Rivals take to the trails

Sullivan West holds off Tri-Valley and Port Jervis in home meet

By RICHARD A. ROSS

JEFFERSONVILLE, NY — To the great relief of the runners, a cool breeze wafted across Sullivan County as athletes from Sullivan West, Tri-Valley and Port Jervis stretched and jogged over the course to warm up for the September 19 meet.

The girls headed out first on the 3.1-mile course. Sullivan West’s April Ackermann, currently ranked sixth in New York State among Class C runners, took the lead and held it throughout. Ackermann turned in a time of 21:17. Her time obliterated her own old 2004 course record by 30 seconds. Tri-Valley’s Rachel Sanborn (23:03) took second place.

Sullivan West’s Jessica Wagner was in second position before she fell on the final stage of the course. Wagner (23:40) finished fifth. Sullivan West’s Chelsea Schadt finished third. Schadt (23:21) took 2:14 off of her time from 2004, a product of a prodigious summer running regimen. Rounding out the top five was Tri-Valley’s Courtney Roosa (23:32), who finished in fourth place.

Sullivan West coach George Shakelton was pleased with his teams’ league win over Tri-Valley. The win advanced Sullivan West’s record to 5-0 (5-0 OCIAA).

Shakelton was impressed with the running of Charlotte Peters (24:08), who came in seventh. Peters’ time was nearly five minutes faster this year than last year’s time in the same race.

In the boys’ race, Sullivan West, ranked the sixth Class C team in the state, prevailed over league-rival Tri-Valley. Mike VanWagenen posted a winning time of 17:48, besting his 2004 course record by seven seconds. Tri-Valley’s Derek Smith came in second with a time of 18:47. Third and fourth place went to Sullivan West runners Trevor Kreznar (18:56) and Matt Gain (18:59) respectively. Mike Kaplan of Tri-Valley rounded out the top five with a time of 19:12. Sullivan West’s Brett Cucci took sixth place and bested his last year’s time by 20 seconds with a run of 19:25. The top Port Jervis runner was Brian Smith, who came in seventh with a time of 19:35.

Like the girls’ team, Sullivan West’s boys improved to a perfect 5-0 (5-0 OCIAA) with the win.

This year’s cross-country season will yield a dual meet champion, a division champion, a league champion, a sectional champion and of course a state champion. With so much on the line, look for Tri-Valley and Sullivan West to battle right down to the bitter end.

Eldred girls keep record alive

By KYLE ANTHONY, MAX GUNTHER AND ASHLEY TICE

LIBERTY, NY — It was a warm, sunny day on September 21, when Eldred traveled to Liberty to compete against Chapel Field, Liberty, Chester and S.S. Seward.

In the boys’ race, Eldred’s Max Gunther took first place with a time of 18:23 and teammate Kyle Anthony took second with a time of 18:58. Lee Buetta (19:33) of Seward came in third. Liberty’s Jacob Schwartz (19:46) garnered fourth place. Rounding out the top five was Billy Kelleman (20:02) of Seward.

“It was a good race,” said Anthony. “Cross-country is quite difficult, but I am slowly getting better at pacing myself.”

The Eldred girls came in first as a team, with an overall record of 5-2 and a league record of 3-0 The girls’ race was won by Liberty’s Kim McKay (22:40). Eldred sophomore Grace Babula came in second with a time of 23:29.5. Sophomore Ashley Vicari was third and turned in a time of 23:38. Other top Eldred finishers included Eldred eighth grader Kristina Brown in fourth place with a time of 24:42. Junior Ashley Tice came in fifth with a time of 25:20. Annie Babula was seventh with a time of 28:17. Kaley Donnelly (30:12) took 11th place and Lindsay Warden (31:15) took 14th.

“The girls are getting better every time they race,” said Tice. “I can’t wait to see how they progress throughout the rest of the season.”