A look back
-
- October
- 24
Another busy day of running yesterday. I’ll give you some of my thoughts of what went down at Van Cortlandt Park.
First, from a reporting stand point, I’m not a huge fan of VCP. Teams are located all over the park and when you’re trying to figure out the score and track down runners it gets a little hectic. Then when I tried to find people to talk to I would have to go back and forth across the field either looking for people or going to see if the scores were posted.
But I was able to make due, and these are some of the things I came away with from Westchester:
Girls:
- I don’t want to say I underestimated Ursuline, but the team ran a lot better than I thought it could.
- Ursuline controlled the race form beginning to end. When Jan Mitchell told me earlier that winning down in Florida without Katie Sullivan was huge for this team, I didn’t necessarily think it was true. The team ran against schools I never heard of and won. I thought it was a good win, but not a turning point. Apparently I was wrong.
- Sullivan taking first is no surprise. Running 14:56.71 is. That’s an incredibly fast time.
- Give Caitlin Hudson (2nd, 15:07.83) credit. She has become the leader of this Bronxville team and has had an outstanding season.
- The same goes for Emily Singer (3rd, 15:25.20) of Harrison. TO be right up with the leaders is very impressive.
- But what pushed Ursuline over the top was how the team closed the gap behind Sullivan. Freshman Mary O’Shea (4th, 15:29.19) is a name that you will almost certainly be hearing for the next four years. But she was followed by Jackie McCarthy (5th, 15:30.21), Ashley O’Sullivan (13th, 16:02.19) and Carlie Brittan (20th, 16:19.99). It was a total team effort to get this win.
- Bronxville may not have run its best race yesterday, but even if the team had it wouldn’t have been enough. That’s how well Ursuline ran. And Bronxville didn’t run that bad, but again Ursuline from top to bottom came ready to run, had a plan in mind and executed.
- Speaking about names that we’ll be hearing for another few years – check out the Trelstad sisters from White Plains: Eleanor (8th, 15:46.73) and Elizabeth (9th, 15:49.81). Those two ran extremely well and if White Plains can develop enough depth behind them – the team finished third yesterday – then this could be a team that could win this title in another year or two.
- Gina Talt, Annie Field and Jessica Kendzor all continued their solid seasons as the trio from Mamaroneck, Irvington and Kennedy took 6-7-8.
Boys:
- It may not have been pretty and it sure wasn’t decisive, but Scarsdale continues to find ways to win.
- No one knew how good this team was going to be after losing its top three runners to graduation, but the team came back and won the county title for the second straight season.
- This year it was different and before the meet the runners knew it was different. They couldn’t rely on running away with the title because they have some of the best runners in the county – this year it was a full team that got Scarsdale the victory.
- The team placed only two runners in the top 10 – Ilkyu Lee (5th, 13:19.90) and Sam Kohn (10th, 13:26.80). Miles Kirwin (16th, 13:32.80), Justin Harris (28th, 13:57.90) and Nikita Levin (48th, 14:17.50) were able to fill in behind.
- After a quiet season, by his own admission, Sean Halpin (1st, 12:53.20) has finally arrived. The Iona Prep senior had a great finish to his spring season and came out quietly in the fall. He was one of the better runners in the county when the season began, and he’s done well, but yesterday he really opened it up being able to outkick Manu Kumar (2nd, 12:56.60).
- Iona Prep also came out strong as the team took second in the team scoring. Kyle Shepard (6th, 13:20.40) followed Halpin in.
- Kumar has had a great season, and he is only a junior. These losses – to Mike Hickey, Halpin and the guys from Arlington, can only help him.
- Byram Hills and Horace Greeley both had strong meets. Watch out for these two teams at sectionals. Especially if Greeley can get Henry Koster running strong and up with Kyle Eager.
- That was disappointing for Fox Lane. The team has struggled with its depth and injury all season and it happened again yesterday.
Over in Rockland, there were a few surprises as North Rockland beat out Suffern in both the boys and girls. The second place finish for the Suffern boys has to be disappointing. Suffern needed to break up North Rockland’s top two and Mike Pereira (3rd, 15:43.06) did that. Nick Hughes took second in 15:34.71 and Chris Carrington took fourth in 16:02.61.
