Delbene dominates at Queensbury Cross Country
Lady Tigers place second, defeat 8th-ranked team in New York
By John M. Benson
October 5, 2007
Pawling cross country has blown away North Salem and Dover in dual meets, and at the Queensbury Invitational, showed that both the boys and the girls are contenders for honors at the New York State Meet at the end of the season.
At the prestigious Queensbury Invitational, the varsity boys placed fourth with Colby Delbene placing first, with scoring support from Tom Brogan, Jon Nash, Brett Martini, Tim Yu and Chris Bonanno.
The varsity girls placed second and defeated the state’s eighth-ranked Hoosic Valley High School. The girls told the Herald that they have been told they will need to repeat the performance in a major competition before the receive the top-ten state ranking they obviously merit.
The boys’ modified team ran away with all honors, placing first as a team, and placing individually in first, second, third, fourth and seventh in a near sweep of the five scoring positions.
Coach Jack Power is very pleased with the early work of his state-ranked boys and girls, and said after the Queensbury event, “Colby ran a great race pacing himself behind two of the state's very best runners, Matt Flint from Queensbury and Lee Berube of Ticonderoga. He made a strong move to take the lead going up a hill at the two-mile mark. From there he extended his lead running under control and looking fresher and stronger than anyone in the field. If pushed the entire last mile, there's no telling how fast he might have run.”
Talented new runners Caitlin Jelinek and Winona Mold have moved into the number one and two spots, with scoring from Erin Bonthron, Jamie Hom and Teresa Herrera. Kim Jones and Amanda Miller provide support and are ready to score if one of the top five misses a competition.
As Power said, “The ladies were excellent as a team running the best team race we've had in years. We all feel we can run even faster as many of the girls felt they lost concentration in the trails. We're hoping for even better things in the future. Great improvement by Erin and Jamie since Big Red so we were really please with that. Teresa Hererra ran her best race ever finishing as our number five runner.”
The modified boys simply blew everyone away, and as coach Power put it, “Modified were incredible with a course record by Colin Souter, and a one-through-four finish with Matt Jorgensen, Kevin Nash and Taylor Souter. Brady McGee finished in seventh place for a near sweep.”
Runners Anna Jelinek, Natalie Bonthron, Liam McGrath and Pat Delano complete the modified team, all talented harriers who are gaining valuable experience, and who will be ready to step into the state-ranked varsity program in their turn.
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