Girls Division IV
The fastest course returner is the biggest name to watch. And she's not just fast. She's 17:32.4, #7 all time in Queensbury history fast.
We're talking about Ithaca's Tsadia Bercuvitz, of course. She achieved that historic mark en-route to a runner-up Class A finish behind only Zariel Macchia last year.
Beneath the illnesses and other encounters with the sport's brutality, Bercuvitz still put forth some more history during track season. Another runner-up state finish, this time in the indoor 3K. A Section 4 record of 9:23. With all of her proven capabilities, the junior has a shot at a fresh start to Fall 2025.
So too does one of New York's fastest all-purpose 5K runners. Kyleen Brady threw down a 17:08.58, good for 7th at Nike Indoor Nationals. Brady also represented Team New York at NXN last December.
Don't sleep on Sloan Wasserman, either. 3rd place in 2023. 2nd place in 2024. It's a new season, and the senior from John Jay - Cross River has only one place on her mind for the Class B Championship.
Wasserman was one of the top New York steeplers this past spring, which has always proven to make a difference on the trails.
The host section has its fair share of headlines too.
Guilderland, Niskayuna and Columbia are all prominent on our early projections. The challenge: to make states, they must overcome Bethlehem, Shen and Saratoga. And each other. This race gives each of them a solid opportunity to compete. Especially Guilderland, whose ace Addison Vellekoop has four top-5 state finishes under her belt.
Voorheesville, the 2022 Class D champions, are now the top projected team in Class C. Their three-headed monster: Avery Grant, Savannah Schmidt, & Shayla Hyman, went 1-2-3 at sectionals last year, and are all still freshmen and sophomores.
Lastly, Section 9 brings back some top Class B talent. Cornwall finished just 7 points away from the state team title, and Wallkill's Caitlyn Murphy finished sixth overall in the same race.