Cross Country

Statehood

Seidl wins Class C again; Fingers breaks school record, 14 county runners qualify for states

By RICHARD A. ROSS

BEAR MOUNTAIN, NY — The bear came over the mountain and what do you think he saw?

Legions of runners hurtling around the lake, up and down hills and onto the grassy finish with every ounce of their energy. The occasion: The Section Nine Cross-Country Championships on October 31.

The meet produced a spate of champions, state qualifiers, personal bests and a fitting end to the cross-country season. Those who qualified for states will run on November 8 at Sunken Meadow Park.

No Sullivan County team placed first in its class, but Sullivan West’s Colin Seidl took home his second-straight Class C individual title with a time of 16:06.9, beating out O’Neill’s Kendall Ward by 10 seconds.

Seidl was seventh in states last year and hopes to finish in the top three. Trailing Ward around the first loop of Hessian Lake, Seidl went for the kill on the uphill surge, but Ward made a big push on the second loop. Undaunted, Seidl held him off. Sullivan West finished third in the team standings. O’Neill and Rhinebeck were one and two.

In the Class A boys race, Monticello’s Dave Wilbur (16:44.15) took second. Fellow Montie Thomas Gonzalez made it to states with his third-place time of 16:48.21. Monticello was third behind Goshen and Cornwall.

In Class D, Livingston Manor’s Greg Lewis (17:35.22) finished second to Chapel Field’s Adam St. Germain. He returns to the state meet hoping to better his 23rd-place finish from a year ago.

Eldred’s Matt Campanella (19:01.10) and Alex Campanella (19:02.97) qualified for states as well with their seventh- and eighth-place finishes.

In the girls Class C race, powerful Rhinebeck won the team title. Sullivan West’s Rianne Erlwein (19:49.59) went after Rhinebeck leaders Annabel Clarke and Anna Clark. The pace burned up much of Erlwein’s energy and Tri-Valley’s Rachel Sanborn (19:32.22) beat her to take fourth. Erlwein finished eighth, just ahead of state-qualifying Caroline Bertholf of Tri-Valley (19:54.00). Betholf finished 64th at states a year ago. Sullivan West’s Morgan Hawkins just missed out on a first trip to states with her time of 20:04.59. Tri-Valley finished second. Sullivan West finished fourth behind Millbrook.

In Class A, Cornwall’s Aisling Cuffe won again, but the big story was Monticello’s Jessica Fingers. Last week, Fingers missed out on the 1997 school record set by Billie Lucas (17:55.6). In the league meet, Fingers ran a PR of 17:58.88. This week, she took off after Cuffe and stayed much closer. The result: a stunning 17:52.59, putting herself in the Montie record book.

Fingers, 21st in states a year ago, will be joined by Emma Cohen (19:27.24), who came in sixth, and Justine Davis (19:53.50), who came in 10th. Both girls are making their third trip to states. Last year, Cohen finished 65th at states. Team- wise in this year’s sectionals, Monticello took second behind Cornwall.

In the Class D race, Eldred got two finishers to states. Christine Donnelly (21:21.53) took fourth and Kristina Brown (21:32.78) was 10th. Eldred finished third behind John A. Coleman Catholic and Chapel Field.

Visit riverreportersports.com for a complete list of Sullivan County finishers and an album of photos.