By Rob Potter
GRAHAMSVILLE — October 19, 2007 — The Tri-Valley Bears and Lady Bears won the respective boys’ and girls’ team titles at Tuesday afternoon’s Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) Division V cross country championship meet at T-V High School.
In the boys’ race, the Bears scored 40 points to defeat Chapel Field and S.S. Seward. Chapel Field was second with 66 points and Seward finished third with 87 points.
In the girls’ race, the Lady Bears scored 23 points to defeat Chapel Field and Eldred. Chapel Field totaled 50 points to place second while Eldred earned 59 points to finish third.
Livingston Manor junior Greg Lewis won the boys’ race in 17 minutes, 55 seconds. T-V teammates Nick Denman and Tom Riordan crossed the finish line soon after Lewis. Denman was second in a time of 18:11, while Riordan placed fourth in 18:37.
Other Sullivan County finishers were: 6. Jeremy Kinney, T-V, 19:14; 9. Eb Sanborn, Livingston Manor, 19:23; 10. Rob Snyder, Eldred, 19:31; 12. Matt Campanella, Eldred, 19:39; 15. Chris Whipple, T-V, 20:25; 16. Jim Bernstein, T-V, 20:50; 19. Corey Pomeroy, T-V, 21:43; 20. Chris Sanders, Livingston Manor, 22:16; 29. Fedor Zuev, T-V, 25:19; 30. Alex Dudek, T-V, 26:00.
Lewis, who admitted to being “a little nervous” prior to the race, said he and Riordan ran together for the first 1,000 meters. But when they entered the woods in the second 1,000-meter stretch, Lewis pulled ahead and maintained that lead for the rest of the event.
“I like this course a lot, but I could do without that one hill,” said Lewis, referring to one particularly steep hill that is located midway through the course.
“I have to thank Coach [Scott] Branning,” Lewis added. “He has helped me a lot.”
Lewis will now focus his energy on the OCIAA championship meet, which is scheduled be held next Friday, October 26 at Bear Mountain State Park. He noted that Tuesday’s win will help in his preparation for next week’s meet when he will face runners from all of the OCIAA divisions.
“It feels really good to win,” Lewis commented. “It gives me a confidence boost for next week. There were a lot of good runners here and I was able to win the race.”
T-V senior Courtney Roosa won the girls’ race in 20:08. Grace Babula of Eldred finished a close second in 20:16.
Three of Roosa’s teammates also finished in the top five. Rachel Sanborn was third in 20:24, Shannon Hornbeck placed fourth in 21:26 and Caroline Bertholf took fifth in 21:28.
Other Sullivan County finishers included: 9. Christine Donnelly, Eldred, 22:43; 10. Ashley Weintraub, T-V, 22:55; 11. Naomi Weise, T-V, 23:13; 12. Jen Green, Livingston Manor, 23:43; 14. Kristina Brown, Eldred, 23:56; 15. Annie Babula, Eldred, 24:13; 19. Ashley Vicari, Eldred, 25:50; 20. Erika Vorstadt, Eldred, 26:03; 21. Regina Davies, Eldred, 26:19; 24. Kaley Donnelly, Eldred, 28:41.
“I’m happy the team won,” Roosa said.
Roosa was happy to win on her home course, which she has run dozens of times during her six seasons as a member of the Lady Bears’ cross country team.
“I love it,” she said of the T-V course, which winds around the high school football/soccer field, track, soccer practice field and elementary school.
Roosa noted that she and Sanborn ran together for much of the race.
“We try to pace off each other during the race,” Roosa explained. “We like to run out together at the beginning of the race to see how much of a lead we can get.”
Roosa is hopeful that her victory in the Division V race bodes well for next week’s OCIAA meet.
“That’s a big race and I want to run well there,” she said.