CBA, F-M look to find way at Bowdoin Park

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

 
The central location of Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls affords it an unusual distinction on the Nike Cross Nationals calendar -- it is the site of two regoinals. 

 
The Northeast and New York regionals both converge here Saturday with automatic team and individual berths on the line for the national championships in Portland. 

 
It will make for an interesting two hours of action, from 11 am. to 1 p.m. Eastern time, while the top teams in this talent-rich corner of the U.S. make their cases. 

 
A couple of the top storylines? For starters, new US#1 Christian Brothers Academy will try to keep rolling on the heels of its record-breaking vcitory at Holmdel Park in the New Jersey Meet of Champions. Unionville's girls, champions of Pennsylvania, will be in the same park as the seven-time NXN champion Fayetteville-Manlius girls (US#2), a team it beat twice this season. But on this day, the two teams will be in separate races.

Here is a closer look at how the day will unfold:

11 a.m. - NY Boys Championship

F-M's boys have been the premier team in the state all season and are the favorites to advance here. With Bryce Millar and Andrew Berge up front, this team should score even better than the 86 points that it won with here last year.

The second spot looks like a close call between Liverpool and Northport, and if both teams have great days then perhaps the third-place team will warrant an NXN berth. Liverpool, which is led by Dan Muldoon and Ben Petrella, won the NY Federation meet. Northport, which features junior Mike Brannigan, could be within a few points.The other contenders include Saratoga Springs, Chaminade and St. Anthony's. All would need to come up with a great day to make the top two.

A few of New York's top individiuals are also in the race, choosing NXN over Foot Locker. Brian Cook of Pearl River and TJ Hornberger of Lake Shore are likely to advance to Portland if they run well. By now, these guys know their competition and there are no other states to contend with.

11:35 a.m. - NY Girls Championship

The first step in attempting to win an eighth national championship in a row starts here for the F-M girls. They have dominated this meet in the past, of course, and the way they have improved through the course of the season leaves little doubt that they will perform well again.

There is a controversy brewing in this race and it could affect the outcome of the NXN berths. It involves Sophia Tasselmyer, the runner-up in New York's Class B race for Starpoint. After the state meet she transferred to East Aurora and the NXN meet officials are allowing her to compete for her new team, as reported by Tullyrunners.com's Bill Meylan. This unusual development means that the competition for the second automatic berth is between East Aurora and Saratoga Springs, an NXN fixture for the past decade. 

Queensbury, John Jay Cross River and Pearl River are in the hunt as well.

Noon - NE Boys Championship

The top-ranked CBA boys will certainly want to keep their momentum alive here. Last year, CBA scored 73 points to win the regional title and earn their trip to Portland. 

But pay close attention to West Chestern Henderson of Pennsylvania (Warrior TC). Last year, Tony Russell and Reiny Barchet went 1-2 in this race and the team scored 95 points to miss out on the auto qualifying spot by five points (to Cardional O'Hara). 

Well, Russell and Barchet are back, meaning they should highly motivated and be up there with CBA's MOC champ Mike McClemens duking it out for the top spots yet again. 

Don Bosco Prep, second to CBA at the Meet of Champions last week, could be a factor for a top-two placing as well. Kyle Levermore has been improving since his mid-season injury. 

West Windsor-Plainsboro South was 75 points behind Don Bosco last week for third at the Meet of Champs and would need a significant improvement. La Salle Academy of Rhode Island won the New Englands Championships with 99 points, three better than Ridgefield (Connecticut).

12:35 pm  - NE Girls Championships

At the Pennsylvania AAA state meet it was Unionville 51, Pennsbury 57. That's close, and if both teams run the same way they did on Nov. 2 then Pennsylvania could be sending two girls teams to Portland. 

But there are a few teams from New England that could have something to say about that. Coe-Brown of New Hampshire won the New England Championships with 78 points. And Rhode Island powers Barrington and La Salle Academy both have talented lineups as well.

New Jersey entrants Randolph (led by Elizabeth Lansing) and Red Bank Catholic could also have a say, as well as Vermont's Champlain Valley (led by Autumn Eastman). Bishop Feehan of Massachusetts is also in the mix and could have the individual champion with Abbie McNulty returning from a DNF outing at her state meet.