Cross-country: Gilstrap, Baloga qualify for nationals, Section 1 staying home

WAPPINGERS FALLS — No Section 1 cross-country runners will compete at either Nike Cross Nationals or Champs Nationals, despite some strong performances Saturday.

That doesn't mean the Hudson Valley won't be represented.

Running at the Nike boys New York championship at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls, Collin Gilstrap from Section 9's Monroe-Woodbury High clocked 16:03.5 for second place out of 174 finishers.

Westhampton Beach's Maximus Haynia won in 15:57.9.

Gilstrap, who finished two positions ahead of Haynia in eighth in the 3,200-meter run at last spring's outdoor state Federation track and field championships, clocked 15:51.3 last Saturday at Bowdoin in winning the vaunted boys state Fed cross-country title.

But Gilstrap wore himself down a bit Saturday, although he had enough left to finish among the top five finishers to earn a slot in next Saturday's Nike Cross Nationals in Portland, Oregon.

"I think I hit the hills too hard at the beginning. I got punished in the end for it," Gilstrap said.

Gilstrap, who has competed at nationals in both indoor and outdoor track, plans to ease off the gas pedal in the initial stages of his first nationals in cross-country.

"I think I've got to focus on not leading in the first part," said Gilstrap, who explained he considers himself "more of a finisher."

Baloga returning to Eastbay nationals

A week after Gilstrap hits the West Coast, fellow Section 9 runner Karrie Baloga will be in San Diego, California to compete in the Champs (formerly Eastbay and, before that, Footlocker) cross-country nationals.

Baloga, the Colorado-bound Cornwall senior, who finished fourth at Eastbay nationals last year after finishing fifth in the qualifying Northeast Regionals at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, was second in Saturday's regional there.

This year's girls state Class B and state Federation champion clocked 17:24.9 in a field of 94 finishers.

The win went to Massachusetts' Ellie Shea (17:10.7).

Baloga's time was not only close to half a minute faster than she ran the course at last year's regional but was also a personal best on the 3.1-mile Van Cortlandt course.

Baloga, who finished one spot ahead of Shea at last year's regional, noted Shea started but dropped out of the 2021 national race.

Although entering the race undefeated this season, Baloga didn't appear bothered to have finished second and actually seemed to enjoy having close competition for the first time this fall.

"I'm super happy with the way I ran today. This gives me really big confidence (going into nationals). The outcome is the perfect way to lead into the next two weeks," she said, noting she's excited to have a week off from racing to focus the next two weeks on training.

State's ultimate test:Cross-country: Baloga, Gilstrap win NY Federation titles; other Section 1, 9 locals shine

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Freshman, senior star:Cross-country: North Rockland's Tuohy, White Plains' Ginsberg best at Section 1 championships

Top locals at Bowdoin Nike qualifier

While their cross-country seasons wrapped up off the podium Saturday, multiple local runners ran well at Bowdoin.

Clocking 16:35.7, Brewster's Pat Ford, who was second in the state Class B public school boys championship and seventh last weekend at Bowdoin in the state Fed, competing against both public and private school runners from schools of all sizes in New York, finished 15th.

Arlington's Ethan Green (16:48.4), who was second in Class A at the state public school championship, but said his legs "never recovered" from that race, was 28th.

Fox Lane's Noah Bender was 32nd in 16:50.7.

As with Ford, who was hoping for a better time after running faster at the Fed, Bender, a fellow senior, was also slower.

But he focused on the positive, remarking, "It was a tough one but I'm glad I did it. I'm glad I had the opportunity."

"It was one last chance to run the course. It's a special course, probably my favorite," Bender said

Also finishing top-50 were Monroe-Woodbury's Collin Catherwood (43rd, 17:05.6) and Gavin Catherwood (46th, 17:06.8).

With 19 teams competing, the top two, Corning and Assisi, got automatic bids to nationals. Third-place Monroe-Woodbury could be granted an at-large bid but, as of Saturday afternoon, that was still to be determined.

The only team competing from Section 1 was Arlington, which was 12th.

The top Section 1 runner outside the top 50 was Pleasantville senior Alex Searle (54th, 17:17.1).

Eigel leads local girls

Fox Lane senior Morgan Eigel was disappointed in her showing at Bowdoin a week earlier at the state Federation meet. A 56th-place finish hadn't been what she'd anticipated.

"Last week, I ran really poorly because of a combination of factors. I was probably dehydrated and I went out really fast," she said.

And so this week, her coach told her to "Chill out."

She did that with much-improved results.

With better pacing and by finding a second wind for the first time ever in the second half of a cross-country race, Eigel ran the course well over half a minute faster, clocking 19:28.9 for 13th place.

She indicated she also got a spark from friendly rival Sophie Ginsberg of White Plains with whom she did a pre-race jog.

"She hyped me up," Eigel said of Ginsberg.

Ginsberg, a White Plains senior, was 23rd among the race's 109 finishers. She finished in 19:59.5.

"It was tough. But it's always good being out here with such talented runners," said Ginsberg, whose time was just shy of 30 seconds slower than she had run in finishing 24th a week earlier at the Fed.

Ava Carsley from Section 9's Valley Central finished close behind Ginsberg, crossing in 20:04.1 for 24th.

Sloan Wasserman, the John Jay-Cross River runner who had a breakout year in track last year as an eighth-grader, but who played soccer this fall, turned in an impressive 26th-place (20:05.1). She was the last Section 1 runner in the top 50.

Nancy Haggerty covers cross-country, track & field, field hockey, skiing, ice hockey, girls lacrosse and other sporting events for The Journal News/lohud. Follow her on Twitter at both @HaggertyNancy and at @LoHudHockey. 

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Cross-country: Gilstrap, Baloga make nationals but no one from Sect. 1