F-M's title defense(s) begin in New York

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

A year after Fayetteville-Manlius swept the team titles at NXN, the Stotans are double booked for a return trip to Portland. 

Even with a shake-up in the finishing order, F-M proved to be resilient and had virtually no problem winning the regional title and moving into position to extend their historic NXN legacy. 

Eighth grader Claire Walters, who turned heads two weeks ago at the New York state championships when she won the Class A girls race, finished seventh for F-M at NXN New York on Saturday at Bowdoin Park. 

How damaging was it? Instead of beating the No. 3 team in the country, Saratoga Springs, 28-77 (as it did at state), the margin this time was 38-80. 

In other words, F-M is rolling into Portland. On Saturday, Kaitlyn Neal was back at the helm and she won the overall race in 17:37.8 -- easily the fastest of the day across two NXN regionals (including Northeast) at Bowdoin Park. 

Saratoga Springs' talented freshman Kelsey Chmiel placed second in 17:50.5. Kinetic will bring a team to Portland that features four freshmen and zero seniors in the lineup. 

The third-place team, North Rockland, received word Saturday night that it had been awarded an at-large bid. The team is led by eighth grader Katelyn Tuohy, who was sixth overall and fifth in the team scoring. North Rockland, the first Section I school to qualify a team to Portland, will send a squad with two eighth graders in its top five.

The season-long battle between Liverpool and Fayetteville-Manlius played out as other races have this fall in deciding the state's best boys team. Liverpool denied F-M a chance to compete at the state meet after beating the Hornets at sectionals. Liverpool then won the Class A title. On Saturday, Ben Petrella led his team again, running 15:31.4 for an 18-second victory. 

Liverpool won with 77 points. F-M, which only ran six (and did not have Peter Ryan), held on for a two-point advantage of East Aurora, 107 to 109, for the second automatic berth. And while East Aurora had a legitimate argument for one of the four at-large berths, the call didn't come. Two points is all that keeps East Aurora, the New York Class C champion, from advancing. The team's top runner, Kenny Vasbinder, will make the trip as an individual.

Liverpool advances to NXN for the third straight year. F-M will send a boys team to Portland for the 10th time.