New York State Championship (NY)
No. 1 FM Girls Trounce No. 3 Saratoga Springs Behind Surprise Frosh Champion Claire Walters; Ben Petrella Course Record
Claire Walters Shocks Class A With Individual Win
Defending national champions Fayetteville-Manlius (FM) performed like the No. 1 nationally ranked team that they are in trouncing No. 3 ranked Saratoga Springs, 28 to 77, to defend their New York state title on Saturday morning. The race at Monroe Woodbury High School marks the first time the two powers have met this year.
FM's individual champion in freshman Claire Walters was perhaps the biggest surprise of the day. Walters, who has never won a high school cross country race, edged pre-race favorite Jess Lawson of Corning in 17:53.5 to 17:53.8. In addition to Lawson, the No. 13 ranked runner in the nation, Walters took down No. 17 ranked Abbey Wheeler (6th, 18:19.3) and No. 22 ranked Kaitlyn Neal (7th, 18:20.8), her teammate and FM's consistent top runner this fall.
Freshman Kelsey Chmiel took third overall to lead Saratoga Springs in her first real competitive test of the year, but the rest of the Blue Streaks finished behind FM's No. 5 as they were unable to put up a real fight against the defending champions.
Chmiel was an early leader alongside Neal, as Saratoga Springs reportedly led team standings in the first half of the race. The latter stages are where FM made their moves, as did Lawson and eventual champion Walters.
| F 5,000 Meter Run - Finals | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Athlete | Team | Result | Points | ||
| 1 | Walters, Claire | 9 | Fayetteville-Manlius (FM) | 17:53.50 | 1 | |
| 2 | Lawson, Jessica | 11 | Corning | 17:53.80 | -- | |
| 3 | Chmiel, Kelsey | 9 | Saratoga Springs | 18:09.50 | 2 | |
| 4 | Benson, Carly | 10 | West Genesee | 18:11.80 | -- | |
| 5 | Hennelly, Mary | 8 | Suffern | 18:16.30 | -- | |
| 6 | Wheeler, Abbey | 12 | Elmira Express | 18:19.30 | 3 | |
| 7 | Neal, Kaitlyn | 12 | Fayetteville-Manlius (FM) | 18:20.80 | 4 | |
| 8 | Chapey, Lauren | 12 | Mamaroneck | 18:23.40 | -- | |
| 9 | Walters, Rebecca | 10 | Fayetteville-Manlius (FM) | 18:35.20 | 5 | |
| 10 | Tuohy, Katelyn | 8 | North Rockland | 18:41.30 | 6 | |
| Team Scores | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Team | Points | Scorers | Times | ||
| 1 | Fayetteville-Manlius (FM) | 28 | 1+4+5+8+10 (14+16) | 0:58 1-5 Split | 18:29 Avg | ||
| 2 | Saratoga Springs | 77 | 2+13+17+22+23 (25) | 1:51 1-5 Split | 19:16 Avg | ||
Ben Petrella Over No. 10 Aidan Tooker For Course Record In Section A
Unranked Ben Petrella triumphed over No. 10 ranked Aidan Tooker to win his first state cross country title after missing the win by five seconds last year. The Liverpool senior did it in record-breaking fashion, clocking a new course record of 15:43 as Tooker ran 15:59.
Petrella's No. 15 ranked Warriors kept defending national champions and No. 13 ranked Fayetteville-Manlius from advancing out of Section 3 last week. They proved that win was no fluke by taking home the Class A state title with 61 points over Corning, with a big lift from Petrella as well as Ty Brownlow (9th, 16:17) and Stephen Schulz (10th, 16:18) finishing in the top 10 overall.
| M 5,000 Meter Run - Finals | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Athlete | Team | Result | Points | ||
| 1 | Petrella, Ben | 12 | Liverpool | 15:43.00 | 1 | |
| 2 | Tooker, Aidan | 12 | Saratoga Springs | 15:59.30 | 2 | |
| 3 | Glavin, Donny | 12 | McQuaid Jesuit | 16:01.70 | 3 | |
| 4 | Carey, Noah | 11 | Guilderland | 16:10.80 | -- | |
| 5 | Kane, Peter | 12 | Corning | 16:10.80 | 4 | |
| 6 | Tibbets, Chris | 11 | Sachem North | 16:12.40 | -- | |
| 7 | Lauer, Jonathan | 11 | Sachem North | 16:14.40 | -- | |
| 8 | Mercer, Matt | 12 | Orchard Park | 16:14.60 | 5 | |
| 9 | Brownlow, Ty | 11 | Liverpool | 16:17.30 | 6 | |
| 10 | Schulz, Stephen | 11 | Liverpool | 16:18.10 | 7 | |
| Team Scores | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Team | Points | Scorers | Times | ||
| 1 | Liverpool | 61 | 1+6+7+22+25 (27+54) | 1:31 1-5 Split | 16:31 Avg | ||
| 2 | Corning | 80 | 4+10+14+20+32 (37+44) | 1:16 1-5 Split | 16:52 Avg | ||
Affolder, East Aurora Win As Expected
As Tooker goes down, No. 13 ranked Noah Affolder must be considered the top dog in the state of New York. The Carthage junior successfully defended his Class B title in 15:57, which stands as the third-fastest time of the day.
The day's No. 2 time came from Class C, via Kenny Vasbinder in 15:52.2. The senior led No. 14 ranked East Aurora to the team title with 36 points, as T.J. Murray (5th, 16:38), Ian Russ (18th, 17:02), Will Zink (21st, 17:06.8), Kevin Murnock (22nd, 17:11.9) packed into the top 12 for team scoring.
