Wappingers Falls, NY - The Federation meet combines both classes and federations (NYSPHSAA, CHSAA, AIS, PSAL) to give runners one more post season race before the big qualifiers. It is different in many regards from the NYSPHAA State meet, but today, the difference was clear. Bowdoin has hills, that Elma did not. How did competitors fare? Lets find out.
Girls
One of the biggest change the average onlooker would notice, is that there were no frontrunners today. The course and the meet format lend itself to close contact racing, no matter your speed. The athlete who found themselves winning by half-minutes at states now find themselves surrounded. 800m out, and no lead had been taken by any of the top athletes. It wasn't until about a mile in that the first degree of separation began. Four athletes, (Pictured above) Katie Lembo (Penfield), Tiana Guevera (Miller Place), Bella Burda (Arlington), Taylor Driscoll (Saratoga), had began a slight separation of about 10 meters. Behind them was another pack, of three this time, (Pictured Below) Megan Young (Nanuet), Megan Reilly (Warwick), Kate Zendell (Suffern). But behind that second group, was the entire field.
The top pack remained tight through the halfway point. Guevera had dropped back slightly, pursued by Reilly, but the top three girls were all in the hunt. And then the downhill. With 1000m to go, Bella Burda had created a huge gap that hadn't been there before. Approaching the final flats, she created a gap of about 30 seconds against her competitors. She would carry that lead all the way to the finish, taking a strong first in 17:56.9.
But the race was far from over. Behind Burda came in Katie Lembo, who will be trying her hand at Foot Locker next weekend. In 3rd, was Taylor Driscoll, scoring much needed low points, as she had team aspirations on her mind. Driscoll's freshmen teammate Olivia Morrow would follow in behind, placing 5th in team scoring, and senior/ All-American steeplechaser Keelin Hollowood in 8th. The high placing and low numbers of an always strong Saratoga squad pushed them over the top, giving them the team title for the day.
1. 70 Saratoga (19:05.7 95:28.4 1:25.8) 2. 101 Academy Of Holy Names (19:31.6 97:37.8 0:25.8) 3. 182 Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake (19:53.6 99:28.0 0:34.8) 4. 214 North Shore (19:59.5 99:57.2 1:08.4) 5. 234 Suffern (20:00.8 100:04.0 1:54.1) 6. 249 Rush-Henrietta (20:02.7 100:13.4 2:21.1) 7. 272 Warwick Valley (20:08.4 100:42.0 2:29.2) 8. 273 Shenendehowa (20:13.8 101:08.8 1:17.3) 9. 278 Penfield (20:07.9 100:39.3 2:29.0) 10. 280 Garden City (20:12.2 101:01.0 1:40.3)
Boys
If you thought the girls race was packed in, the boys did everything they could to top it. Halfway up the hill, where the girls had begun to separate, it was still a consistent mob of quality runners, made more dense by the encroaching spectators.
It wasn't until the half way point that there was much of any separation. Coming out of the woods, Alec Peinkofer (Baldwinsville) was being chased by some other top runners in the state, right on his tail. Most of them, he hadn't seen at the State meet. Tom Slattery (Chaminade), Sean Kelly (Chaminade), Jack Stevenson (Stuyvesant) and Marco Pompilj (Collegiate) all had championships of their own last weekend, and were looking to nab another title. It was a true Federation battle, as each runner represented one of the four Federations.
But something happened on the down hill. Much like Bella Burda, Sibby Hanson (Arlington) had run this course many times before. He has learned where to kick, and where to coast. And kick he did, surpassing all five runners on his hike downhill. Again, in the same spot his teammate had pulled ahead, Hanson hit 1000m with a significant lead. He used his kick to ensure his win, taking the title in just over sixteen minutes, in 16:00.7.
And again, as if deja vu, the team race began. Sibby leads a very strong Arlington squad, who know the course well. But last weeks Class A champions, Saratoga, knew this was their first crack at a course that becomes vital next week. The 'toga boys had an 8 second compression between their first 3 guys, giving them the consistency they needed to win the race. This tactic would grant them the win, with Arlington in 2nd.
1. 116 Saratoga (16:45.2 83:45.9 0:32.0) 2. 166 Arlington (16:49.4 84:06.6 1:19.5) 3. 182 St. Anthony's (16:57.4 84:46.8 0:27.8) 4. 192 Warwick Valley (16:59.5 84:57.5 0:32.0) 5. 201 Northport (16:57.7 84:48.1 1:04.2) 6. 216 Liverpool (17:03.1 85:15.2 0:47.5) 7. 217 Chaminade (16:54.6 84:33.0 1:22.9) 8. 252 Collegiate (17:04.0 85:19.9 1:26.3) 9. 285 Franklin Academy (17:09.5 85:47.3 1:47.1) 10. 287 Pittsford-Mendon (17:12.3 86:01.5 1:03.1)
