By Rob Potter
MONTICELLO — Running with their teammates helped Dani Myers and Hunter Proscia win the girls’ and boys’ races, respectively, at Tuesday afternoon’s cross country meet at Monticello High School.
The meet included runners from Eldred, Liberty, Sullivan West, Tri-Valley and, of course, the host school Monticello.
Myers, who is a sophomore at SW, took first place in the girls’ race with a time of 19 minutes, 23 seconds. Proscia, an Eldred junior, prevailed in the boys’ race in 16:04
Myers’ SW teammates, Kelsey Dutton and Rianne Erlwein, were the next two runners to cross the finish line. They finished at almost exactly the same time as Dutton placed second in 19:55.1 and Erlwein was third in 19:55.3.
The trio of Myers, Dutton and Erlwein moved to the front of the pack early in the race and continued to lead the other runners for the rest of the 2.9-mile event.
“At first, we wanted to run together,” Myers said. “We were able to stay together and push each other. It really helped us.
“But we all wanted to run our own race, too,” she added.
Myers pulled ahead of her Lady Bulldog teammates with about a tenth of a mile to go.
“I just got of burst of energy and went with it,” Myers said.
Like the other competitors, Myers had some mud spots on her uniform after running through a wet portion of the course. But she didn’t mind getting her uniform a little dirty.
“It’s always fun to run in the mud,” she said.
“This is a great course,” Myers continued. “The uphills aren’t too hard and the flats are nice.”
Like Myers and her teammates Dutton and Erlwein, Proscia and sophomore teammate Alex Campanella moved to the front in the first seconds of the boys’ race.
“We had a great start going down the first hill,” Proscia said.
For the rest of the race, the two Yellowjacket runners built up a comfortable lead over the other competitors.
Proscia noted that having Campanella run with him was very beneficial.
“I pushed him on the hills and he pushed me on the flats,” Proscia said. “When we were on the flats, I could feel him on my heels so I knew I had to go faster.
“We always run together, in practices, in meets and in workouts,” Proscia added.
Proscia was very pleased to win on the Monticello course.
“Actually, this is my favorite course,” he said. “I always like running here. The course is challenging, it has good hills and flats.”
In the boys’ team results, SW defeated Eldred 25-30, Liberty 20-35, Monticello 18-37 and T-V 16-39; Eldred defeated Liberty 27-28, Monticello 27-28 and T-V 27-28; Liberty defeated Monticello 25-30 and T-V 26-29; and Monticello defeated T-V 26-28.
The meet was a non-league event for Eldred and Monticello, but counted as a Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) Division IV event for Liberty, SW and T-V. Eldred’s season record is now 4-7. Monticello is 1-9. Liberty is 6-5 overall and 1-3 in Div. IV. SW is 6-1, 3-1 Div. IV. T-V is 3-4, 2-2 Div. IV.
The boys’ individual results were as follows:
1. Hunter Proscia, Eldred, 16:04
2. Alex Campanella, Eldred, 16:10
3. Reed Scott Jr., SW, 16:27
4. Matt Pitz, SW, 17:09
5. Kane Sauchuk, Liberty, 17:14
6. Eric Haberli, SW, 17:46
7. Eddie Byrd, Liberty, 18:01
8. Joseph Klein, Monticello, 18:09
9. Shaun Goggin, SW, 18:14
10. Nat Tompkins, T-V, 18:18
11. Chris Maroldi, Monticello, 18:21
12. John Masten, SW, 18:25
13. Hawk Boyes, T-V, 18:26
14. Russell Amore, Eldred, 18:27
15. Vinny Webbe, Liberty, 18:42
16. Tyler Foxwell, Monticello, 18:45
17. Chris Whipple, T-V, 19:21
18. Aidan Woolsey, T-V, 19:25
19. Mike Dzurica, Monticello, 19:27
20. Matt Rourke, Liberty, 19:33
21. SoWoo Chon, T-V, 19:54
22. Dylan Blackwell, Liberty, 19:26
23. Brydan Frasier, Monticello, 20:05
24. Erik Cuellar, Liberty, 20:28
25. David Powers, Eldred, 20:45
26. Harry Santos, Liberty, 20:51
27. Kevin Maas, Eldred, 20:59
28. Jackson Krebs, Liberty, 21:27
29. Ian Kolaitis, Monticello, 21:42
30. Amador Laput, Eldred, 22:27
In the girls’ team results, SW defeated Eldred 21-34, Liberty 15-50, Monticello 22-33 and T-V 21-34; Monticello defeated Eldred 27-28, Liberty 15-40 and T-V 27-28; T-V defeated Eldred 27-28 and Liberty 20-35; and Eldred defeated Liberty 17-38.
Eldred is now 6-5 overall. Monticello is 3-5. Liberty is 1-8, 0-4 Div. IV. SW is 6-1, 3-1 Div. IV. T-V is 5-2, 2-2 Div. IV.
The girls’ individual results were as follows:
1. Dani Myers, SW, 19:23
2. Kelsey Dutton, SW, 19:55.1
3. Rianne Erlwein, SW, 19:55.3
4. Christine Donnelly, Eldred, 20:26
5. Ana Loor, Monticello, 20:39
6. Danielle Graham, T-V, 20:55
7. Ashley Weintraub, T-V, 21:12
8. Naomi Weiss, T-V, 21:21
9. Erica Concors, Monticello, 21:44
10. Erika Vorstadt, Eldred, 21:50
11. Rosa Martinez, SW, 22:03
12. Angela Sicina, Eldred, 22:10
13. Bryana Sewell, Monticello, 22:14
14. Ashley McEnearey, Monticello, 22:14
15. Brittany Rupp, Monticello, 22:22
16. Selena Hudak, Eldred, 22:48
17. Jamie Moran, SW, 23:01
18. Tenia Walker, Monticello, 23:07
19. Stephanie Heisler, Liberty, 23:09
20. Maria Ter Bush, T-V, 23:38
21. Jessie Schips, Eldred, 24:09
22. Sierra Thomas, Liberty, 24:15
23. Kristen Siegel, Liberty, 24:29
24. Kaitlyn Kellam, Liberty, 24:33
25. Erika Poton, Eldred, 24:44
26. Sara Jane Drewitt, Eldred, 25:07
27. Jessica Kinney, T-V, 25:08
28. Sarah Coykendall, Eldred, 25:35
29. Tamara Bodanarik, Eldred, 25:50
30. Brandi Belliccio, Eldred, 25:52
31. Erin Kinne, Liberty, 26:27