Highlands (70.0), Moses Brown (64.0), St. Anthony's (63.6)

Breakdown: The team battle would appear at first glance to center around a scrum featuring four of the top seven NY teams. Bethlehem's Eagles led by Davis are ranked only behind national leader Saratoga and 12-time NXN winner Fayetteville-Manlius and are coming off a big ratings-boosting win in the Grout-1 race. Right behind is a 4th-ranked Corning team that was the top squad last week at McQuaid and a Shaker team that dominated the Grout-2 race. Cornwall rounds out the top group and is a growing force behind top runner Baloga.

Appearances could be deceptive though because some out-of-state teams will also be trying to crash the party. The mystery team is a Ridgewood squad that is ranked number 1 in NJ but has not had results at invites since a relaxed season opener. The team placed 2nd at the big Holmdel Invite last year and returns all but the top runner from that squad. St. Mark's (DE) is coming off a win in the Great American-Seeded race last week, while Villa Maria (PA) won the McQuaid AA race and finished 7th in the merge results.