Cross-country

The ex-runner’s ramble: weekly update

By RICHARD A. ROSS

Warwick’s Ryan sets the standard with win over Blood at Girls Race of Champions

CARY, NC — This week’s top story has got to be the incredible race turned in by Warwick’s Aislinn Ryan (16:56.31) against a field of the nation’s elite runners at the Girls Race of Champions, held at the Great American Festival. Though Saratoga Springs, led by Nicole Blood, is ranked first in the nation and remains one of the best teams on record, it was Ryan who topped all runners, beating Whitney Anderson (17:23.21) of Summit High School and Blood (17:30.72).

In the race last fall, Ryan finished second to Blood. At the New York State Track and Field Championships last spring, Blood (9:24.03) bested Ryan (9:42.50) in the 3000-meter run. Current NYS rankings have Ryan listed as the top runner, with Blood now second.

Sullivan West girls win Tully Invitational for second straight year; VanWagenen tops boys

TULLY, NY — April Ackermann (20:04.5), currently ranked 16th in the state in Class C, finished second to Onondaga’s Nana Sang Bender (19:56.2), the state’s top Class D runner, in the October 2 Tully Invitational. Ackermann’s time was 40 seconds faster than last year. Jamie Clifford (20:20.7) came in fourth. Jessica Wagner (21:01.2) finished eighth, and Michelle Manzi (21:20.1) placed 11th. Manzi’s time was a full three minutes faster than last year at this race. Amanda Ward (22.25) placed ninth, freshman Chelsea Schadt (23:02.8) finished 24th and Jessica Weyandt (24:29.6) finished 38th.

“Chelsea took one for the team,” said Coach George Shakelton. “If she had run in the freshman race, she would have been in the top ten.” Shakelton added Schadt to the varsity race in case one of his top five girls went down. The Bulldogs won the meet, besting Pulaski, Trumansburg, Moravia and Tully. Sullivan West remains the third ranked Class C team in the state. “We were the hunted this year. The team ran like champions,” Shakelton said.

In the boys race, Mike VanWagenen (16:58.6) ran away from the pack and cruised to an easy win. VanWagenen is currently ranked fifth among Class C runners in the state. Trevor Kreznar (18:16.2) finished in 16th place, Rob Ward (18:33.7) took 20th, Matt Gain (19:07.6) finished 33rd, Adam Nebzydoski (19:42.2) placed 43rd, Brett Cucci (19:47.3) was 46th, and Eric Cina (23:13.2) was 70th.

“Adam is coming along fast,” noted Shakelton. The Sullivan West boys were given honorable mention in this week’s state rankings.

Tri-Valley boys capture Maroon Invitational, Wolfe tops the field, Girls take second

WEST PATERSON, NJ — Travis Wolfe (16:52.6) topped the field of runners at the October 2 Maroon Invitational. He is currently ranked third in the state among Class C runners. Tri-Valley took first place at the meet. Jeremy Mathsen (17:51) took seventh just ahead of Derek Smith (18:06), who finished eighth. Michael Kaplan (18:53) took 13th, Jon Huppke (20:00) took 36th, Josh Mattingly (20:58) took 56th and Justin Tompkins (21:02) took 57th.Tri-Valley is the fifth ranked Class C team in the state.

In the girls race, Courtney Roosa (21:09) placed seventh, and Rachel Sanborn (22:01) took 14th just ahead of Erin Beach (22:23). Melissa Fancher (25:44) was 42nd, Heather Riordan (25:59) was 44th, Samantha Vernooy (26:20) was 46th and Danielle Huppke (27:25) finished 57th.

Eldred, Liberty and Monticello compete at Unatego

UNATEGO, NY — Monticello’s Brandon Devine (20:10) took 13th in the Varsity A race. Teammate Alex Levine (20:30) finished 19th and Cono Cirone (20:37) finished 20th. Other Panther finishers included Anthony Freeman (20:54) in 22nd place, Brandon Farence (21:14) in 24th, and Vinnie Brugeletta (22:38) in 35th. Liberty’s Jacob Schwartz (20:51) took 21st place. Teammates Kevin McGuire (22:08) and Chris Goldsmith (22:59) finished 32nd and 34th, respectively. Kim McKay (22:17) of Liberty took fifth place in the girls’ race.

Eldred’s Kieran Pierce (18:51) finished 13th in the Varsity B race. Teammate Catlan Sardina (19:23) took 20th. Max Gunther (19:49), Coyote Anderson (22:15), Charles Chandler (22:29) and James Jennings (22:41) finished 28th, 48th, 49th and 50th. Maggie Snyder (23:39) took 15th in the girls race. Teammate Grace Babula (24:57) placed 30th.