NYSPHSAA Cross-Country Championships

Devine takes second in state in Class A; Seidl is seventh in C

Monticello senior turns in Section Nine’s best performance; other county runners make fine showing

By RICHARD A. ROSS

NORFOLK, NY — If one were to chart Brendan Devine’s progress this season, the trend would show a steady rise in his times and places garnered in big races. After coming in second in the OCIAA league race to Cornwall’s Colin Anderson, Devine beat his rival for the Section Nine Class A title at Bear Mountain a week later.

Devine and teammate David Wilbur earned berths to the state meet, along with the Cornwall team that had won the sectional team title. On November 10, Devine (15:52.9) finished just seven seconds behind NYSPHSAA Class A state champion Kyle Merber (15:45.1) of Half Hollows High School to take second among the state’s Class A runners. His finish was the best of Section Nine finishers at states.

A year ago, Devine finished 21st in the state meet with a time of 16:26.25. This year’s performance showed an improvement that was off the charts.

Wilbur (17:19.6) finished in 54th place. Port Jervis’ Alex Gardner (18:15.6) came in 92nd in Class A.

Warwick won the boys title for its fourth state cross-country championship and its first in Class AA. It won the B crown in 1992, 1994 and 1995.

Unlike Devine, Sullivan West’s Colin Seidl afforded no such year-to-year comparison. Seidl was playing soccer a year ago, which makes his seventh-place class c finish in 16:25.6 that much more impressive. Seidl won the Section Nine title a week ago, implementing a strategy that came to him following his 18th-place finish in the OCIAA championships on the same course a week prior.

Teammate Matt Layman (18:21.4) finished 84th behind Tri-Valley’s Nick Denman (18:61.1) in 78th place. Denman ran 17:33.9 in ‘06 for a 43rd-place finish. Layman improved from 17:50.55 a year ago in his time, but slid from 55th place in ’06. Denman’s teammate Tom Riordan (19:00.05) garnered 104th place among Class C boys. It was his first state meet.

In Class D, Livingston Manor’s Greg Lewis (17:38.4) took 23rd place. A year ago, Lewis ran 18:15.5 for 49th place among the state’s Class D runners.

In the girls races, Section Nine’s top runner in Class A was Monticello’s Jessica Fingers (19:19.6) in 21st place. It was her first state meet. Teammate Emma Cohen (20:43.3) took 65th place. Last year, Cohen ran 21:18.6 in 86th place. Teammate Marisala Acevedo (21:02.5) took 92nd place in her first state meet.

In Class C, Tri-Valley took fifth place among the team standings with 149 points. The meet was won by Greenwich from Section Two with 20 points. Bronxville (30 points) from Section One, Tully (101 points) from Section Three and Newark Valley (119 points) from Section Four finished ahead of the Lady Bears.

Courtney Roosa (19:56.7) was 21st in the race.

A year ago, she ran 20:09 and finished 31st. Teammate Rachel Sanborn (20:25.5) came in 35th, showing an improvement over her 67th-place time of 21:23.1 a year prior.

Sullivan West’s Rianne Erlwein (20:26.1) took 36th. Last year, Erlwein ran 20:09 and finished 31st.

Tri-Valley’s Caroline Bertholf (21:17.0), Shannon Hornbeck (21:47) and Ashley Weintraub (22:28.3) finished 63th, 79th and 90th respectively.

In Class D, Eldred’s Grace Babula (21:18.8) finished 30th. A year ago, Babula was 86th with a time of 24:11.5. Eldred eighth grader Christine Donnelly (22:01.6) was 51st in her first state meet race.