Delbene, Jelinek, Nash to Cross Country State Finals

Tiger Boys finished third at Bowdoin Park

Very young Tiger Girls placed a remarkable fourth

By John M. Benson
November 2, 2007

The outstanding Pawling High School Cross Country Team posted another phenomenal performance last Saturday at the State Qualifier Meet at Bowdoin Park.

Colby Delbene finished in first place, Caitlin Jelinek in ninth place, and Jon Nash in fifth place, and all three qualified for the New York State Cross Country Finals.

Coach Jack Power and his stars will attend the State Finals to be held this Saturday, November 10, at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York.

As a team, the very young Tiger Girls finished a very strong fourth place in the competition, despite running two juniors and five sophomores. The schools ahead of the Tigers could well be looking over their shoulders when they look ahead to next year.

Sophomore Caitlin Jelinek, in her first year of cross country, finished ninth to qualify for the State Finals. Jelinek was followed across the finish line by junior Erin Bonthron (15th), sophomore Winona Mold (20th), junior Jamie Hom (24th), and sophomores Amanda Miller (41st), Teresa Herrera (44th) and Kristen Scudieri (49th).

Seniors Delbene (1st) and Nash (5th) were the featured runners for the Pawling Boys, followed by outstanding races by the youngsters, Matt McNamee (16th), Brett Martini (17th), Pat Callan (18th), Chris Bonnano (29th), and Dennis James (38th).

Delbene will be challenging for the individual State Championship, while Nash will be working to medal at the States by running in the top 20.

Delbene finished just a whisker out of first place last year at the State Finals, and Nash was a member of that posted a phenomenal second place finish at those State Championships held at Warwick Valley. Delbene led the Tigers with his own individual second place finish, losing only after a dramatic stretch run battle with Tom Reuben of Wilson High School. Reid McGrath earned his first state medal, as he ran an outstanding race and finished in 13th place for the State of New York.

The Tiger Boys got outstanding races from some very young runners, but the Tigers will not be going to the State Finals as a team this year. Bitten by the injury bug in past years, Pawling was running short-handed this year at the Qualifier Meet. Based on times, Tom Brogan would have placed second behind Delbene, giving Pawling three runners in the top ten with Nash in sixth place, and Pawling would likely have gone to the State Finals as a team. But Brogan is injured and could not run.  

The following individual and team results are taken from the Armory Track website, showing place, name, grade, school, time and place:

Results below are from www.armorytrack.com

BOYS

1 DelBene, Colby            12 Pawling               16:42.26    1 

5 Nash, Jon                 12 Pawling               17:48.66    5 

16 McNamee, Matthew          10 Pawling               18:31.98   16            

17 Martini, Brett            11 Pawling               18:36.53   17            

18 Callan, Pat               10 Pawling               18:38.09   18            

29 Bonanno, Chris            11 Pawling               19:09.13   29            

38 Dennis, James             10 Pawling               19:39.92   38            

GIRLS

9 Jelinek, Cailtin          10 Pawling               20:23.15    9

15 Bonthron, Erin            11 Pawling               21:45.67   15            

20 Mold, Winona              10 Pawling               22:04.60   20            

24 Hom, Jamie                11 Pawling               22:31.19   23            

41 Miller, Amanda            10 Pawling               24:16.76   40            

44 Herrera, Teresa           10 Pawling               24:29.28   43            

49 Scudieri, Kristen         10 Pawling               25:47.57   48            

BOYS TEAMS

  1 Irvington                    53    3    4   12   13   21   26   27         
      Total Time:  1:30:56.15                                                   
         Average:    18:11.23                                                   
   2 Dobbs Ferry                  56    2   10   11   14   19   31   34         
      Total Time:  1:31:18.91                                                   
         Average:    18:15.79                                                   
   3 Pawling                      57    1    5   16   17   18   29   38          
      Total Time:  1:30:17.52                                                   
         Average:    18:03.51                                                   
   4 Bronxville                   61    6    7    8   15   25   33   53         
      Total Time:  1:32:10.92                                                   
         Average:    18:26.19                                                   
   5 North Salem                 170   20   24   41   42   43   48              
      Total Time:  1:37:17.95                                                   
         Average:    19:27.59                                                   
   6 Dover                       172   23   30   35   40   44   51   52         
      Total Time:  1:37:23.09                                                   
         Average:    19:28.62   

GIRLS TEAMS

1 Bronxville                   24    1    2    3    8   10   12   14         
      Total Time:  1:40:15.39                                                    
         Average:    20:03.08                                                   
   2 Irvington                    83    6   11   16   24   26   29   33         
      Total Time:  1:48:16.28                                                   
         Average:    21:39.26                                                   
   3 Pleasantville                97    5   17   19   22   34                   
      Total Time:  1:49:45.54                                                   
         Average:    21:57.11                                                   
   4 Pawling                     107    9   15   20   23   40   43   48         
      Total Time:  1:51:01.37                                                   
         Average:    22:12.28                                                   
   5 Albertus Magnus             147    4   31   32   36   44   49              
      Total Time:  1:54:33.32                                                   
         Average:    22:54.67                                                   
   6 Dobbs Ferry                 156   25   27   30   35   39   41   42         
      Total Time:  1:56:08.69                                                   
         Average:    23:13.74                                                    
   7 Croton Harmon               178    7   13   51   53   54   55              
      Total Time:  2:03:38.86                                                   
         Average:    24:43.78                                                    
   8 Hastings                    185   18   28   37   46   56   57              
      Total Time:  2:04:00.03                                                   
         Average:    24:48.01                                                    
   9 Dover                       201   21   38   45   47   50   52              
      Total Time:  2:03:07.01                                                   
         Average:    24:37.41