But with North Rockland being able to place all five runners in the top 13 and less than a minute apart was enough for the win. It was only a few spots that separated the two teams. We’ll see what happens at sectionals.
The North Rockland girls team fell only 15 points short of Pearl River, which is pretty impressive. Pearl River is clearly the best team in the section and it has the most depth, but North Rockland has definitely had a great season. Suffern took a disappointing third and has struggled at times this season.
Overall, it was a pretty good day of running. Thanks for reading. Be sure to check back later today and tomorrow for some more info.
This entry was posted
on Friday, October 24th, 2008 at 12:19 pm by Dan Marra. 
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Dan Marra began working for the Journal News this past September. He graduated from Manhattan College in 2004 and from John F. Kennedy High School in 2000. While at Kennedy, he ran cross-country and track. He is excited to be covering the sport that he participated in throughout his four years in high school. Dan loves all sports, but has, what some may say, an unhealthy obsession with the New York Giants.
Matthew Ng has been with Varsity Central and The Journal News sports department for the past two years handling high school beats such as skiing, bowling, girls soccer and tennis. Ng is a 2004 graduate of Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School with his major in broadcast journalism.
Casey Tolfree spent her high school career playing Section 1 sports at Dobbs Ferry and is excited to have the opportunity to cover them for the Journal News. After graduating from St. John's University, Casey joined the Journal News staff in December 2007 and has covered a variety of sports including basketball, softball, and volleyball.
Key point for Suffern girls was that 3rd runner Christa Goldman did not run, which was probably about the 16 point difference between the Mounties and North Rockland. Hope that this was just a rest situation and that she’s back for the Sectionals. Without her, Suffern is a 3rd place AA team.
Check out 15th place in the race!!
i heard there was a timing error for the westchester county meet. Would the posted times vary a lot from the actual times if there actually was an error?
There were errors, but the times I posted are close to being accurate. The times that I was given were about 20 seconds faster than the actual times, so I added the 20 seconds and they are pretty close to being accurate.
The times were only off for the boys, and if they’re still off it wouldn’t be by more than a second – most may be off a few tenths of a second.
Most important race’s this season is sectionals followed by
states. I am hoping that FL was looking ahead to these two races yesterday, and maybe saved their runner…
cya
Also, VCP as a 4k race run on a completely different surface from Bowdoin is not really a good indicator or prep for the Sectionals. Some runners fly around VCP but struggle with the big hill at Bowdoin or vice versa. Some coaches have asked the question why the race isn’t held within Westchester county on a real 5K course like WCC or a school course that would be a much better setup for Bowdoin. And with Tully Ratings possibly not doing SRs for VCP and other 4K courses in the future, we might well lose the SRs as well. And don’t get me started on those timing issues that seem to haunt the County meet at VCP.
The reason that the Westchester County XC Meet is at VCP is
because that is where the Westchester coaches have voted to
have it.
P.KING has lots to say [must have too much time on his hand]the WCC course is gone probably for good and why would you run on some schools course, not sure what purpose that would really serve?
Tully rankings – WOW they serve a real purpose?
Cross Country is the purest of sports but now critics as P.KING live and die by some computer generated data [personally I am getting tired of reading your almost daily gripes].
Van Cortlandt Park is the Mecca of Cross Country running in the Northeast – probably why both the Big East and Heps [besides other Conferences] will be running there championships on Friday at a course that has been used for over 70 years – yep I want to see races on some made up school’s course. Would you race “Big Brown” on the county fair race track – NOT.
Timing problems at the County Championships is caused by the officials at the line not having the experience of shifting chutes quickly and having the athletes rapidly move along until their bar codes are collected. Has absolutely nothing to do with VCP – it would happen with a field of 270+ at any venue if the crew working was not use to handling that number.
Most of the parents and athletes had a great time last thursday with hundreds of people all over the course cheering on their schools – folks were all along the flats, cow path, bridge, back hills and people were three deep along the straight. When you compete at Bowdoin officials are always yelling at the spectators and threatening disqualification or just taking the fun out of the sport. Those who were at VCP [like myself] had a wonderful time and most of the 800 or so runners had a great experience also.
FYI both Varsity races team and indivdual were awesome.
