Sunday, Nov. 25, 2018: F-M boys and girls qualify for NXN finals again

   Leading off today: Saratoga Springs got the better of Fayetteville-Manlius for the second consecutive meet, but both got want they wanted -- a spot in the Nike Cross Nationals next weekend in Portland, Ore.

   The Saratoga girls edged F-M 63-65 in the Nike Cross Nationals regional qualifier Saturday at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls. That gave both automatic berths, and third-place finisher Liverpool learned later in the day that it
had been awarded one of the nation's four at-large berths.

   The F-M girls are four-time defending national champions and winners of 11 of the last 12 Nike Cross Nationals championships.

   In the boys qualifier, F-M won with a dominating 28-76 margin over Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake as both qualified for nationals. Liverpool was third at 126.

   The F-M boys were second at nationals a year ago and will be making the trip to Portland for the 11th straight year.

   Defending national champion Katelyn Tuohy of North Rockland repeated as the regional girls winner in 17:14.0, followed by Claire Walters of F-M (17:54.7) and Kelsey Chmiel of Saratoga (18:06.3). Freshman Ella Kurto posted an 11th-place finish for Saratoga, which had scored a one-point win over F-M at the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class A championships this month.

   Tuohy, a junior, ran 13 seconds faster a year ago, but there was no reason for her to go all out after taking command entering the final 1,500 meters in less than optimal course conditions.

   "I was slipping all over the place," she said.

   Parker Stokes of Maine-Endwell (15:51.0) won a close boys race over Saratoga's Shea Weilbaker (15:51.6), with the F-M trio of Garrett Brennan, Geoff Howles and Sam Otis next across the line. Tyler Berg was seventh in 16:07.0 to lead the Burnt Hills-Ballston Spa contingent.

   More cross country: New York will be sending one boy and one girl to the Foot Locker Nationals in San Diego following top-10 finishes at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.

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   Pittsford Mendon junior Sam Lawler was seventh in a wild blanket finish of eight boys runners behind Jack Stanley of Mendham, N.J. In the girls race, Mary Hennelly of Suffern placed sixth.

   Lawler passed five runners in the final 400 meters, but the action was just getting started. With a time of 15:30.2, Stanley was 6.9 seconds clear of the rest of the field at the tape. Lucas Aramburu of Brookline, Mass., was next at 15:37.1, the first of eight runners who finished just two seconds apart.

   Lawler was timed in 15:38.6. His brother Nathan, now a Syracuse University freshman, was 28th in the Foot Locker nationals last year.

   On the move: Randy Grenier is retiring as athletic director at Geneva at the end of next month, ending 38 years of work in the district. He previously coached football, swimming and softball there.

   Mike Eisenberg, who coached Francis Lewis girls basketball to six PSAL championship game appearances in a sometimes stormy 15-year stay that ended in 2008, is now the JV girls coach at St. Francis Prep, the NYSSWA's Mike Libert noted over the weekend.

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