Leading off today: Fayetteville-Manlius put on still another dominating performance yesterday, placing five runners in the top seven to coast to victory in the girls division of the Nike Cross Nationals at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls.
F-M's boys also fared well, finishing second to Shenendehowa to assure their place in next weekend's national championships in Portland, Ore., even though an injury knocked No. 2 runner Paul Merriman out of the race after just half a mile.
Queensbury ace Danielle Winslow was the first girl across the line in 18:01, but F-M locke down third through seventh with Courtney Chapman (18:30), Mackenzie Carter (18:41), Molly Malone (18:42), Meaghan Anklin (18:42) and Hannah Luber (18:42). That added up to 25 points and the title over Saratoga Springs (63), which locked down New York's other automatic berth in Portland.
Burnt Hills (71) and Queensbury (79) will find out today if they'll get wildcard berths to the national race. Burnt Hills would appear to be a lock, having knocked off Saratoga three times this season and winning both a state Class A and Federation championship.
The boys picture will also be cleared up today. Shen (62) and F-M (70) took the automatic berths in the New York regional, with Honeoye Falls-Lima (82) and Shoreham-Wading River (83) close behind and awaiting invitations.
"I am especially pleased with the boys today, they ran their asses off," F-M coach Bill Aris said. "My favorite meet in the whole country is the Federation meet. It distressed me greatly we had to make that decision (to pass up the Federation meet). It was the right decision for the sake of our kids. Five progressively intense races in six weeks is too much for kids."
A Whelan of an effort: Joe Whelan's recovery is almost complete.
The combination of a broken foot last year and then a knee injury over the summer left the Hamburg senior running more than a minute off his personal bests as recently as last September at the McQuaid Invivational. But he roared to a 26-second victory two weeks ago in Class A at the NYSPHSAA championships on Long Island.
Yesterday, he was a strong third at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, covering five kilometers in 15:38.5 at the Foot Locker regional qualifier on a course slightly modified from past races to accommodate nearby construction work. Maryland standout Solomon Haile was first in 15:21.9.
Whelan will be the only New York boy competing at the Foot Locker Nationals on Dec. 13 at Balboa Park in San Diego. Unless horrendous weather shuts down his training, Whelan will still be rounding into top shape in two weeks at a time when more than a few competitors will be struggling to maintain the level they've been running at for a month or longer during the championship stretch.
Whelan went from no training base as of Labor Day to thrice-weekly September runs to a 60-mile week while others were training for last week's Federation meet
"Wait 'til I tell my physical therapist what I've done," he told Dyestat.com.
Four female runners will join Whelan in San Diego. Though three-time Massachusetts champion Emily Jones of The Bromfield School in Harvard won the qualifier in 17:31, Suffern senior Shelby Greany was a strong second in 17:38 to earn her fourth national-meet berth. Cornwall sophomore Aisling Cuffe was one second back in third place, Newark Valley senior Erin Cawley pulled down eighth place (18:14) and Roslyn junior Emily Lipari (18:15) was ninth after feeling the effects of the flu.