P.KING should volunteer to help out and stop crying daily.
Grow up already your blogs are becoming lame.
Wow, real sorry to offend Mr. runner, and I had a great time filming the race, getting articles written, helping get the kids prepped, and just enjoying the action. That doesn’t change the facts that for the third year in a row the boys’ results were botched up again. Defend it all you want, but the fact is that there is no other meet that finds a way to screw up the times for the boys 3 years running. If you’re satisfied with that type of performance, sorry for your low standards, but there are a lot of runners and schools who feel that they deserve better. VCP is indeed a historical Mecca (maybe a mini-Marathon is a better analogy), but that doesn’t mean its 2.5 mile (probably more like 4K nowadays) course needs to be used for the County instead of leaving it for the Manhattan. And anyone who can complain about a truly great XC course like Bowdoin has too much stewing time on his hands. Did you get caught by the officials impeding the runners when you tried to saunter up the hill?
And instead of just launching your cranky old tiresome personal attacks, why don’t you address the facts and issues for once. If you think the kids who are busting their butts out there deserve to have timers who forget to press the button on the timer, please go explain that to them.
And good Dan, so the coaches have voted to run the County meet on a Bronx 4K course once again. Does that mean it can’t change if other options were put into play? I run a half dozen flat-out races on the VCP 5K each year, and I can tell you that at least would be a better test for HS runners heading to a 5K Bowdoin course, though there is still that Bronx location issue. And if WCC is really out of the picture, does that mean in all of Westchester you can’t find a more suitable, more centrally located course for the County? That’s really sad, if true.
P.King – you said it all and I quote:
“If you think the kids who are busting their butts out there deserve to have timers who forget to press the button on the timer, please go explain that to them”.
You made my point – the course has nothing to do with the timing problem – it is all about the officials.
Perhaps their coaches can time them like most do.
FYI – more of your idiotic banter – the last I heard Bowdoin is in like Fishkill which is in like Dutchess County and if my geography is correct does not even remotely touch Westchester as Putnam is in between.
It is at least 20+ miles from the nearest Westchester school
but of course that little fact doesn’t matter in your rants.
At least the northern part of VCP touches Westchester County it is called Yonkers [big city along the Hudson].
Also why would anyone want to drive up to Bowdoin three times within a 13 day period for three meets? Google the driving distance let’s say between Pelham and Bowdoin and it comes to about 70 miles. You might as well have the meet out at Sunken Meadow which would be about 45 miles or perhaps in Central NJ for the amount of driving some schools have to endure.
But those little things are never considered by people that blog as much as you do. It is just easier to complain.
Coach Clark from Scarsdale constructed and maintained the course at WCC practically by himself and I commend him for that. When he asked other Section 1 coaches for help little was forthcoming as I guess some would like to spend some time with their own familes etc. With all the time you spend complaining perhaps you could get out there with a rake, shovel and some bug spray and help put the course back together. But like most people like yourself you would rather just continue your ranting and complaining.
Actually you are beginning to remind me of Soccer and Lax parents who always have too much to say when they think things don’t go their way. They rant about the coaching, the officials or whatever instead of just letting the athletes compete and have fun as teenagers should.
Enough said as you are getting boring. The word is out that you are having numerous running rants with several Section 1 coaches on various high school sites. You just use different handles.
Nice that we have the 1st Amendment but perhaps you should get a hobby or perhaps spend some time doing some community service with all your spare time.
It would make you feel good. You should try it. Bye
i just want to say this on vcp .
i am not a track junkie know very little about running.But a race into traffic of soccer and baseball seems not so good to me. Too much is going on there other then racing maybe you need to find a better place. And dont kill PKING for caring he loves the sport you can tell by his convictions.
First, during my race at counties the officials seemed to mess up with a kid’s place so just get better officials. Second, interested is right almost half of the line for the varsity race had to bend their routes around a soccer game in order to follow the course so that’s an issue. The WCC course last year was barely maintained and was obstructed many times with a awful start. However, supposedly there might be a course at SUNY purchase so we’ll have to see how that goes. It should not be held at Bowdoin because that would Section 1 coaches, Counties and Sectionals. I don’t see why they don’t use Bear Mountain too.
for sectionals