By Rob Potter
SULLIVAN COUNTY — November 16, 2007 — Several cross country runners representing five Sullivan County high schools competed at the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) cross country championship meet last Saturday at Norwood-Norfolk High School in Norwood.
Leading the local contingent of runners were Monticello’s Brendan Devine, Sullivan West’s Colin Seidl and the Tri-Valley Lady Bears team.
Devine finished second in the Class A boys’ race with a time of 15 minutes, 52.9 seconds. Seidl placed seventh in the boys’ Class C race with a time of 16:35.6.
With their top-10 finishes, Devine and Seidl both qualified for the state Federation championship meet. That event, which includes runners from the NYSPHSAA as well as runners from private and parochial schools, will be held tomorrow at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls.
The members of the T-V Lady Bears team – Caroline Bertholf, Shannon Hornbeck, Courtney Roosa, Rachel Sanborn, Ashley Weintraub and Naomi Weise – all finished among the top 90 runners to help T-V earn 149 points and place fifth in the Class C girls’ team standings.
Roosa and Sanborn led the way for the Lady Bears. Roosa was 21st in 19:56.7 and Sanborn placed 35th in 20:25.5.
Bertholf was 64th in 21:17.0, Hornbeck placed 79th in 21:47.1, Weise finished 86th in 22:16.7 and Weintraub was 90th in 22:28.3.
Other local boys who ran at the meet included Nicholas Denman of T-V, Matthew Layman of SW, Greg Lewis of Livingston Manor and Thomas Riordan of T-V.
Denman, Layman and Riordan all competed in the boys’ Class C race. Denman placed 78th in 18:16.1, Layman was 84th in 18:21.4 and Riordan finished 104th in 19:00.5.
Lewis placed 23rd in the boys’ Class D race with a time of 17:38.4.
Aside from the aforementioned T-V runners, other local girls who ran at the state meet included Marisala Acevedo of Monticello, Grace Babula of Eldred, Emma Cohen of Monticello, Justine Davis of Monticello, Christine Donnelly of Eldred, Rianne Erlwein of SW and Jessica Fingers of Monticello.
Acevedo, Cohen, Davis and Fingers all competed in the girls’ Class A race. Fingers finished 21st in 19:19.6, Davis was 62nd in 20:35.2, Cohen placed 65th in 20:43.3 and Acevedo was 78th in 21:02.5.
Erlwein placed 36th in the girls’ Class C race in 20:26.1.
In the girls’ Class D race, Babula finished 30th in 21:18.8 and Donnelly placed 51st in 22:01.6.