Editor’s Note- I’ve added some new stuff in the Class C section.

I wanted to let a little time pass by before I wrote anything about Saturday because there was a bunch of things that truly ticked me off. I didn’t want to post immediately because it would come off as an irrational rant and or thought, although it would have been highly entertaining, to borrow a phrase from poker, I was on tilt…just steaming. Plus driving back through the rain in Long Island with little to no sleep didn’t help either.

So here with some more time to relax, think and flesh out my thoughts and in a more measured tone, let me share with you some of my gripes….and then analyze some of the races.

The way the event was organized was a complete disaster. I tried to keep that to myself and not let it affect my work, but the way they treated the media was awful. After the girls Class C race, results took way too long to come out. It took over an hour plus for there to be any results. I would have given them the benefit of the doubt, but I saw certain organizers with copies of the results giving them to one “TV” media outlet and holding out on us and the public. Honestly, I still would have been OK with this if other things didn’t compound problems.

Finally when the results were public, they were posted in one place but any extra copies of each race was being sold for a dollar each. Seriously. It would have been OK to charge a dollar for the entire packet of results, but for each race and gender, there are 10 races (Classes AA, A, B, C, D in both genders) total, that is price gouging. And what’s worse about this is that the press shouldn’t ever have to pay for the results of an event that they are covering. If you want the results to be secretive, go run this race in the undisclosed location that Dick Cheney likes to hide in and not invite us. We all showed up because we wanted to highlight the kids and their achievements. I don’t mind paying for parking at places, or spending a couple dollars for a program, but the results, c’mon…that is ridiculous. I saw a reporter from an upstate newspaper begrudgingly buy the race results and say this happened years before. If they want to charge the public, fine. That would be unfortunate but not terrible. But to charge the media, the very people trying to make your event more popular and prominent for something that is considered basic in every other sport and at any other level is absurd.
It’s not like I am asking them to put out free sandwiches or demanding other frivolous amenities.

The other thing is that a couple of guards gave me a hard time to access the finish line. I know it’s their job to filter out the crowd and only let in officials and coaches near the finish, but I think some people take their job too seriously. It’s not airport security or the secret service. I showed my newspaper issued credential and the person wouldn’t let me in. Fine. I understand that. But then I showed that my co-worker, a photographer was there behind the fence and that I was joining her, he wouldn’t have any of it. Why would I make that up? I know I am venting a bit much, I don’t want it to seem like I am whining but the power of the keyboard is all I got.

Anyway let me get back to the races. I will spend more time discussing the races that I didn’t write as much about in my stories.

Class AA
The results don’t properly tell the story of this race. Fayetteville-Manlius Courtney Chapman won the race by over 33 seconds over Shelby Greany but it was much closer than that for the majority of the race.

Sometimes races are won and loss by the actions of other runners around them. It would be a clear case of oversimplification to say that Shelby Greany and Courtney Chapman just dueled heads-up and Chapman won out. There is always more. Chapman with her strong F-M team was up against highly ranked Saratoga Springs team. That race within a race mattered. At the start line, F-M was lined up on one end close to the Section 1 group while Saratoga was on the opposite end…F-M clearly wanted to get out to the fast enough start to beat Saratoga to the front when the line merges by the road after the first 500m. Shelby seemed compelled to keep up with them, spending her energy to stick with the F-M front three. Shelby said afterward that she knew that Chapman would be tough so she wanted to isolate her and take her on without others around. But she spent more energy to do that while Chapman dictated the pace with the help of teammates. So by the time they both hit cardiac hill, dueling each other, no wonder why Chapman had more gas left. Greany knew that once Chapman took off and that she could catch her, she still was able keep it together and hold onto second.

Clarkstown South’s Jess Tobin also got caught by the brisk and fast early pace. She finished 22nd in a very tough AA field, but coming in she was looking to be in the top-15 or -10. Along with the soft worn down terrain, the second hill seemed to slow her down.

“I wanted to go out fast and I did. But it definitely was the second hill,” I wanted to do better but I have next year to look forward to,” Tobin said.

She told me that she ran at this course a season ago, but didn’t get a chance to run there this year. The other Section 1 top finisher was Arlington’s Rachel Sorna in 12th place.

Class A
I think this race was a bit overlooked by our coverage. Coming into this race, the prevailing thought was that Ursuline’s Katie Sullivan or her team would be able to provide a top finish. Last year, the Ursuline team took 3rd and all signs pointed toward improving upon that feat. But it didn’t happen. Quite simply their magical run ended.

What did happen was Harrison’s Emily Singer…the diminutive junior finished the race in 19:38.28 to take ninth. In addition to taking a top-10 spot, she positioned herself to be one of the top runners in Section 1 next year and a legitimate shot at a great finish at next year’s states.

Singer patiently worked her way through the pack and kept up with the Burnt Hills team that won.
Once she realized she was going too fast, she held back. She showed a lot of poise, last year she finished 29th and it looks like that experience really helped.

Singer said:
“I came in 29th last year and right before last year’s race, my coach told me to run and just have fun, next year is when it will really matter. I wanted to make all-state.”

It was a growing experience and clearly she has the big picture in mind.

On finishing as the Section 1’s top runner in the Class A race:
“Katie Sullivan is amazing, so I am surprised that I did this.”

Class B

The early fast pace also seemed to be a major factor in the Class B race. Pearl River’s Chelsea Kushner admitted to jumping out to the front early on, which many of her teammates were unable to do. But the fact remains that even if Kushner was able to stay within herself and climb up the standings to like fifth, East Aurora still would have won. This is a race that they missed Molly Shine. Maria Kohlbrenner and Tara Clinton finished 39th and 40th coming in together at the finish line. I could tell that they felt a little disappointed and they felt they could have done better. They were pretty emotional. They are a young team. Last year they finished second, but it’s clear that this season was just as successful or more. I heard that they will be at Federations.

Nanuet’s Megan Young continues to quietly progress, her 14th place finish was good to qualify her for the Federation meet. She’ll a quite a force in the next four years, not just in Section 1 but at states.

Class C
What a win by Bronxville. I wrote plenty about it but I have just one other thing to share. A couple times during that Saturday, coach Jim Mitchell told me that his team is a bunch of track runners, running cross country…

Well just imagine what what they could have done if they really were all cross country runners. His young kids like Amelia Phillips (pictured below) came up huge for them.

During a preseason practice he told me how high he was on his eighth graders. Even with his advance foresight and optimism, I bet you he still couldn’t have pictured them to be as integral as they were.

It’s funny how things have come full circle. The first meet of the season that I covered was the Somers Invitational where Emily Singer and Pleasantville’s Libby Lazare dueled against each other. Now at states, they are two underlying story lines of individual success. Lazare finished 11th in the Class C race in 20:18.41. She was only two spots behind Bronxville’s Hudson and was two spots ahead of Tori Flannery. Her time was only one second behind Katie Sullivan’s Class A time. She clearly has grouped herself into the the elite of Westchester and Section 1.

Irvington’s Annie Field had a really good showing with a 17th place finish.

Dobbs Ferry freshman Sarah King was 22nd, which is pretty noteworthy for someone as young as she is.

Anyway, thanks for being patient and reading this.