Leading off today: We hadn't seen much of Zariel Macchia through the first month of the cross country season, but the William Floyd senior gave the competition an eyeful on Sunday at Van Cortlandt Park.
Macchia, the 2022 NYSPHSAA Class A champion and 2023 runner-up, torched the 2.5-mile course in 14:24.4 to defend her Eastern States championship at the massive Manhattan Invitational. Her time was 5.9 seconds better than that of Katie Payne from Tatnall High in Delaware, who went out hard and led for much of the race.
Macchia was making only her third appearance of the high school season after represented the United States at the World Athletics Under-20 Championships in Peru, but she was coming in off an 18:50.3 performance over 5,000 meters in Friday's Suffolk Officials Invitational at Sunken Meadow State Park.
The Brigham Young University-bound runner confirmed that she is ahead of schedule in her preparations for the late-season grind.
"Some of the workouts that I've done have been equal to the best workouts that I've done in past years," she said. "Running those kinds of workouts that I was using to get ready for nationals, at this point in the season, has shown me where I'm at."
While Macchia was taking individual honors in the day's top race, the Bethlehem girls stormed to the finish line en masse to coast to the team title with just 24 points against a deep field. Champlain Valley Union from Vermont was second with 103, followed by Auburn at 125.
Eighth-grader Sophia Cromczak paced the winners with a third-place time of 14:40.3, and Bethlehem's other scores locked down eighth through 11th place.
Tully Runners: Full Manhattan boys results
Tully Runners: Full Manhattan girls results
Ticonderoga and Moriah call an audible
Football is about to get 37.5% more action-packed for the Ticonderoga football team, even if it's just for a week. That's because the Sentinels, who shifted to eight-man football at the start of the 2023 season, will field an 11-man version this Saturday in order to renew a rivalry with Moriah.
"We had some room on our schedule, and Moriah was looking to fill a bye," Ticonderoga AD Dan Dorsett told The Sun. "We wanted to accommodate, and it helped us get another home game."
Ticonderoga will return to the eight-man brand after the game, and the district's projected enrollment numbers in the near future do not bode well for a return to 11-man football anytime soon. Still, renewing the old rivalry will generate some excitement in Essex County.
"Growing up in both communities, Moriah-Ticonderoga games are always a big deal," Moriah coach and AD Casey Nephew said. "It's nice to have the varsity football game back on the schedule after a couple years away. The kids are excited, and you can tell it's something they're looking forward to experiencing."
More football
The Warrensburg/Lake George/Bolton football team has been making short work of opponents this season on its way to the No. 1 position in the New York State Sportswriters Association Class D
rankings.
With the exception of a 30-28 win over Schuylerville on Sept. 20, the team has won every game by 40 or more points, and the margins in a couple of games could have been even more substantial had two of them not been shortened by mutual agreement.
W/LG/B's opener against Green Tech on a muddy field was called at halftime with the score 52-0. This past weekend, Chatham called off the remainder of the contest after falling behind 40-0 in the first quarter.
Now, MaxPreps is showing Rensselaer/Loudonville Christian, which has lost its last two games by a combined 129-0 score, as forfeiting the upcoming weekend's scheduled game against that strong Warrensburg/Lake George/Bolton squad.
