It was a banner day for Saratoga County at last Saturday’s New York State Federation Cross Country Championships at Bowdoin State Park in Wappingers Falls.
County schools took three of the top four places in the girls team standings and the top two places in the boys team standings as Section II dominated the meet, which pitted the top public and private school programs in New York against one another.
Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake led the way in the girls race. The Lady Spartans placed five runners in the top 50 to claim the team title with 69 points. Saratoga Springs was second with 82 points, while Shenendehowa claimed fourth place with 134 points.
Sam Roecker led BH-BL with a fourth-place finish in a time of 18:40.1. Molly Pezzulo finished seventh in a time of 19:05.4, while Meaghan Gregory placed 22nd in a time of 19:41.6. Alyssa Drapeau (24th, 19:43.5) and Riley Wilk (43rd, 20:04.2) rounded out the Lady Spartans’ top five.
Saratoga had a tighter pack than BH-BL, but it couldn’t get any runners in the top 20 to match Roecker’s and Pezzulo’s performances. Keelin Hollowood led the Blue Streaks with a 15th-place finish in a time of 19:27.5. She was followed by Sydney King (18th, 19:33.5), Amanda Borroughs (19th, 19:34.2), Cassie Goutos (33rd, 19:52.9) and Brianne Bellon (37th, 19:57.4).
Shen had two runners in the top 25 Lizzie Predmore (10th, 19:17.7) and Danika Simpson (23rd, 19:43.0). Nicole Irving (48th, 20:08.8), Cara Janeczko (54th, 20:15.1) and Alex Burtnick (67th, 20:24.1) rounded out the Plainsmen’s top five.
On the boys’ side, Shen placed three runners in the top 30 to defeat BH-BL 93-151 for the Federation team title.
Alex Leuchanka was the pacesetter for Shen and the entire Federation meet field. The senior covered the 5-kilometer course in a time of 16:21.8 to claim the individual title.
BH-BL’s Otis Ubriaco and Saratoga’s Demetri Goutos weren’t far behind Leuchanka. Ubriaco finished third in a time of 16:28.1, and Goutos placed fourth in a time of 16:31.0.
Ultimately, Shen’s pack was a little tighter than BH-BL’s pack. Dan Harris finished 14th in a time of 16:50.8, while Mike Danaher took 30th place in a time of 17:01.9. Brian Trainor (45th, 17:22.7) and Jamie Glover (54th, 17:29.5) also finished in the top 60.
Kent Harlow (11th, 16:49.3), Scott Maughan (33rd, 17:07.4), Sean Pezzulo (59th, 17:36.3) and Anthony Romeo (83rd, 18:14.5) rounded out BH-BL’s top five.
In all, Section II teams occupied six of the top 13 positions in the 27-school girls race and three of the top five places in the boys race.`