30 October 2010
The NYA Boys Cross-Country team won the Class C State Championship in convincing fashion today. On a cold, windy day, the Belfast course’s muddy conditions did not slow the NYA juggernaut by much. In a field of 12 teams and 100 runners, NYA put all 5 of its scorers in the top 25 and, incredibly, all of the top 5 finished in under 18:00 for the 3.1-mile course.
As they have all season, Cam Regan (8th / 17:11*) and Evan Kendall (11th / 17:20*) led NYA up front. [* personal record] While much of the field started the race too fast, Cam and Evan held to their race plan. After a controlled first mile, they began moving steadily up the field, and in the final mile they passed runners left and right. Rudy Guliani (14th / 17:36*) ran as far up in the field as he had all season. He smashed his pr by 25 seconds, an impressive feat under these conditions. NYA’s sole senior, Elliot Daniels, also ran the race of his life (22nd / 17:54*) and finished with his usual flair. Grant McPherson (25th / 17:59*) had the biggest improvement on the team, besting his pr by nearly 30 seconds. Brian Trelegan also set a pr as the team’s 6th man (39th / 18:38*). Brian ran so far up that he displaced the third place runners (or better) for all but three of the competing teams. And freshman Ian Moore (58th / 19:27) had a great day as well, running within 5 seconds of his pr (set under much better conditions) and displacing scorers from 8 other teams.
With such great performances, the team results were decisive. NYA’s 60 points put it far ahead of runner-up Freeport (99), Waynflete (105), Monmouth Academy (112), and defending champs Boothbay (115). In fact, when the results from all the classes were combined, NYA finished 8th in the whole state.
Combined results for all classes
NYA’s victory qualified it to compete in the New England Cross-Country Championships in Thetford, VT on 13 November. There, we will be racing the top teams from every New England state.
CONGRATULATIONS TO COACH SILLIN AND THE ENTIRE NYA CROSS COUNTRY RUNNING TEAM! YOUR SEASON OFFICIALLY STARTED IN MID-AUGUST (THOUGH WE KNOW MANY OF YOU WERE WORKING HARD WELL BEFORE THAT), SO THE MONTHS OF INTERVALS, NUMBERS, WEEKENDS, SCHEMING AND DEDICATION HAVE NOW PAID OFF. WHAT A GREAT LIFE LESSON AT AN EARLY STAGE IN YOUR LIVES!
GOOD LUCK AT NEW ENGLANDS!
PETER AND LOUISA MOORE