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Cross country champions crowned in Center State Conference, Tri-Valley League

jon rathbun, times telegram
·5 min read

Top runners and teams from the Center State Conference and Section III's Tri-Valley League gathered Saturday afternoon for their leagues' annual championship meets, the CSC at Herkimer College and the TVL at New Hartford's Perry Junior High School.

In addition to recognizing individual and team champions at the meet, both leagues have adopted point systems that include the championship meet plus dual meet results to determine their champions.

Area teams have a quiet weekend coming up − Adirondack hosts its annual John Bernard Invitational Saturday − before the Nov. 5 Section III championship meet at Vernon-Verona-Sherrill.

Hamilton Emerald Knight Claire Filipowicz (1947) reaches the the top of the final hill on the Herkimer College course ahead of Westmoreland Bulldogs Tessie Shafer (906) and Marlee Shafer (907) at the Center State Conference championship cross country meet Saturday.
Hamilton Emerald Knight Claire Filipowicz (1947) reaches the the top of the final hill on the Herkimer College course ahead of Westmoreland Bulldogs Tessie Shafer (906) and Marlee Shafer (907) at the Center State Conference championship cross country meet Saturday.

More:Center State Conference cross country championship meet, photos

More:Section 3 girls cross country results for the 2022 season

More:Section 3 boys cross country results for the 2022 season

Center State boys

Senior Kole Owens won the boys' Center State Conference race and led the Sauquoit Valley Indians to the team title with teammates Alex Keller, a sophomore, Matthew Hanna, a senior, and Johnny Mudge, a junior, joining him among the top 10 finishers in a field of 115 runners.

The Indians finished with 45 team points versus runner-up Cooperstown's 95 among 12 complete teams. Cooperstown junior Carter Stevens ran the 5-kilometer course in 17:11.3 to finish second, less than 15 seconds behind Owens' 16:56.7.

Sauquoit Valley Indian Kole Owens (1885) and Cooperstown Hawkeye Carter Stevens (1807) lead early in the boys' Center State Conference championship cross country race at Herkimer College.
Sauquoit Valley Indian Kole Owens (1885) and Cooperstown Hawkeye Carter Stevens (1807) lead early in the boys' Center State Conference championship cross country race at Herkimer College.

Keller finished third, ahead of fellow sophomore Josh Musante of Clinton, with junior Logan Baker from Waterville's incomplete team running fifth. Hamilton junior Joseph Berry, Hanna, Remsen/Town of Webb sophomore Ean Piaschyk, Dolgeville senior Jayden Kamp and Mudge completed the top 10.

The top five teams included Clinton, Remsen/Town of Webb and New York Mills. Sauquoit Valley is a Division II school with Clinton the top Division I finisher and Remsen/Town of Webb atop Division III.

Owen did not run last year's meet but had finished 10th as a sophomore in 2020 when only 10 teams competed in a fall schedule limited COVID-19 .

Center State girls

Adirondack dominated the girls' competition at Herkimer College. Freshman Cora Hinsdill, the runner-up as an eighth-grader to Oriskany Redskin Paris Welker, won the race with fellow Wildcats running third, fourth and fifth behind Westmoreland Bulldog Emma Szarek, an eighth-grader who won the modified race at last year's league meet.

Hinsdill ran the course in 19:51.9, 32 seconds faster than Szarek. Adirondack's Eliana Pitts, Kaylee Mathis and Johannah Northrup, two freshmen and a junior, followed Szarek with Dolgeville freshman Grace Seeley, Hamilton freshman Claire Filipowicz, Canastota senior Ava Baler and Westmoreland seniors Marlee and Tessie Shafer completing the top 10.

Westmoreland's Emma Szarek (908), Dolgeville's Grace Seeley (1944) and Adirondack's Cora Hinsdill (1907) lead early in the girls' Center State Conference championship cross country race at Herkimer College.
Westmoreland's Emma Szarek (908), Dolgeville's Grace Seeley (1944) and Adirondack's Cora Hinsdill (1907) lead early in the girls' Center State Conference championship cross country race at Herkimer College.

Eighty-six runners ran the varsity race.

Adirondack's 29 team points topped runner-up Clinton's 98 with Westmoreland, Herkimer and Remsen/Town of Webb in the top five among 10 complete teams. Adirondack (Division I), Westmoreland (Division II) and Remsen/Town of Webb (Division III) were the division winners.

Tri-Valley girls

New Hartford's boys and girls swept the team titles on their home course at Perry junior High School Saturday while Camden Blue Devil Jerome Seidl and Rome Free Academy Black Knight Marlo Townsend were the individual race winners.

Townsend, runner-up last year to graduated teammate Emily Toth-Ratazzi at Camden's Osceola Ski and Sport Resort, ran the New Hartford course in 19:10.2 and finished 20 seconds ahead of Oneida seventh-grader Molly Myatt. Freshman Alexandria French ran third as the first of three New Hartford runners among the top seven finishers; classmate Riley Heenan finished sixth and Leah Hilton was seventh.

Megan Lew of Proctor ran fourth and Marla Stuhlman of Whitesboro fifth with Lacey Simmons from Vernon-Verona-Sherrill, Ivy Murphy from Camden and Gianna Badolato completing the top 10 among 101 runners.

Rome Free Academy had five finishers before New Hartford's fourth, but sophomore Tara Fobare and junior Abigail Northrup were the 18th and 19th scoring runners, giving the Spartans a 50-53 edge in the team scoring. Whitesboro, Vernon-Verona-Sherrill and Proctor were third, fourth and fifth among seven complete lineups.

French, Hilton and Fobare were scoring runners last year when New Hartford defeated Whitesboro 51-61 to win the team title on its way to winning Section III's Class B championship.

New Hartford and Vernon-Verona-Sherrill won the Colonial and Pioneer division championships, respectively, with New Hartford overtaking Rome Free Academy in the scoring Saturday.

Tri-Valley boys

Seidl, the top sectional finisher for Camden last year when the Blue Devils were runners-up to Jamesville-DeWitt in Class B, ran a winning time of 16:56.4 Saturday and beat Proctor Raider Nico Tidmore by 17 seconds at the head of a 147-runner field.

Seidl and the Blue Devils were runners-up to eventual Class C champion Vernon-Verona-Sherrill while running on their home course one year ago but were third behind New Hartford and Vernon-Verona-Sherrill Saturday. New Hartford won the 10-team scoring 54-73 with Rome Free Academy and Whitesboro finishing fourth and fifth.

Winning the league meet allowed New Hartford to overtake Vernon-Verona-Sherrill and claim the overall league title. Vernon-Verona-Sherrill had gone unbeaten in duals, but Saturday's points put 8-1 New Hartford over the top, 43-42. Teams are awarded two points for each dual meet victory and three or each team they beat at the championship meet.

New Hartford wins the Colonial Division championship and Vernon-Verona-Sherrill is the Pioneer Division champion.

Following Seidl and Tidmore, both seniors, across the finish line were Oneida sophomore Tyson Fuller, Rome Free Academy junior Carson Campbell and Vernon-Verona-Sherrill senior Ben Bellinger with New Hattford's Henry Daley and Anthony Falvo, Vernon-Verona-Sherrill's Killian Bauer and Nathan Geroux, and Camden's Connor Perrotta completing the top 10.

Campbell had been the runner-up to Vernon-Verona-Sherrill Red Devil Keegan Bauer at the league meet as a sophomore.

This article originally appeared on Times Telegram: Cross country champions crowned in Section III