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Kate Wiser, Gavin Sherry Make It A Connecticut Sweep At Northeast HS Club Cross Country ChampionshipsPublished by
Wiser Runs Away From Elite Field To Win Girls Championship Race; Sherry Separates From Geehrer In Boys Race By Doug Binder and Mary Albl of DyeStat Photos by John Nepolitan On the date that ordinarily would have served to qualify 20 of the best runners in the Northeast to the Foot Locker finals, some of the best runners in the region converged Saturday at 12th Rock sports complex in Middletown, N.Y. for the Northeast High School Club Championships. The meet served as something of a replacement for Foot Locker Northeast and also offered a culminating event for runners in states like New York and Connecticut that did not have traditional state meets. Travel restrictions in those two states have made it cumbersome to attend national level events elsewhere. Kate Wiser of Pomperaug, Ct. made the most of the opportunity and beat a group of national-level elites to win in 16:46.8. Wiser, a Notre Dame signee, was ninth at the Foot Locker finals last year. Wiser began to pull away from Brooke Rauber, the 2020 USATF Junior cross country champion from Tully, N.Y., and 2018 Foot Locker natioanl champion Sydney Masciarelli, in the second mile. "I saw Brooke (Rauber) was doing it and I (thought) Sydney (Masciarelli) signed up, and I knew those girls would be really competitive and that definitely caught my attention and then it was only like hour and a half (drive), so compared to the (postseason races) in Texas and Indiana that was definitely a good factor for the race," said Wiser, who last competed on Nov. 6 at her conference meet. Rauber finished second in 17:00.3. Masciarelli, of Northbridge, Mass., was third in 17:20.1. Chloe Scrimgeour of West Hartford, Ct. was fourth in 17:43.7. Karrie Baloga of New Windsor, N.Y., who placed 11th at Foot Locker last year as a freshman, was fifth in 17:49.3. "I definitely wanted to run with the pack in the beginning and then I was just going to see how I was feeling about two miles in, see if I could make a move," Wiser said. "I prefer to surge earlier, because I think I have better strength for the longer stuff. I didn't want it to come down to the last 50 meters. I think I'm a pretty good hill runner, so I was thinking the hill at the end I could try and make a move there. It's nice to see the training come together."
Gavin Sherry of West Hartford, Ct., 14th at the Foot Locker championships a year ago in San Diego, won the boys championship race in 15:13.7. "I had raced a couple of the guys there before but there wasn't anyone specific that I knew of like 'ready to race against' other than Aidan (Puffer). Obviously, but he pulled out. I just went in and wanted to see how the race would play out," Sherry said. "I was surprised at the competition, the person who came in second, Peyton (Geehrer) he ran really well. We ran together up until the last maybe 1K. I was pushed the entire time, it was a lot of fun.
"I think it was a fairly decent performance, it was nothing too spectacular I guess, but I'd say I'm happy with the performance. The course was a gritty course, the footing was tough and I think I pulled through really well."
Sherry pulled away late for a 10-second victory margin over Peyton Geehrer of Manlius, N.Y. Sherry and Wiser will both run at the Garden State Track Club's season-ending East Coast Cross Country Championships on Dec. 5 at Holmdel Park in New Jersey. "This one and the one next week in New Jersey, (Garden State) these are my two really big cross country races for the season," Sherry said. "I really view them as, say, New Englands and maybe even Foot Locker, I guess. I mean I know it's not everyone from around the country, but it's as big as I'm going to get for cross country. It's a pretty deal this year. "I'm just so thankful for the opportunity, with COVID really just screwing this whole year and changing everyone's plans, it just made everything tough, and not having the big competitions at the end of the year like New Englands, State Open and Foot Locker was really just a big hit to me, so to be able to have these two races as sort of a replacement for that is something I'm really thankful for."'
Nicholas Bendtsen from Wolcott, Ct. finished third in 15:27.0.He was 14th in last year's Foot Locker Northeast regional. Getachew Hayes of Albany, N.Y., a Nike Cross Nationals qualifier in 2019, finished fourh in 15:28.3. Varun Oberai from Exeter, N.H. was fifth in 15:30.2. He was 16th in last year's Foot Locker Northeast regional. Sherry's younger brother, Callum, finished sixth in 15:33.4. Four boys teams were separated by eight points atop the championship standings, which were merged from the championship and seeded races. Unattached Ridgefield CT rolled late and finished strong to take first place with 101 points. Racing City TC (Saratoga Springs) of New York was second with 105 points. LPXC TC of New York (Liverpool), which split 17 seconds on its top four, scored 108 points. Red Storm Runners NY (Saranac Lake) was fourth with 109. In the girls championship, Corning Track Club NY, led by Sarah Lawson (18:34.3) won the team title with 63 points. Outliers Running Club NY (Shenendehowa Central) was second with 95 points. Northstars TC NY (Cisero-North Syracuse) was third with 97 points and Unattached Ridgefield CT was fourth with 109 points. More news
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