By Rob Potter
BEAR MOUNTAIN — October 31, 2006 — Dozens of Sullivan County cross country runners competed on Friday afternoon at the 40th annual Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) cross country championships at Bear Mountain State Park.
The sun was shone and the air was crisp and autumnal as 147 boys and 126 girls competed in the respective varsity races on the 3-mile course that includes a steep hill and a loop around picturesque Hessian Lake.
In the boys’ race, the top county finisher was Monticello junior Brendan Devine. He placed 10th with a time of 16 minutes, 2 seconds.
“I slipped back a bit on the hill,” said Devine, who was leading the race when the competitors made their way around Hessian Lake in the first mile of the event.
“I was pretty satisfied with my time,” he added. “I would have liked to have been in the top five, but I am satisfied with the time.”
Because he was among the first five runners from a Class A school to finish the race, Devine will return to Bear Mountain this Friday, November 3, to compete in the Section IX boys’ Class A race. He will be facing fellow OCIAA competitors as well as runners from Mid-Hudson Athletic League (MHAL) schools.
The next two county runners to cross the finish line on Friday afternoon were Eldred’s Max Gunther and Matthew Layman of Sullivan West. Gunther, a senior, ran the course in 16:58 to place 37th. Layman, a junior, was just behind him in 38th place with a time of 17:01.
The other local runners who competed, who are listed with their place, school and time, included: 44. Nicholas Denman, Tri-Valley, 17:17; 54. Michael Kaplan, T-V, 17:25; 56. Greg Lewis, Livingston Manor, 17:27; 62. Brett Cucci, SW, 17:41; 65. Brendon Ference, Monticello, 17:57; 69. James Dzurica, Monticello, 18:04; 75. Thomas Gonzalez, Monticello, 18:20; 76. Leland Peterman, SW, 18:23; 79. Thomas Riordan, T-V, 18:24; 81. Robert Ward, SW, 18:29; 82. Robby Snyder, Eldred, 18:32; 85. Dallas Ripley, SW, 18:35; 91. John Bowens, Monticello, 18:53; 97. Lucas McCarthy, Eldred, 19:14; 104. Robert Venditti, Monticello, 19:40; 109. Mike Freeman, T-V, 19:56; 111. Justin Tompkins, T-V, 19:58; 119. Brian Corcoran, Eldred, 20:32; 121. Trevor Tate, Liberty, 20:42; 122. Nick Cucci, SW, 20:44; 132. Dior Jackson, Monticello, 21:15; 133. Cory Ramos, Liberty, 21:23; 135. Christopher Sanders, Livingston Manor, 21:35; 136. Scott Kaplan, Liberty, 21:41; 138. Jeremy Kinney, T-V, 21:47; 139. Ebenezer Sandborn, Manor, 21:55; 141. Jake Edwards, T-V, 22:06; 142. Alan Davis, Manor, 22:21; 143. Lakarri Byrd, Liberty, 22:35; 145. Brent Kaplan, Liberty, 23:48; 146. Matt Fortin, Liberty, 24:08; 147. Dan Turner, Manor, 24:34.
In the boys’ team competition, Monticello finished ninth with 303 points, SW was 14th (333), T-V placed 15th (383), Manor was 20th (594) and Liberty was 21st (648).
The first Sullivan County runner to finish the girls’ race was Rachel Sanborn of Tri-Valley. The sophomore was 20th in a time of 19:46.
Sanborn was followed by SW’s Rianne Erlwein, who placed 21st in 19:53.
T-V junior Courtney Roosa was 22nd in 19:56.
Other local girls who competed in the race included: 31. Shannon Hornbeck, T-V, 20:23; 40. Jennifer Green, Manor, 20:44.01; 41. Chelsie Schadt, SW, 20:44.56; 43. Kasi Pilny, SW, 20:56; 45. Caroline Bertholf, T-V, 21:04; 46. Grace Babula, Eldred, 21:06; 47. Emma Cohen, Monticello, 21:09; 50. Naomi Weise, T-V, 21:20; 53. Marisala Acevedo, Monticello, 21:27; 54. Kathryn Schneyer, T-V, 21:28; 59. Jamie Moran, SW, 21:39; 62. Kendra Barker, SW, 21:40; 65. Katey Dnistrian, SW, 21:44; 66. Rebecca Concors, Monticello, 21:47; 67. Ashley Vicari, Eldred, 21:51; 68. Kim McKay, Liberty, 21:54; 71. Elizabeth Peters, SW, 22:09; 78. Regina Davies, Eldred, 22:43; 85. Kristina Brown, Eldred, 23:08; 86. Danielle Schnitzer, Monticello, 23:18; 90. Jessica Fingers, Monticello, 23:25; 92. Annie Babula, Eldred, 23:26; 93. Kristen Sarno, Liberty, 23:34; 107. Erika Vorstadt, Eldred, 24:28; 113. Lisandra Villalobos, Liberty, 24:50; 116. Lianna Hollander, Monticello, 24:58; 117. Kaley Donnelly, Eldred, 25:03; 123. Kirsten Scott, Manor, 27:08.
In the team standings, T-V placed sixth with 164 points, SW was eighth (214), Monticello was 11th (322) and Eldred was 12th (344).
Liberty and Manor did not have enough runners for a team score.
T-V Coach Missy Iatauro was very pleased with the results.
“We had a great team effort today,” she said. “We had the best split times [over each mile] we’ve run all season.”