TRR photo by Richard A. Ross Monticello’s Jessica Fingers (17:58.88) took second in the OCIAA cross-country championships on October 24. Her personal best time was a big improvement over her last year’s fifth-place finish time of 18:21.17. She finished one second shy of a school record.

Cross country

League lore

OCIAA championship features cross-country milestones; Monticello’s Fingers takes second in girls run; Erlwein is 11th

By RICHARD A. ROSS

BEAR MOUNTAIN, NY—When it comes to grandeur and spectacle, not to mention sheer numbers of participants, the annual OCIAA Cross-Country Championships holds a unique place in Section Nine sports.

It is the one time during the season that area runners get to take a measure of themselves against athletes from schools large and small. It is a measuring stick of how much progress individuals and teams have made from the prior year.

The air was cool and the day was clear but slightly overcast for the 42nd running of this event; in short, it was a perfect day for runners.

click for story

Football

Green supreme

By RICHARD A. ROSS

ELDRED, NY—Where is that fat lady?

The corpulent female referred to is the one Yogi Berra once immortalized by his statement, “It ain’t over ‘til the fat lady sings.” Someone reported last seeing her singing an Eldred fight song on the hill, overlooking the Yellow Jackets’ field on October 24.

click for story

Soccer

Dome prone

By RICHARD A. ROSS

LIVINGSTON MANOR, NY—Millions of people around the world adore the game of soccer. Little children will fashion a soccer ball out of a rag and kick it up and down a rocky field. Fans don’t just watch the game, they revel in it.

It’s a recent phenomenon that the game, which the world holds so dear, is finally catching on in the United States. Credit the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team with its storied World Cup and Olympic wins that spawned legions of young soccer players and swelled the ranks of AYSO, high school and college soccer teams.

click for story

Also in this issue:

• Eight straight