The Guilderland boys and girls cross country teams both placed second to Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake at the annual Guilderland Invitational Saturday at Tawasentha Park.
BH-BL placed its first five finishers in the top 10 of the boys large school division race to claim the team title with 22 points. Guilderland was second with 52 points, eight points ahead of Collegiate from New York City.
BH-BL’s Otis Ubriaco claimed the individual title with a time of 14:30. Guilderland’s Andrew Coy was second with a time of 14:40, but BH-BL grabbed four of the next six places to pull away for the team championship.
Guilderland had its next four runners in the top 20. Nico Turek was fifth with a time of 14:45, while Sean Doyle placed 12th with a time of 15:15. Austin Miller (17th place, 15:38) and Keon Wan Park (18th, 15:39) rounded out the Dutchmen’s top five.
The girls large school division race was closer, but the result was the same. BH-BL claimed the team title with 38 points, while Guilderland finished second with 51 points.
Dani Martino led BH-BL by claiming the individual championship with a time of 16:57. Guilderland’s Michelle Fish was second with a time of 17:08, and teammate Anna Pickett placed third with a time of 17:17. But the Lady Spartans got their final four runners within the top 12 to fend off the Lady Dutch.
Chrissy Herkenham was Guilderland’s third runner across the finish line, as she placed 11th with a time of 17:57. Meghan Collins was 17th with a time of 18:51, and Lea Cure finished 18th with a time of 18:54.
In other cross country action last weekend, Voorheesville claimed the girls team title at its Blackbird Invitational, while the Bethlehem boys team had a top-10 individual finisher at the Springstead Invitational in Latham.
Voorheesville placed three runners in the top 10 to win the girls team championship with 51 points. Albany Academy was second with 92 points, and Cohoes finished third with 116 points. Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk placed 10th with 215 points.
Michelyn Little led the Blackbirds with a fourth-place performance in a time of 21:08.4. Sawyer Cresap wasn’t far behind Little, as she finished fifth with a time of 21:24.0. Jolie Siegel placed sixth with a time of 21:41.5.
Casey Morrison (16th place, 23:14.9) and Carla Planz (22nd, 23:43.7) rounded out Voorheesville’s top five.
Alaina Kruger led R-C-S with a 25th-place finish in a time of 23:56.7.
The boys team race at the Blackbird Invitational was much closer, as third and sixth place had to be decided by tiebreakers. Mayfield won the team title with 67 points, four points ahead of runner-up Fonda-Fultonville. Lansingburgh edged Berlin for third place when the Knights’ sixth runner came in ahead of the Mountaineers’ sixth man, while Voorheesville gained the tiebreaker over R-C-S by the same means for sixth place.
R-C-S’s Mike Morrow was the top local runner in the Blackbird Invitational, as he placed fifth with a time of 17:59.6. Voorheesville’s Joe Becker was seventh with a time of 18:18.1.
At the Springstead Invitational, Bethlehem’s Chris Collier landed in the top 10 to help the Eagles take seventh place in the boys team standings. Collier finished eighth with a time of 16:08.30.
Shaker won the boys team title at its own invitational with 39 points, 15 points ahead of Queensbury. Bethlehem finished with 164 points.
Queensbury won the Springstead Invitational girls team title with 42 points. Niskayuna was second with 74 points, and Shenendehowa placed third with 83 points. Bethlehem finished ninth with 228 points.`