By Rob Potter
BEAR MOUNTAIN — November 2, 2004 – Several locals runners finished with great times on Friday afternoon at the Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) cross country championship meet at Bear Mountain State Park.
In the boys’ race, Mike VanWagenen of Sullivan West narrowly missed winning the OCIAA title and three county teams – SW, Tri-Valley and Monticello – finished in the top 15.
In the girls’ race, three SW runners placed in the top 25 to help the Lady Bulldogs earn a fifth-place team finish. The T-V Lady Bears and Eldred Lady Yellowjackets finished seventh and 16th, respectively, in the team standings.
Aislinn Ryan of Warwick won the girls’ race in 16:35.36. She completed the course more than a minute ahead of the second-place finisher, Lynne Mundy of Cornwall.
A late push by Washingtonville’s Andy Clyne allowed him to overtake VanWagenen in the final 500 yards of the boys’ race. Clyne crossed the line in 15:50.27, while VanWagenen finished in 15:54.29.
“He came from nowhere and had an amazing kick,” VanWagenen said of Clyne. “He outkicked me [at the end].
“I’m pretty happy with second [place], but I wanted to finish first,” VanWagenen added.
The SW junior said he will be ready for the Section IX cross country meet, which will be held this Friday (November 5) on the same 3-mile course at Bear Mountain State Park.
Among those rooting on VanWagenen was Travis Wolfe, a member of the T-V cross country team. Wolfe was not running in the meet because of a knee injury.
Wolfe, a senior at T-V, noted that he and Van Wagenen have become “pretty good friends” while competing against each other the past few seasons. The two finished first and second in the scholastic men’s steeplechase event back in August at the Empire State Games.
“I wanted Mike to win,” Wolfe said. “He ran a great race.”
Wolfe added that he hopes to be ready to run in the Section IX race.
Other local finishers in the boys’ race, listed by their place, school and time, included: 19. Jeremy Mathsen, T-V, 16:47.35; 31. Derek Smith, T-V, 17:09; 36. Matthew Gain, SW, 17:23.86; 45. Trevor Kreznar, SW, 17:33.28; 47. Kieran Pierce, Eldred, 17:37.12; 58. Max Gunther, Eldred, 18:00.62; 60. Brett Cucci, SW, 18:03.63; 63. Corey Price, Monticello, 18:06.48; 74. Michael Kaplan, T-V, 18:29.60; 75. Brendan Devine, Monticello, 18:31.78; 77. Brendon Ference, Monticello, 18:33.55; 80. Catlan Sardina, Eldred, 18:42.70; 82. Adam Nebzydoski, SW, 18:46.42; 86. Jonathan Huppke, T-V, 18:54.67; 91. Alex Levine, Monticello, 19:01.99; 92. John Bowens, Monticello, 19:02.21; 93. Cono Cirone, Monticello, 19:04. 38; 96. Jacob Schwartz, Liberty, 19:07.27; 101. Justin Tompkins, T-V, 19:23.13; 102. Nicholas Denman, T-V, 19:26.80; 105. Charles Chandler, Eldred, 19:35; 107. Josh Mattingly, T-V, 19:43.95; 111. Kevin McGuire, Liberty, 19:56.19; 112. Peter Stewart, Liberty, 19:56.78; 129. James Jennings, Eldred, 21:07.01; 132. Robert Venditti, Monticello, 21:14.69; 133. Eric Cena, SW, 21:26.18; 136. Coyote Anderson, Eldred, 22:03.3; 138. Matthew MacArthur, SW, 22:32.14; 140. Trevor Tate, Liberty, 23:17.24; 145. Chris VanEpps, Eldred, 25:27.51.
In the girls’ race, Lady Bulldog runners Jamie Clifford, April Ackermann, Jessica Wagner, Amanda Ward and Chelsie Schadt helped the team finish fifth. Clifford was 11th in 19:23.86, Ackermann placed 15th (19:26.67), Wagner was 21st (19:45.24), Ward was 39th (21:05.06) and Schadt placed 56th (22:06.11).
SW Coach George Shakelton noted that Schadt, who is only a freshman, ran a good race.
“She picked it up nice,” he said. “She scored as our fifth girl.”
Other local finishers included: 23. Courtney Roosa, T-V, 19:54.50; 29. Erin Beach, T-V, 20:35.37; 43. Rachel Sanborn, T-V, 21:19.04; 58. Katy DelGatto, Monticello, 22:18.15; 68. Melissa Fancher, T-V, 22:46.66; 71. Rachel Bowens, Monticello, 22:57.61; 72. Oyuna Myagmar, Eldred, 23:04.58; 76. Jennifer Pitz, SW, 23:13.64; 77. Maggie Snyder, 23:13. 64; 82. Eleanor Bryan, SW, 23:32.39; 86. Heather Riordan, T-V, 23:54.20; 89. Ashley Tice, Eldred, 24:08.87; 90. Samantha Vernooy, T-V, 24:09.61; 94. Janelle Slutsky, Monticello, 24:18.51; 95. Grace Babula, Eldred, 24:19.52; 98. Ann Castellano, Liberty, 24:25.73; 110. Danielle Huppke, T-V, 26:06.12; 111. Lindsay Warden, Eldred, 26:36.60.