SARATOGA SPRINGS – If this is a dream season for Shaker, they must still be sleeping.
SARATOGA SPRINGS – The Saratoga Springs program has a reputation for its structure. There’s an aura about the girls team, always one of the best in the country, which denotes seriousness.
When Aisling Cuffe was seven years old she went to her first soccer practice. She wouldn’t leave her mother’s side. So when the time came to run laps her mom had to come along. Cornwall’s Cuffe has always liked to stay close to home and the things she finds most familiar.
Sammy Lazhir (pictured right), an 18-year old recent grad of Paul Robeson in Brooklyn, was killed alongside a college teammate Monday after being involved in a two-car accident on US -160 in Kansas.
Liam McGuirk remembered when he a high school runner in the late 60’s. He was one of the first groups Kerry Moran coached at Mount St. Michael.
When the season started, the conversation about the state’s best teams circulated around Warwick Valley and Fayetteville-Manilus. Shaker, currently ranked eight in the nation, quickly rose to the top of the ranks and announced themselves as the best around at the Manhattan Invitational.
BEAR MOUNTAIN – Here’s a sign that Aisling Cuffe is in the best shape of her life: She says she feels lazy.
BEAR MOUNTAIN – When Warwick Valley huddled by a fence just beyond the finish line at Bear Mountain, it didn’t quite look like a team that had just secured its second consecutive county title. They looked more like a hungry squad that just savaged one meal and is already licking their chops for the next one.
PAWLING – East Aurora didn’t show up to the Section 1 Coaches Invitational to make a statement. They just wanted to preview the state meet course at Lakeside Park and get a feel for the hill they heard so much about. They didn’t have anything to prove.
PAWLING – North Rockland’s Barry Baloga is good for a speech and the best words should always been well-timed. Through coincidence and calamity, North Rockland has yet to be the team it expected to be this season. Baloga knew it was time to tell them so.
Defending girls national champs, Fayetteville-Manlius was recognized last night by the Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame at the organization’s induction dinner at Drumlins Country Club in Syracuse.
The Eastern States Championship race at the Manhattan Invitational is meant to bring together some of the best teams in the country on a course considered a benchmark for evaluating distance runners. With that said, New York proved again to be one of the most competitive states in the US in cross country.
NEW YORK – Shaker’s Mike Libruk remarked after the race how the similarities between his teammates are uncanny. They are around the same height and build. He said they have similar personalities.
NEW YORK – Bill Aris said something was different. The times across the board didn’t match with the super-fast performances that many expected. But one thing remained constant at the Manhattan Invitational: Fayetteville-Manilus looked as close as it gets to indestructible.
Harborfields junior Kelsey Margey is proving that, in her cross country season, that not only is she one of the most dangerous distance runners in the state but she’s tough too.
KINGS PARK – It’s safe to say that no one knew what St. Anthony’s had when the season started. The Friars graduated four of their top seven runners from last year and most this year’s squad would be making their varsity debut.
KINGS PARK – Bronxville coach Jim Mitchell only yells during races. The rest of the time he’s pretty even. He won’t berate a runner that fails. Instead he might coddle only a little, with a simple, “It’s okay.”
Holly Cavalluzzo led almost every step of the Division I race at the Green Mountain Lake Invitational. That’s how the Valley Central sophomore has been racing all season.
Cornwall senior Aisling Cuffe isn’t the typical teenager. Besides the fact that she’s the top-ranked cross country runner in the country, it’s even more amazing that she’s never really been attached to her cell phone.
PAWLING – Shaker junior Mike Libruk said his team knew what was coming. He joined a few teammates over the summer in visiting the course at Lakeside Park in Pawling. He knew the nearly 500-meter uphill that meets runners after the first mile was the kind that could feel like a punch in the mouth.
PAWLING – Lizzie Predmore felt it. Queensbury’s Brittany Winslow felt it too. The one arduous hill on the course at Lakeside Park seeped into both their legs and snatched any ideas of a monster kick.
It took a plane trip out to Illinois for Warwick Valley to see where they are as a team. What they discovered is that in a season were they are expecting a state championship, there is still work to be done.
Failing to qualify for the state meet is tough enough to swallow. Missing the state meet knowing you’re one of the best team’s in the state is even worse.
James Naglieri admitted he was shocked. Stunned even. He didn’t know quite what to expect from his North Rockland team that graduated three seniors last year, including their ace Nick Hughes.
Fayetteville-Manlius dominated in its debut meet at the Chittenango Invitational, scoring a perfect 15 points in Division 1 with its top runner Courtney Chapman Saturday at Jamesville Beach County Park. Chapman called FM coach Bill Aris with 101-degree fever and Aris decided to keep her out.
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BEAR MOUNTAIN – There isn’t always much to take from a race in the beginning of September in the first race of the year. And sometimes, it’s not just about the race but also about the circumstances.
BEAR MOUNTAIN – Alex Saavedra had just finished disposing the field without seeing another runner until after he crossed the finish line. Even then, the next runner he saw was teammate Joe DiRienzo securing the 1-2 finish. Sachem East had a reason to smile.
Every year, no matter what happens, Fayetteville-Manilus coach Bill Aris will never compare his current team to a past team. Every year is a brand new team, he’ll say. Even if all runners are the same.