Section Nine Cross-Country Championships

Sullivan sweetness

Devine, Fingers, Seidl, Lewis win first-ever Section Nine titles and the Lady Bears prevail; 18 county kids head to states

By RICHARD A. ROSS

BEAR MOUNTAIN, NY — Ring the bells, raise the roof and scream to the hilltops. Sullivan County runners made a resounding statement at this year’s Section Nine championships held on November 2. Their message: we run like the wind so it’s time you took notice.

This year, Sullivan County schools will send 18 runners to the state meet on November 10 at Norwood High School in the hinterlands near the Canadian border in Norfolk.

Not to take anything away from the well-publicized successes of the usual suspects, including powerful Warwick, Washingtonville, Cornwall and others who regularly capture the headlines and deservedly so, this story is about Sullivan County athletes and what a story it is.

Just one week after the OCIAA league meet was held on the same course, county kids returned to compete against only those runners from schools of their own size.

Benefiting from their experience of running here a week ago, many mapped out strategies for augmenting their performances. The top runners had their eyes on the prize of a Section Nine championship. Failing that, they sought to break into the top five runners chosen, in addition to the winning team’s top seven to punch a ticket to this year’s state meet.

In last week’s league meet, Monticello’s Brendan Devine and Cornwall’s Colin Anderson put on the marquee race of the day. Anderson’s kick in the last mile bested Devine, so the Monticello senior went into this rematch saying he was just going to lay low and see what Anderson would do.

First and foremost was earning a state berth. A Section Nine Class A title, something he has never won in cross-country, would be a temptation but he said he’d see.

He saw something all right.

“When we started up the mountain, I was holding back but I knew I had a chance to win it so I decided to go all out and see what I could do. I felt strong, and I learned from last week’s race that I couldn’t out kick Colin from a mile out so I did it from a bit further.”

The tactic paid off and Devine (15:33.84) bested his second-place finish of 16:03 a year ago when he finished behind Anderson. The two have a great ongoing rivalry.

Anderson took second in 16:00:18. Cornwall won the team title. Monticello’s Dave Wilbur also qualified for states finishing fifth in 16:47.58.

In the Class C race, Sullivan West’s Colin Seidl also learned something from last week’s run. “I went out too fast in the first mile last week, so on the first lap around the lake I just hung on the shoulder of Paul Lagno of Millbrook. I let it all go heading up the hill and tried to kick it the rest of the way.”

Seidl’s powerful uphill surge gave him a 50-meter lead that he never relinquished. The first-year cross-country-running junior garnered a first-place medal with a time of 16:16.21, six seconds faster than last week’s OCIAA time.

Three more Sullivan County runners made it to states in Class C, including Tri-Valley’s Nick Denman, who finished fourth in 16:47.92, Sullivan West’s Matt Layman, who took seventh in 17:12.22, and Tri-Valley’s Tom Riordan, who garnered eighth in 17:13.14.

Layman sized up last week’s run and this week had a new plan. “I went all out for the kick at the end. It helped having back-to-back races here. My downhill running was faster today, and making states was the main part of my agenda,” the senior noted.

In Class D, Livingston Manor’s Greg Lewis torched his competition despite having to jump onto and off a rail around the lake turn to avoid a clueless mom with a baby, who was out for a stroll in the middle of the course.

Lewis also used last week’s run to his benefit. “I got hemmed in last week, so this time I went for the front so nobody could slow me down. The second-place runner was ahead of me as we got to the hill but just at the top of the knoll heading towards the downhill, that’s where I flew,” he noted with pride.

Last year, Lewis ran 17:44.31 and finished second to Eldred’s Max Gunther, who graduated in June. This year, Lewis honed his time to 17:28.15 to garner the medal.

In the girls races held in the afternoon, Monticello’s Jessica Fingers added another page to her stunning fall running epic. Finishing fifth in the OCIAA league meet was stellar, but winning the Class A title with a time of 18:44.84 was even sweeter, although her time was 23 seconds slower than a week ago. This time out, Fingers didn’t have runners like Warwick’s Tori Pennings and the like to keep up with.

Teammate Emma Cohen (19:47.58) will be joining Fingers at the state meet. She took eighth place. It’s her second year traveling to states. Last year, she ran 20:30 in the Section Nine meet. Marisala Acevedo made it three state qualifiers for the Monties with a time of 20:23.16. This will be her first trip to states.

Tri-Valley’s Courtney Roosa will revisit the state meet but not as Section Nine’s Class C champion as she did a year ago. This time, Annabel Clarke of Rhinebeck bested her. Roosa’s time of 19:09.21 surpassed last year’s 19:39 by half a minute. She will be joined at states by teammate Rachel Sanborn, who finished fourth in 19:36.26, and Sullivan West’s Rianne Erlwein, who took fifth in 19:49.59. It’s Erlwein’s second trip to the big dance. Last year at sectionals, she turned in a time of 20:01. Tri-Valley repeated as Class C champion, so the team, which also includes Ashley Weintraub, Caroline Bertholf, Naomi Weise and Shannon Hornbeck, will go as well.

Visit riverreportersports.com for more results and an album of pictures from the boys races.