Cross country

Devine caps championship season

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA — On December 1, Brendan Devine of Bethel and Monticello High School traveled to Virginia Beach for his final cross country competition of the 2007 season. Devine, who is a three-time Metropolitan New York AAU Champion, finished third last December in the age 15-16 category at the National Championships held in Orlando, FL. He expected the competition to be even tougher as he moved up to the Young Men’s Division (ages 17-18) this year. As expected, the competition was fierce.

Fierce as the competition was, it was a two-man race from the start between Devine and Michigan’s Jon Rock, also a high school senior. Spectators were treated to what one official reported was the closest race in AAU history. Spectators could often see Devine and Rock on the course from the Virginia Beach Sports Complex and were able to watch the race up close and personal on the jumbo-tron system on the complex’s scoreboard. The two runners were shoulder to shoulder for three miles, frequently exchanging the lead, before Devine opened a five-meter lead in the last 800-meter stretch inside the stadium complex. As they turned toward the finish, Rock put on a show with an incredible kick that stunned the crowd and left everyone wondering who won in this photo-finish race.

In the end, the two runners were separated by less than five one hundredths of a second; each with an official time of 15:41. The photo showed both how close the race was and that Rock had won the National Championship. Each was already congratulating the other and embraced when the results were announced. Two harriers had given their all and only one could be crowned champion. The two boys, both being recruited by the U.S. Naval Academy, which Rock is planning on attending, may have many such competitions to look forward to during their college careers.

This capped an incredible season for Devine, one in which he set four course records, won two major invitationals, finishing second in two others (including the prestigious Manhattan College Invitational). He finished second to Cornwall’s Colin Anderson at the OCIAA Championship, but defeated him in the OCIAA Division III Championship and again in winning the Section 9, Class A title. From there, he went on to finish second in the New York State Class A Championship and 15th in the Federation Championship (each the best finish for a Section 9 runner), before turning his attention to the AAU competition. Devine’s college plans are as yet undecided and, because he will turn 18 next fall, he remains eligible to compete again next year for the AAU championship.