Following Week of Saturday, October 8
The big action was at Van Cortlandt Park (and in front of Lloyd's Carrot Cake) for the humongous Manhattan Invite featuring teams from all over the East Coast. The meet is a slugfest for bigger teams, and the crowded trails ensured that most teams would actually be running a bit below their usual speed ratings.
Again it was Bethlehem that led the way for the NY teams, following up on a win the weekend before in the McQuaid Premier race. The Eagles finished 2nd to Assumption PA in Manhattan's Eastern States race, and Cicero-North Syracuse minus Hannah Boyle was next best at 8th. Class B leader Cornwall was next at 9th led by champ Karrie Baloga. But the Green Dragons cannot rest easy because Varsity F winner Sayville with a more balanced squad is not far behind. Other teams having good days that moved them up in the rankings included West Babylon, Scarsdale, and East Islip. Shaker, Shenedehowa, and Corning performed to their usual top levels.
The small schools also got in some action among the giants, and Bronxville rose back to the 2nd spot in Class C with a solid showing, and Class D Mount Academy leaped to 6th with a gutty effort in the Varsity D race. Note that the Manhattan merge results that were posted earlier are very problematic as they include a few teams that did not run at Manhattan, teams placed in the wrong Class, and some duplicated runners such as Bronxville's O'Hare "girls," so they were used sparingly for the rankings.
Teams are listed with the average speed ratings numbers supplied by Tully Runners, and the number in parentheses shows the difference between the 1-5 runners, each point equaling 3 seconds on a 5K course, and smaller compression numbers are generally better.
This weekend will be fairly quiet as teams are attending to league meets during the weekdays. The biggest action will be at Burnt Hills, and among the other invite selections are Tully, Weedsport, NYC Carnival, Nassau Coaches, Marathon, Alden Bulldog Stampede, and Beaver River.