By Rob Potter
BEAR MOUNTAIN — October 30, 2007 — A total of 269 runners gathered on Friday afternoon at Bear Mountain State Park for the 41st Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) Cross County championships.
When all of those runners had completed the demanding 3-mile course amid cool, cloudy conditions, two Monticello runners finished in the top five of their respective races. Brendan Devine, a senior, placed second in the boys’ race with a time of 15:34.26, while Jessica Fingers, a junior, placed fifth in the girls’ race in 18:21.17.
Led by Devine and Fingers, the Monticello boys’ and girls’ teams also placed in the top 10 in the respective team standings. The Panthers were eighth with 237 points, while the Lady Panthers earned 132 points to finish fifth.
In the boys’ team standings, Sullivan West was 12th with 316 points, Tri-Valley finished 15th (423) and Liberty placed 19th (559).
In the girls’ team standings, Tri-Valley placed sixth with 154 points, Sullivan West finished ninth (273) and Eldred was 13th (360).
“This was a great race today,” Devine said. “My goal was to be in the top two and it feels great to achieve that goal.
“I’m happy to be in the top two with Colin Anderson,” Devine said of Anderson, a Cornwall senior who won the race in 15:31.66. “He’s such a great runner and he has a lot of heart.”
Devine said he has developed “a friendly rivalry” with Anderson. Devine, who was in first place at the 2-mile mark, said he and Anderson ran next to each other for much of the race.
“We were shoulder to shoulder,” Devine said. “We inadvertently bumped into each other a couple of times.”
Devine was happy that he set a personal record on the Bear Mountain course. His time on Friday was 36 seconds faster than his previous best on the course.
Other Sullivan County finishers in the boys’ race included: 18. Colin Seidl, Sullivan West, 16:22.49; 37. Greg Lewis, Livingston Manor, 17:02.40; 38. Nicholas Denman, Tri-Valley, 17:03.28; 51. Matthew Layman, SW, 17:16.52; 63. Thomas Gonzalez, Monticello, 17:34.60; 66. John Bowens, Monticello, 17:46.51; 70. James Dzurica, Monticello, 18:00.08; 71. Leland Peterman, SW, 18:00.30; 88. Robby Snyder, Eldred, 18:39.96; 89. Matt Campanella, Eldred, 18:40.27; 93. Dallas Ripley, SW, 18:43.81; 94. Thomas Riordan, T-V, 18:44.29; 98. Russell Bryan, SW, 18:50.42; 100. Trevor Tate, Liberty, 18:53.06; 102. Robert Venditti, Monticello, 18:59.05; 104. Mike Freeman, T-V, 19:00.89; 105. Jeremy Kinney, T-V, 19:08.44; 106. Jim Bernstein, T-V, 19:11.97; 108. Chris Whipple, T-V, 19:19.65; 109. Charlie Sanborn, Livingston Manor, 19:23.21; 113. Michael Sheldon, SW, 19:47.82; 117. Malcolm Strother, Liberty, 20:16.00; 118. Nick Cucci, SW, 20:18.38; 121. Christopher Sanders, Livingston Manor, 20:50.57; 122. Corey Pomeroy, T-V, 20:54.12; 125. Dior Jackson, Monticello, 21:05.15; 126. Scott Kaplan, Liberty, 21:29.22; 127. Brian Corcoran, Eldred, 21:37.94; 128. Eric Schwartz, Liberty, 21:46.65; 134. John Fitzpatrick, Liberty, 23:04.29; 135. Brent Kaplan, Liberty, 23:16.74; 138. Matt Fortin, Liberty, 23:31.97.
Like Devine, Fingers also set a personal record on the Bear Mountain course.
“I’m very happy with that,” Fingers said. “This is a great course, I really like it.
“I felt pretty well today and ran the race I wanted to,” she continued. “It feels great to place in the top five.”
Other Sullivan County finishers in the girls’ race included: 12. Courtney Roosa, T-V, 18:45.33; 18 Rianne Erlwein, SW, 19:18.69; 24. Rachel Sanborn, T-V, 19:25.11; 25. Emma Cohen, Monticello, 19:28.26; 26. Grace Babula, Eldred, 19:31.00; 31. Caroline Bertholf, T-V, 19:50.55; 37. Shannon Hornbeck, T-V, 20:02.89; 39. Kim McKay, Liberty, 20:11:47; 52. Naomi Weise, T-V, 20:53.67; 64. Ashley Weintraub, T-V, 21:21.30; 66. Christine Donnelly, Eldred, 21:33.61; 68. Danielle Schnitzer, Monticello, 21:34.37; 73. Stephany Robison, SW, 21:49.60; 75. Kendra Barker, SW, 21:51.98; 76. Kristina Brown, Eldred, 21:52.61; 77. Jennifer Green, Livingston Manor, 21:52.91; 78. Kasi Pilny, SW, 21:53.22; 83. Lianna Hollander, Monticello, 22:10.21; 92. Katey Dnistrian, SW, 22:34.27; 100. Annie Babula, Eldred, 22:58.03; 108. Kristen Sarno, Liberty, 23:34.00; 111. Erika Vorstadt, Eldred, 23:49.02; 114. Regina Davies, Eldred, 24:05.29; 118. Lisandra Villalobos, Liberty, 24:37.98; 120. Charlotte Peters, SW, 25:01.79; 123. Kaley Donnelly, Eldred, 25:07.54.