Voorheesville came achingly close to sending its boys and girls cross country teams to the state championships.
Unfortunately for the Blackbirds, Berne-Knox-Westerlo’s boys team was one point better than them.
While the Voorheesville girls team cruised to the Class C title at last Friday’s Section II Championships at Saratoga Spa State Park, the boys team found itself in a battle with its hilltown neighbors. Though Voorheesville placed two runners in the top five, B-K-W placed five runners in the top 20 to pull out a 46-47 victory over the Blackbirds.
It happens. That’s why we run the races, said Voorheesville coach Steve Relyea. `It’s not the individual runners that win Sectionals ` it’s the seven runners that you put on the line.`
Voorheesville’s seven girls had a strong overall showing to win the school’s first title since 2005. Freshman Michelyn Little led the Blackbirds with a fifth-place finish in a time of 19:24.4. Fellow freshman Casey Morrison was eighth in a time of 20:20.7, followed by junior Zoe Edmunds in 11th place with a time of 20:45.2. Sawyer Cresap (12th place, 20:52.4), Grace Giampaglia (14th, 21:00,7), Sarah Madden (17th, 21:13.1) and Carla Planz (23rd, 21:33.7) also finished in the top 25.
`It was an outstanding win,` said Relyea. `We got our top seven runners in before any other team got their first five in.`
It looked good for Voorhees-ville’s boys team, too, when Conor Cashin and Ian Powell were among the first five runners to cross the finish line. Cashin won the individual title with a time of 15:58.0, and Powell placed fourth in a time of 16:41.0.
`That was a nice victory for (Cashin),` said Relyea. `He looked really strong coming in.`
The suspense started building after that. B-K-W runners took three of the next four places, and though Voorheesville’s Taylor Treadgold and Nathan Bub finished a respective 10th and 11th, B-K-W stayed on the Blackbirds’ heels by getting its fourth and fifth runners in the top 20.
When the final points were tallied, B-K-W’s tighter pack overcame Voorheesville’s strong lead runners to end the Blackbirds’ two-year reign as Sectional champions.
`This was a great meet,` said Relyea. `I wish I was on the other side (of the boys’ standings), but it was a great meet.`
Cashin and Powell will join the Voorheesville girls team at Saturday’s state championships at Sunken Meadow State Park on Long Island.“
