By Rob Potter
SULLIVAN COUNTY — Local runners captured three of the eight individual Class titles during Friday’s Section IX Cross Country Championships at Bear Mountain State Park, matching the output of much bigger and more heavily represented Orange County..
Eldred junior Alex Campanella won the boys’ Class D title for the second straight year by running the course in 16 minutes, 15.72 seconds. Tri-Valley senior Jimmy Bernstein won the Class C boys’ championship in a time of 16:12.68. Eldred senior Christine Donnelly won the girls’ Class D title in 20:09.84.
The trio lead a contingent of 17 runners from Sullivan County high schools advancing to Saturday’s New York State Public High School Athletic Association Cross Country Championship Meet at Vernon-Verona-Sherill Central School in Verona. Members of the winning team and the top five finishers not from the winning team qualified for the states.
The other local boys joining Bernstein and Campanella at the state meet are Eldred’s Hunter Proscia (second in boys’ Class D, 16:54.97), T-V’s Omar Lopez (seventh in boys’ Class C, 16:51.62), Sullivan West’s Reed Scott (eighth in boys’ Class C, 16:56.50) and Livingston Manor/Roscoe’s Neal Mock (ninth in boys’ Class D, 18:02.10). The local girls who will join Donnelly at the state meet are her Eldred teammate Sarah Malzahn and Monticello twin sisters Camryn Johnson and Sydney Johnson. Malzahn placed eighth in girls’ Class D in 21:59.62. Camryn Johnson finished third in girls’ Class B in 19:14.14. Sydney Johnson finished eighth in 19:53.59.
In addition, by winning the girls’ Class C team title with 52 points to second-place Sullivan West’s 56 points, all members of the T-V Lady Bears team advanced to the state meet. They are Autumn Bender (third, 19:19.25), Olivia Rehm (10th, 19:59.88), Brooke Gillette (20:36.40), Sabrena Smith (15th, 20:44.03), Danielle Graham (17th, 21:02.00), Alex Brooks (28th, 22:19.75) and Devon Jones (41st, 25:37.63).
Other Sullivan County runners who participated in Friday’s Section IX meet and finished in the top 20 of their respective races were T-V’s Justin Weintraub (11th in boys’ Class C, 17:27.76), SW’s Dani Myers (seventh in girls’ Class C, 19:45.22), SW’s Courtney Meyerer (eighth in girls’ Class C, 19:53.79), SW’s Kelsey Dutton (ninth in girls’ Class C, 19:55.63) and Eldred’s Selena Hudak (10th in girls’ Class D, 22:40.78).
In the team standings, T-V was second in boys’ Class C with 63 points, Eldred was second in boys’ Class D with 48 points, Livingston Manor/Roscoe placed fourth in boys’ Class D with 81 points, Monticello finished second in girls’ Class B with 85 points and Eldred was second in girls’ Class D with 45 points.

ON TO STATES
The following 17 runners qualified for the New York State Championship meet Saturday in Verona:
BOYS
Eldred: Alex Campanella, Hunter Proscia
LMR: Neal Mock
Sullivan West: Reed Scott
Tri-Valley: Jim Bernstein, Omar Lopez, Justin Weintraub
GIRLS
Eldred: Christine Donnelly, Sarah Malzahn
Monticello: Camryn Johnson, Sydney Johnson
Tri-Valley: Autumn Bender, Olivia Rehm, Brooke Gillette, Sabrena Smith, Danielle Graham, Alex Brooks, Devon Jones