On Saturday November 13th all eyes were on Lakeside Park in Pawling, the site for the 2010 New York State Cross Country Championships.
For those unaware, New York is home to the best runners in the nation, seven national team championships and several Top 10 individual finishers nationally over the past six years.
The weather couldn’t have been better with bluebird skies and temps in the 60s for most of the day. The competition was deep with 102 schools and more than 1,000 athletes from across the state qualifying for the event. Along with the athletes thousands of family members, friends, college recruiters, coaches, and volunteers packed the park to watch the amazing event.
On the girls side, the first race of the day kicked off with a bang as the National #1 and #2 high school teams faced off: Fayetteville –Manlius and Saratoga Springs. Fayetteville is the four time defending national champion and Saratoga was looking to change that. Fayetteville lived up to expectations and finished the race scoring a perfect 15 points putting six girls in front of Saratoga’s first who finished second as a team. A truly amazing show of power for both teams.
The second race of the day had the National #1 ranked individual, Aisling Cuffe, from Cornwall run to a course record of 17:19 over the 3.1 mile course. The class C race had the home town crowd cheering with two ladies from Pawling representing. Sophomore Morgan Meaney set the pace running to a 34th place finish with a time of 20:43 and Junior Zoe Nagasing not far behind in 39th with a time of 20:52. Both girls were named all-county and finished an impressive season leading the best girl’s team in Pawling history.
On the boys side the first race proved to be one of the most exciting of the day. Chris Buchanan set a blistering pace running to a course record of 15:55 and National #8 ranked Shaker won the race. The class C race had home town Pawling as one of the favorites to win as a team, a feat no other program in Pawling history has accomplished in any sport. In front of their home crowd the boys gave it all they had but finished a respectable third place in a very close race. The boys were paced by Bobby Swick who came in 13th, which earned him a state medal with a time of 17:08. He was followed by Matt Jorgensen in 23rd with a 17:18, Ryan Marvin in 41st with a 17:44, Taylor Souter in 50th with an 18:02, Colin Souter in 57th with an 18:13, Dylan Smith in 64th with an 18:24 and Kevin Hunter rounding the boys out in 65th with an 18:24.
As the day and weekend came to an end much appreciation was given to everyone involved. The vendors, the town, school administrators, and the Cross Country Program members all did a phenomenal job.
Tons of positive feedback was given to various volunteers and coaches about how great the event was and how beautiful the Town of Pawling is.
It’s hard to believe that for one day the population of the town was doubled and as quickly as they came it was over. Whether you’re a fan of the sport or not this was an historical event for the town and community. Our town played host to the biggest event in the greatest cross country state in the nation. Our community should be proud. Thanks again to everyone involved, and congratulations to all the athlete.
ADDITIONAL PHOTO’S CAN BE FOUND UNDER THE PHOTO GALLERY TAB
