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November 13, 2009

Off to the races

Top high-school runners compete here in state cross-country championships

DID YOU KNOW?


You can look back over the last 70 years at some of the area athletes and personalities who made headlines in area sports. Flashback will revive memories of great local athletes and outstanding team successes.

PLATTSBURGH — The biggest assembly of high-school athletes ever to gather in Plattsburgh will converge on Plattsburgh State today for the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Cross-Country Championships.

Close to 800 boys and girls — the finest runners in the state, including a number of national stars — will be competing for individual and team honors, beginning at 9 a.m. with the Boys' Class D race.

There will be five classes and 10 races, in all, starting every 25 minutes. Awards will follow at Plattsburgh High School at 2:30 p.m.

Section VII best hopes lie with Seton Catholic's Michael Champagne, the defending state champion in Class D.

Champagne expects the competition to be much stiffer this year than last when he won by 28 seconds. Cooperstown's Caleb Edmonds, a home-schooler who will be making his state debut today, is ranked the No. 1 runner in Class D, just ahead of Champagne.

Champagne, who ran a 15:56 in the prestate meet on Sept. 13, covered the state course in 15:51 last week in the Section VII championships. The course mark was set by Alex Deir of Honeoye Falls-Lima, who ran a 15:47 in September.

The Seton Catholic boys also rate the best chance at a team title today. The Knights were sixth at Sunken Meadows a year ago and return all but one runner. Beaver River is the defending Class D champion, but '08 runner-up Barker looms as the team to beat.

"We ran against both at the (Sept. 13 CVAC) Invitational, but that was early in the year and not a good indication of the strength of a team," Seton Catholic Coach Keith Bombard noted.

"We've taken the kids to a lot of big meets this year — the race at Bowdoin Park was exceptionally big. Hopefully, it has prepared them to run against top competition this weekend."

The Beekmantown boys, 10th last year in Class B, look to move up with a solid returning cast and a healthy Ethan Waite, who missed the last two weeks of the season with an injury. He returned to run in the sectionals last week and has looked strong in works this week.

"Having Ethan back is really big for us," Beekmantown Coach Andy Hastings said. "At the state level, you need to have everybody there and not just to run. Everyone has to be ready to give it their best."

Beekmantown's Brendan Courneene is ranked 18th and Adam Shearer, 26th, among Class B boys in the state.

"The key to our team finish is having our top two runners in the top 30; we really need that to do well," Hastings added.

The Saranac Lake girls, sixth in Class C last year, are coming up to today's meet in great shape. The Red Storm could surprise with another solid pack effort like the one they turned in last week in the sectional meet.

The Girls' Class AA race, going off at 11:35 a.m., will be the featured event. Fayetteville-Manlius is the defending national champion and the top-ranked team in the country again this year. Saratoga is No. 3 in the country and a formidable opponent.

Cornwall's Aisling Cuffe leads a stellar cast of girls' runners. She set the course standard in the prestate meet with a 17:22 time for the 5,000 meters.

New York State

Public High School

Athletic Association

Cross-country championships

Plattsburgh State

Race Order

8:45 a.m. — Opening Ceremony

9 a.m. — Boys Class D

9:25 a.m. — Boys Class AA

9:50 a.m. — Boys Class A

10:15 a.m. — Boys Class B

10:40 a.m. — Boys Class C

11:05 a.m. — Girls Class D

11:35 a.m. — Girls Class AA

12: 05 p.m. — Girls Class A

12:35 p.m. — Girls Class B

1:05 p.m. — Girls Class C

2:30 p.m.— Awards at Plattsburgh High School





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