The Grout Run course is notoriously short, fast and mostly paved.
The Colonie girls cross country team took full advantage of those conditions to turn in its first victory in seven years at the annual race through Schenectady’s Central Park Saturday.
Jackie Malecki won the individual title to lead the Garnet Raiders to a 33-39 victory over Tappan Zee in the Varsity 1 division race.
We thought we’d have a good day because we are a track team, and this course is built for a track team, said Colonie girls coach Frank Myers. `It’s short, it’s fast and there aren’t a lot of hills.`
Malecki took the lead between the first- and second-mile marks and pulled away for a 10-second victory over Tappan Zee’s Caile Kohlbrenner. Malecki’s time of 16:28.51 earned the freshman her first varsity invitational victory.
`I was kind of pacing off the first girl because I knew I didn’t want to do the work for [the rest of the lead pack],` said Malecki.
Kohlbrenner fended off Colonie eighth-grader Katie Schillaci for second place with a time of 16:38.94. Schillaci placed third with a time of 16:39.52.
`A freshman was our first girl, and an eighth grader was our second girl today,` said Myers.
Tappan Zee had three of the next four finishers to stake a claim for winning the team title, but its fifth runner crossed the finish line in 20th place. Meanwhile, Colonie got its third, fourth and fifth runners in between eighth and 11th place to pick up the necessary points to fend off Tappan Zee.
Amy Becker led Colonie’s second pack with an eighth-place finish in a time of 16:53.05. Shannen Kerin (10th, 17:00.52) and Rachel Keller (11th, 17:01.61) rounded out the Garnet Raiders’ top five.
Myers said beating Tappan Zee for the team title is a step in the right direction for a Colonie squad that had been struggling in recent years.
`We’re going to have some fun this year if we stay healthy,` said Myers.
The Shaker boys team also had a strong showing at the Grout Run. The state’s No. 1-ranked Class AA squad breezed to the Varsity 1 division title with 32 points, 35 points ahead of runner-up Bayport-Blue Point.
`The kids are running well,` said Shaker coach Ed Springstead. `We’re just trying to keep them healthy and not let them get too tired.`
Mike Libruk and Jon Vallecorsa led the Blue Bison with top-five finishes. Libruk placed third with a time of 13:30.76, and Vallecorsa finished fourth with a time of 13:33.31.
Libruk put on a late surge in an attempt to pass Niskayuna’s Marshall Pagano for second place, but Pagano held on to become the runner-up with a time of 13:30.20. Chaminade’s William Slattery won the Varsity 1 division title with a time of 13:27.89.
`I tried to finish well,` said Libruk, who won last week’s Green Mountain Lake Invitational in Pawling. `I didn’t feel all that good during the race, but I wanted to finish strong.`
Libruk and Vallecorsa didn’t have to look too far behind them to find their Shaker teammates. Christian Delago took seventh place with a time of 13:43.02, followed by Kyle Foster (eighth, 13:43.88) and Ryan Recchia (10th, 13:58.14).
`The grouping was great,` said Springstead. `We had one guy who didn’t have a good race, but otherwise the grouping was very good.`
The Shaker boys and Colonie girls will be among several of Section II’s top teams going to Saturday’s Manhattan Invitational in New York City. Shaker will run in the Eastern States division, while Colonie will be in the Varsity D girls race.
`That’s going to be a very good race,` Springstead said of the Eastern States field, which includes New Jersey powers Don Bosco Prep and CBA-Lincroft, Fayetteville-Manlius from the Syracuse region and Rush-Henrietta from suburban Rochester.
In other invitationals last weekend, the Shaker girls claimed a division title at the Great American Cross Country Festival outside Raleigh, N.C.
The Blue Bison placed three runners in the top 10 to defeat Brentsville District 60-80 in the Varsity Red division. Bethlehem was fourth with 128 points.
Christine Coughlin was second with a time of 19:17.0 to lead Shaker to one of its best invitational finishes of the season. Kayleigh Lavender placed third with a time of 19:24.5, and MaryAnna Lansing finished sixth with a time of 19:31.9. Blair Burke (20th, 20:36.6) and Gili Rusak (31st, 20:52.5) rounded out Shaker’s top five.“