Photo Credit: Todd McDonough/MileSplit
The Blue Streaks Are-A-Streaking
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Results: Full Class-By-Class Results
Let's start with the nation's No. 1 team, Saratoga Springs.
The girls of east central New York, if anything, were a shining example of depth, with all five of their scoring members inside the NYSPHSAA Class A Championship's top 15 places.
Junior Emily Bush was third overall in 18:22.70, while senior Sheridan Wheeler was fifth in 18:38.90. Alycia Hart, McKinley Wheeler and Anya Belisle rounded out the pack, finishing in seventh, ninth and 14th.
It wasn't even close.
Consider this. Second-place Fayetteville-Manlius had one runner in the top five, and then all five of Saratoga Springs' athletes were finished before F-M's second runner.
That's pure dominance.
But the season isn't over yet.
Depending on whether the Blue Streaks compete at the Federation Championships, the team will likely have three races left, from Feds to the Team New York Regional to, theoretically, Team Nationals in December.
With the regular season now over, perhaps 'Toga can now set its sights on claiming its second national title since 2019.
William Floyd sophomore Zariel Macchia won the overall Division I race in 18:02.60.
Photo Credit: Todd McDonough/MileSplit
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Meanwhile, Cornwall's Karrie Baloga, the nation's No. 1 girls runner, blew away the Class B championship with a time of 17:49.
Only two girls have run faster on this course all-time, with Claire Walters clocking a 17:29 in 2019 at the Section 3 Championships and Brooke Rauber following with a time of 17:44 in the same race, only in Class D.
Baloga was over 90 seconds faster than the next best runner on the course.
Importantly, though, she picked up her first state title after finishing third in the Class A race last year -- food for thought here: Cornwall bumped down to Class B in 2022.
GIRLS 5000 METER RUN FINALS
PLACE ATHLETE TEAM RESULT POINTS
1 Karrie Baloga 12 Cornwall 17:49.00 1
2 Rachel Miller 10 Mohonasen 19:24.70 0
3 Mia Paolino 11 Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake 19:31.20 0
4 Madyson Moroney 11 Pearl River 19:34.70 0
5 Maddie Powers 12 Queensbury 19:35.30 0
6 Aislinn Frazer 10 Friends Academy (LI) 19:44.80 0
7 Kerry Murphy 11 Cornwall 19:46.20 2
8 Mullane Baumiller 11 Sayville 19:46.80 3
9 Emily LaMena 12 Elwood / John Glenn 19:46.90 0
10 Molly Myatt 7 Oneida 19:52.20 0In the boys race, Solomon Holden-Betts scored a title in 16:06 in the Class A race, holding off Ethan Gren of Arlington, who was just three seconds back in 16:09.10, and Collin Gilstrap, who was third in 16:11.
More importantly, the team race was festering.
Corning was at a deficit over its top two places, trailing Monroe-Woodbury by five over its first two runners. But the New York program's depth took over from there, as it saw its 3-4-5 finish mere seconds from one another, helping Corning to a Class A title with 60 points.
Monroe-Woodbury was second with 77 points.
The Scoop:
Page 2: Team Northwest opens up national qualifying
Page 3: The Virginia State Championships didn't disappoint
Page 4: Delaware State Championships were on the calendar
Page 5: Fast and furious rallies at the South Carolina State Championships
Page 6: Big-time moments from the New York State Championships