By Rob Potter
LIBERTY — Amid overcast skies and a slight mist, dozens of athletes from local teams competed in an Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) cross country meet on Tuesday afternoon at Liberty High School.
The teams participating in the meet included Eldred, Liberty, Livingston Manor, Monticello, Port Jervis and Sullivan West. Unlike the other schools which ran in both the boys’ and girls’ races, Manor only competed in the boys’ race as the school does not have a girls’ team.
In the girls’ race, Eldred defeated Liberty 20-35 and defeated Port Jervis 15-50. Monticello defeated Eldred 18-40, defeated Liberty 15-45, defeated Port Jervis 15-50 and defeated SW 27-28. Liberty defeated Port Jervis 15-50. SW defeated Eldred 17-41, defeated Liberty 15-45 and defeated Port Jervis 15-50.
Eldred now has a 2-4 overall record on the season. Liberty is 1-6, 0-2 OCIAA Div. IV. Monticello is 6-1, 1-0 OCIAA Div. III. Port Jervis is 0-7, 0-1 OCIAA Div. III. SW is 4-3, 2-0 OCIAA Div. IV.
Monticello’s Camryn Johnson won the race in a time of 19 minutes, 33 seconds. Her twin sister, Sydney Johnson, finished second in 19:52. SW’s Dani Myers placed third in 20:00.
The Johnson sisters were near the front for virtually the entire race. But Camryn Johnson noted that she was able to win the race with a burst of energy near the end of the course.
“I didn’t think I was running as fast as I could,” said Camryn, a 12-year-old eighth-grader. “I decided to start running faster.”
That decision enabled her to win the race by nearly 20 seconds.
This is the first time Camryn Johnson has run on the Liberty course, which is 2.8 miles of hilly and soft miles.
“It was not easy,” Camryn said. “But it’s a good course.
“It was a fun race,” she added. “It was hard, but I did it.”
The other girls who finished the race were as follows:
4. Kelsey Dutton, SW, 20:17; 5. Courtney Meyerer, SW, 21:18; 6. Christine Donnelly, Eldred, 21:40; 7. Erica Concors, Monticello, 21:55; 8. Rosa Martinez, SW, 22:20; 9. Brittany Rupp, Monticello, 22:22; 10. Corrine VanWagner, SW, 22:25; 11. Bryana Sewell, Monticello, 22:38; 12. Sara Jane Drewett, Eldred, 23:01; 13. Sarah Mannion, Port Jervis, 23:17; 14. Rachel Deppa, SW, 23:19; 15. Ashley McEnearney, Monticello, 23:26; 16. Selena Hudak, Eldred, 23:45; 17. Stephanie Heisler, Liberty, 24:42; 18. Sierra Thomas, Liberty, 24:53; 19. Jessica Schips, Eldred, 25:46; 20. Erin Kinne, Liberty, 26:31; 21. Tomara Bodnaruik, Eldred, 27:24; 22. Kaitlyn Kellam, Liberty, 27:49; 23. Amanda DeJesus, Liberty, 31:06; 24. Myra McConnell, Liberty, 31:31; 25. Taylor Lamerand, Liberty, 32:57.
In the boys’ race, Eldred defeated Liberty 25-32, defeated Monticello 15-50, defeated Manor, 24-33 and defeated SW 15-50. Liberty defeated Manor 19-36, defeated Monticello 15-50 and defeated SW 15-50. Manor defeated Monticello 15-50 and defeated SW 15-50. Port Jervis defeated Eldred 25-30, defeated Liberty 17-45, defeated Manor 15-48, defeated Monticello 15-50 and defeated SW 15-50.
Eldred is now 4-4 overall and 1-0 in OCIAA Div. V. Liberty is 6-3, 2-0 OCIAA Div. IV. Manor is 3-6, 0-2 OCIAA Div. V. Monticello is 0-8, 0-1 OCIAA Div. III. Port Jervis is 6-2, 1-0 OCIAA Div. III. SW is 2-6, 0-2 OCIAA Div. IV.
Eldred teammates Hunter Proscia and Alex Campanella were near the front of the pack of runners for the entire race and finished first and second, respectively. Proscia crossed the finish line with a time of 16:34 and Campanella finished in 16:36.
“We like to run out front together,” said Proscia, a 17-year-old senior. “We were being social and talking about the course. We use that to our advantage. We wanted to stay 1-2 and come into the finish line together.”
Proscia, who has run on the Liberty course before, likes how the course is constructed.
“I like it, it’s a good course to run,” he said. “It’s good because it has some nice hills and that makes running this course fun.”
This was the second race Proscia has won this season. He took first place in the boys’ event at a recent meet at Warwick High School. The meet included Proscia and his Eldred Yellowjacket teammates as well as runners from Minisink Valley, Port Jervis and Warwick.
Proscia noted that he and Campanella are both ranked very high among Class D boys’ cross country runners in New York State.
“This is a good race because it helps us get ready for the OCIAA meet and the state meet,” Proscia commented.
After Proscia and Campanella, the boys who finished the race were as follows:
3. Nasson Bailey, Port Jervis, 16:46; 4. Reed Scott, SW, 17:05; 5. Joe Klein, Monticello, 17:11; 6. Hanz Zanger, Port Jervis, 17:16; 7. Austin Trainor, Port Jervis, 17:39; 8. Kane Sauchuk, Liberty, 17:58; 9. Leroy MacKenzie, Port Jervis, 18:10; 10. Steven Branham, Port Jervis, 18:13; 11. Neal Mock, Manor, 18:23; 12. Kobie Lane, Port Jervis, 18:27; 13. David Powers, Eldred, 18:38; 14. Erick Cuellar, Liberty, 19:38; 15. Joseph Mannion, Port Jervis, 19:46; 16. Eric Haberli, SW, 19:49; 17. Kevin Maas, Eldred, 19:52; 18. Matt Rourke, Liberty, 19:53; 19. Jackson Krebs, Liberty, 19:58; 20. Joe Miraldi, Monticello, 20:03; 21. Vinny Webbe, Liberty, 20:12; 22. Dharamhet Khangura, Manor, 20:19; 23. Dillon Taggart, Manor, 20:35; 24. Evan Taggart, Manor, 21:02; 25. Mike Dzurica, Monticello, 21:06; 26. Chris Lissner, Port Jervis, 21:47; 27. Dale Mercado, SW, 21:52; 28. Robert Johaneman, Manor, 21:58; 29. Andrew Hersh, Liberty, 22:07; 30. Terance Lockhart, Manor, 22:19; 31. Ryan Keane, Port Jervis, 22:44; 32. Ian Kolaitis, Monticello, 22:46; 33. Peter Koval, Liberty, 22:50; 34. David Schultz, SW, 22:51; 35. Aaron Haida, Port Jervis, 22:56; 36. Thomas Dapp, Liberty, 23:08; 37. Dylan D’Auria, Manor, 24:11; 38. Mark Castro, Manor, 24:18; 39. Matt Leskanic, Eldred, 24:30; 40. Thomas McCausland, Liberty, 24:38; 41. Jonathon Nilsen, Liberty, 25:15; 42. Dimetrius Miranda, Manor, 27:28; 43. Angelo Piscitelli, Manor, 28:27; 44. Sean Mock, Manor, 29:55; 45. Michael Hinton, Liberty, 35:25.