Victor's Barbato, Irondequoit's Tytler lead Section V pack at Federation Championships

Strength, speed and consistency have blended a triple mojo for two of Rochester area's top high school cross country runners this season.

Now they can add lucky 13 to their magic, too.

Seniors Adam Barbato of Victor and Candace Tytler of Irondequoit each finished 13th among most of the best runners in the state in their races at the Federation of Secondary Schools championships Saturday.

Running with 18 other boys from Section V in a field of 281, Barbato ended just two seconds short of a top 10 finish. It was the first time he’s ever raced the 3.1-mile course in Bowdoin Park, Poughkeepsie.

Entries are by invitation for athletes who have performed well in the post-season from the state's public, private and parochial schools, including New York City.

His time was 16 minutes, 20.7 seconds, 23rd all-time among Section V runners in the event's 48-year history.

"It’s quite a course," Barbato said by phone. "Hills and hills, and so many twists and turns. I actually liked it."

A typical mad-dash start to reach a narrow gate at the far end of the opening meadow stuck him "around 30th at first . . . I knew I had work to do." Barbato said he pushed into his hill stride and picked off about 10 spots in the first mile.

"When we got to the top, in the woods, I could tell I was where I needed to be," he said. "Some other guys were bobbing and weaving, scrambling a bit (but) I was right around guys who I figured should be with me."

After struggling some mid-season, at the McQuaid Invitational (13th of 167 in the elite race) and the Manhattan Invitational (21st of 140 in the Eastern States elite race), Barbato improved his pace and finishing stamina.

"This is where it really counts," he said. "The post-season. I'm pretty happy with how things worked out in sectionals (second), states (seventh) and now this."

Experience counts

For Tytler, the Bowdoin Park trail has become so familiar she knows about every twist, turn, mound of dirt and rock.

"I’ve run it six times now," she said. “I know it pretty well by now. I'm really happy this is my best race on it."

She improved her previous best time by a half minute and best place by eight positions from her other Federation race. As a sophomore two years ago she finished 21st, in 19 minutes, 19.9.2 seconds. No race was held last season.

In addition, she ran one Nike regional at Bowdoin as a sophomore and four Bowdoin Park invitationals.

Saturday she crossed the line in 18:48.5, one of only 16 girls to break 19 minutes. It is Section V's 21st-fastest time since girls joined the event in 1976.

"My goal was to get top 15," she said. "I got out with a pack and fought my way up a little bit. I passed a lot of girls before the top of the last hill.

"Coming back down to the bottom I passed a few more and I remember seeing the pace cart and thinking 'oh, I'm actually pretty far up now.' "

"I could hear girls behind me as I made the last turn so I just tried to hold them off. I passed one more and held it!"

Tytler said she has one last cross country goal on her bucket list – compete on the famous course at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.

"I’m going to run the Eastbay regional," she said, referring to the renamed Foot Locker regional race scheduled for next Saturday. "I've heard so much about that course. It's so historic. That's part of the reason I want to do it."

The top 10 at Foot Locker regionals qualify for the nationals in San Diego.

Other notable Fed finishes

Arkport/Canaseraga/Alfred-Almond senior Pierce Young finished 23rd, in 16:35.7. That's the 18th best time ever by a Section V runner at Feds.

Honeoye Falls-Lima's girls, led by senior Ann Brennan, were the eighth-best scoring team. They were exactly the same number of points behind Section XI’s East Aurora as they were in finishing second to EA at Class B states. This time the score was 267-279. At states it was 55-67.

CROSS COUNTRY

NYS Federation of Secondary Schools Athletic Association championships

3.1-mile open loop course at Bowdoin Park, Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County

Boys

Teams (31): 1. Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake-Section II 37. Sec. V: 21. Irondequoit 488, 24. Arkport/Canaseraga/Alfred-Almond 501.

Individuals (281): 1. Gitch Hayes (LaSalle Institute-II) 15:34.7. Sec. V finishers: 13. Adam Barbato (Victor) 16:20.7, 23. Pierce Young, (A) 16:35.7, 57. James "JD" Tette (Penn Yan) 17:19.5, 62. Patrick Sharp (Brighton) 17:21.6, 66. Cooper Branch (I) 17:22.582. Drew Reigelsperger (Bloomfield/Naples) 17:30.3, 114. Brendan McCollum (I) 17:47.1, 137. Ibrahim Ford (A) 17:59.1, 148. Dylan Lyons (I) 18:03.2, 166. Braydon Brewster (A) 18:12.9, 172. Salim Ford (A) 18:18.2, 176. Brandon Yanguas (I) 18:22.6, 230. Tobey Palmer (I) 19:06.6, 247. Cameron Williams (A) 19:12.2, 281. Jacob Broughton (A) 22:30.3, 279. Dylan Cannon (A) 20:40.9.

Girls

Teams (31): 1. Saratoga Springs-II 28. Sec. V: 8. Honeoye Falls-Lima 279, 13. Brighton 332.

Individuals (285): 1. Karrie Baloga (Cornwall-IX) 17:54.7. Sec. V: 13. Candace Tytler (Irondequoit) 18:48.5, 44. Ann Brennan (H) 19:40.3, 54. Kyra Pellegrino (Gates Chili) 19:52.1, 57. Alia Spaker (H) 19:54.6, 64. Hannah Dykens (Pittsford Sutherland) 20:00.9, 76. Annalee Capuano (Irondequoit) 20:11.8, 79. Paige Kidd (H) 20:15.5, 86. Lila Munger (B) 20:24.8, 94. Ava Voss (B) 20:28.0, 110. Eilee Ossont (B) 20:52.5, 120. Hannah Devine (B) 20:58.3, 128. Georgia Ross (B) 21:06.8, 136. Teagan Kamm (H) 21:14.5, 140. Oliver Kraynik (H) 21:21.5, 149. Ginny Roth (H) 21:27.6, 200. Kate Brennan (H) 22:26.8.

Complete results online at www.leonetiming.com

JCASTOR@JIMCASTOR.COM

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Federation Cross Country Championships results