By Rob Potter
LIBERTY — October 22, 2010 — The Tri-Valley boys’ and girls’ cross country teams both won Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) Division IV titles on Tuesday afternoon at Liberty High School.
It marked the first time since 2007 that the Bears and Lady Bears both earned division titles in the same season. The Bears won an OCIAA division title each season from 2000 through 2007. The Lady Bears have now won an OCIAA division crown for 11 years in a row.
Four runners – Autumn Bender, Caroline Bertholf, Olivia Rehm and Danielle Graham – finished in the top 10 of the girls’ race to lead T-V to its 11th straight division title. Bender was third with a time of 19 minutes, 43 seconds on the 2.8-mile course. Bertholf was fifth in 20:05, Rehm placed ninth (20:54) and Graham was 10th (21:12).
“We had seven runners set lifetime or season best times today,” T-V Lady Bears’ Coach Missy Iatauro said. “That is pretty awesome.”
Bender, Rehm and Graham recorded lifetime bests. Bertholf, Alex Brooks (21:14), Naomi Weise (21:20) and Ashley Weintraub (22:15) had season bests.
“We had three girls from last year’s team graduate [in June],” Iatauro said. “But we came back and won the division again. That is a terrific job by these girls.
T-V earned 38 points, while James I. O’Neill took second place with 44 points. Sullivan West placed third with 52 points and John S. Burke Catholic High School finished fourth with 114 points.
Liberty and Tuxedo had runners in the race, but neither school had enough runners in order to record a team score.
SW sophomore Dani Myers won the girls’ race in a time of 19:18. Myers was second to Bertholf early in the race, but took the lead shortly after they ran down the first hill.
Myers’ Lady Bulldogs’ teammate Kelsey Dutton placed second in 19:41. Myers and Dutton ran together for much of the race.
“It’s always nice to run with Kelsey,” Myers said. “She is a great runner. We are able to push each other to run better.
“I felt a little tired out there today,” Myers added. “But I just kept thinking ‘keep going, it’s almost done.’ Whenever I had a negative thought enter my mind, I quickly made it positive.”
The complete results from the girls’ race were as follows:
1. Dani Myers, SW, 19:18
2. Kelsey Dutton, SW, 19:41
3. Autumn Bender, T-V, 19:43
4. Kelsey Waters, O’Neill, 19:51
5. Caroline Bertholf, T-V, 20:05
6. Lizzy Lona, O’Neill, 20:23
7. Kayleigh Waters, O’Neill, 20:30
8. Rianne Erlwein, SW, 20:48
9. Olivia Rehm, T-V, 20:54
10. Danielle Graham, T-V, 21:12
11. Alex Brooks, T-V, 21:14
12. Naomi Weise, T-V, 21:20
13. Taylor Endres, O’Neill, 21:54
14. Julianna Pelella, O’Neill, 21:57
15. Ashley Weintraub, T-V, 22:15
16. Alissa Nowak, Burke, 22:4
17. Rosa Martinez, SW, 22:59
18. Stephanie Heisler, Liberty, 23:29
19. Gabby Reyes, O’Neill, 23:35
20. Liza Mammatamo, Tuxedo, 23:42
21. Lorelyn Kilby, O’Neill, 23:47
22. Lucia Orellana, Burke, 23:49
23. Gabby Crown, Burke, 23:53
24. Kristen Siegel, Liberty, 23:56
25. Maria Ter Bush, T-V, 24:06
26. Jamie Moran, SW, 24:38
27. Sierra Thomas, Liberty, 25:17
28. Sarah Crawford, O’Neill, 25:34
29. Grace Babbir, O’Neill, 25:50
30. Jess Kinney, T-V, 26:19
31. Rachel Musteen, O’Neill, 27:09
32. Devon Jones, T-V, 27:10
33. Erin Kinne, Liberty, 27:37
34. Mary Brosnan, Burke, 28:08
35. Diana Welch, Burke, 28:30
36. Brigid Broscia, Burke, 29:14
In the boys’ race, teammates Jimmy Bernstein and Omar Lopez led the T-V Bears to victory. Bernstein was second in 16:52 and Lopez placed third in 16:56.
T-V recorded 37 points to take first place, while SW was second with 54 points. Liberty was third (76 points), O’Neill finished fourth (88 points), Burke placed fifth (109 points) and Tuxedo was sixth (165 points).
“After not winning the division in 2008 and 2009, it’s nice to come back and win this year,” T-V Bears Coach Joe Iatauro said. “Five of our top seven runners are freshmen and they are all underclassmen. That’s nice for the future.”
Bernstein had the lead as the runners left the starting line and ran across the Liberty football field. But he was passed by Burke’s James Murray, who went on to win the race, midway through the event.
“I went out a little too fast,” Bernstein said. “I wanted to have a good start, but it was too fast.”
Bernstein, who won the boys’ race at last autumn’s Div. IV title meet, was pleased that he and Lopez finished so well.
“It’s good to run with Omar,” said Bernstein, who is a junior. “When we run together, we feed off each other and that helps both of us run better.”
The complete results of the boys’ race were as follows:
1. James Murray, Burke,16:36
2. Jimmy Bernstein, T-V, 16:52
3. Omar Lopez, T-V, 16:56
4. Reed Scott Jr., SW, 17:22
5. Kane Sauchuk, Liberty, 17:59
6. Matt Pitz, SW, 18:02
7. Eddie Byrd, Liberty, 18:13
8. Joe Klapkowski, O’Neill, 8:31
9. Brendan Hasbrouck, T-V, 18:36
10. Justin Weintraub, T-V, 18:39
11. Josh McDonald, O’Neill, 18:47
12. Eric Haberli, SW, 18:49
13. Aidan Woolsey, T-V, 18:53
14. Hauk Boyes, T-V, 18:57
15. John Masten, SW, 18:59
16. Michael McCarey, Burke, 18:59
17. Shaughn Goggin, SW, 19:08
18. SoWoo Chon, T-V, 19:28
19. Vinny Webbe, Liberty, 19:29
20. Nate Mucke, O’Neill, 19:30
21. Matt Rourke, Liberty, 19:44
22. Zach Verbovsky, Tuxedo, 20:05
23. John Sweeney, O’Neill, 20:09
24. Raiquawn Malloy, Liberty, 20:20
25. Erick Cuellar, Liberty, 20:28
26. Mike Willis, O’Neill, 20:44
27. Joe Robbins, Burke, 20:46
28. Harry Santos, Liberty, 20:49
29. Adam Tabbi, SW, 20:53
30. Dylan Blackwell, Liberty, 21:01
31. Pat Michon, O’Neill, 21:27
32. Steve Kirk, Burke, 21:40
33. Gage Callahan, O’Neill, 22:12
34. Chris McNamara, Tuxedo, 22:13
35. Carlo Aiello, Burke, 22:22
36. Austin Bermudez, Tuxedo, 23:00
37. Rich Haynes-Kebreau, Tuxedo, 23:08
38. Dave Schultz, SW, 23:25
39. Sean Durloo, Burke, 24:25
40. Peter Koval, Liberty, 24:45
41. Andrew Hersh, Liberty, 24:49
42. Chris Waik, Tuxedo, 24:57
43. Chris Perlmutter, Tuxedo, 25:36
44. Dan Cohen, Liberty, 27:18.