|
Section 2 Harrier Website Suburban Council Preview
Suburban Council Boys Last Year's Team Champion: Saratoga Springs Last Year's Individual Champion: Justin Corelli (Shaker) Blue Division
Gold Division
Returning State Qualifiers in bold Always the toughest league to predict. Shenendehowa looks to be the big favorite to take the league, they have the runners and the depth...Shaker will still be tough and should hold off Saratoga and an improved Colonie team for second in the Blue Division. Bethlehem looks to be the favorite in the Gold Division with Burnt Hills second. Individual title looks to be a wild one with Mindel and Smerkers from Shenendehowa, Foley from Saratoga, John from Niskayuna, and Audi from Colonie all in the hunt to win it. For now I'll give the slight edge to Foley.
Averill Park: Last year's record: 0-10 Sectional Place: 5th place - Class B (Class A this year) Top Returnees: Chris Boel Jr., Dan Razzano Sr., Erik Shelgren Sr., Rob Hayes Jr., Joey Hitchcock Jr., Nate Drescher Sr. Outlook: Will probably have another tough time in Suburbans...Top three need to drop from love seventeen minutes to at least sixteen and a half on Saratoga...Fourth and fifth definitely need to drop times as their returnees from last year ran in the mid eighteens. Bethlehem: Last year's record: 6-4 Sectional Place: 4th place - Class A Top Returnees: Doug DeMarco Sr., Pat Shaffer Jr., Adam Hill So., Evan Savage Jr., Matt Shaffer Fr., Chris Jerome So., Alex Tiberio So. Outlook: A team that I feel can definitely be a top three team if their younger runners step up to the task...DeMarco is a good number one and the Shaffer brothers will help their depth...Hill had a very good track season which should help him for cross country this year. Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake: Last year's record: 7-3 Sectional Place: 1st place - Class B Top Returnees: Justin Pangie Sr., Peter Johnson Sr., Rob Furey Jr., Jacob Button Sr., Dan Briggs Sr., Colin Utz-Meagher Fr., Matt Arthur Jr. Outlook: Always a tough team to figure out because they normally run in a tight pack...Pangie is a solid number one and an early Class B favorite, Furey has also run under seventeen at Saratoga...How well they do depends on how close their third through fifth runners run...Still a team favorite for the Class B title. Colonie: Last year's record: 4-6 Sectional Place: 6th place - Class A Top Returnees: Kyle Audi Jr., Greg Mariano Sr., Joe Choiniere Jr., Sean Myers Sr., Kris Kowalczyk Jr., Adam Bober Jr., Tom O'Grady Sr. Outlook: Bring back entire team...Good up front with state qualifier Audi...third through fifth will have to drop their times if they want to move up in the league...Can move up to fifth in Class A's but I'm not sure if they can move any further up. Columbia: Last year's record: 2-8 Sectional Place: 5th place - Class A Top Returnees: Adam Harding Jr., Ken Stannard Sr., Ed Stephan Sr., Matt Durkin Sr., Joe Becker Jr., Mark Bensen Jr. Outlook: Surprised teams last year by finishing fifth in Class A's after 2-8 dual meet season...Lose a solid number one in Dave Mink but Harding should fill his shoes nicely...Rest of team needs to drop times if they want to improve in Suburbans. Guilderland: Last year's record: 5-5 Sectional Place: 7th place - Class A Top Returnees: Todd Robertson Sr., Dan Haggerty Sr., Jon Sabatini Sr., Dan Kollar Sr., Brad O'Hanlon Sr., Justin Parietti Jr., Taha Khanshab Jr. Outlook: Top three run at seventeen minutes, they will need to improve that to break up other team's top three runners...Depth is always their for Guilderland but I'm not sure they can improve their place from last year without improvements. Niskayuna: Last year's record: 2-8 Sectional Place: 8th place - Class A Top Returnees: Paul John Sr., Rob Pierpont Sr., Kyle Johnston Jr., Jon Jackson Sr., Tom Gatta Sr., Mark Kopecki So., Jon Wetzel So. Outlook: Great top runner with John, should be one of the top Class A runners...Pierpont is a good number two but their fourth and fifth from last year were both over eighteen at Saratoga and they will have to improve on that if the team wants to move up in the league. Mohonasen: Last year's record: 2-8 Sectional Place: 4th place - Class B Top Returnees: Kevin Spaulding Sr-*., Brian Van Epps Jr., Mike Stabinski Jr., Emory Dergostis Jr., Chris Manatto Jr., Jim Dergostis Sr. Outlook: Top five return from a team that finished a solid fourth in Class B's...State qualifier Spaulding is the top returning Class B finisher...Rest of top five finished in low to mid seventeen minutes at Saratoga...Can move up if they can get a couple more runners under seventeen. *-As everyone knows, the big talk is if Kevin Spaulding is running or not. I haven't gotten complete confirmation from a coach so I will include him here for now. If he isn't running then the top four is solid but their fifth returnee was over nineteen minutes and will hurt them greatly if there's no or little improvement. Saratoga Springs: Last year's record: 10-0 Sectional Place: 1st place - Class A Top Returnees: Mike Foley Sr., Matt Gervasio Jr., Shane Zanetti Jr., Sam Tarrant Fr., Matt Eyler So., Sean Cole Sr. Outlook: Returning State and Federation champs lost a bunch to graduation and transfers...Foley is an early league and Class A favorite but rest of team needs to run under seventeen to stay in the top three in the league...Depth could also be a problem. Shaker: Last year's record: 8-2 Sectional Place: 3rd place - Class A Top Returnees: Matt Klass Jr., Chris Breslin Sr., Chris Houle Jr., Donnie Schmidt Sr., Matt Dombrowski Jr., Brian Woods Sr., Shawn Kippins Jr. Outlook: Big loss with defending Class A champ Justin Corelli graduating...Klass and Breslin are a good one-two punch, rest of top five were in the low seventeens...If third through fifth runners can drop under seventeen minutes at Saratoga then they will be a good bet for top two in the league and in Class A. Shenendehowa: Last year's record: 9-1 Sectional Place: 2nd place - Class A Top Returnees: Scott Mindel Jr., Jacob Gurzler Jr., Hans Samaniego Sr., Ryan Gaedje Jr., Brian Smerkers Jr., Phil Roach Jr., Alex Grout Jr. Outlook: Big favorite to take league and state titles...Return three that were under sixteen at Saratoga and rest of top seven were under sixteen and a half minutes...Apparently added a foreign exchange student that should bolster them even further...Ranked sixteenth in The Harrier's pre-season poll and for good reason, might even be higher by the end of the season.
Suburban Council Girls Last Year's Team Champion: Saratoga Springs Last Year's Individual Champion: Nicole Blood (Saratoga Springs) Blue Division
Gold Division
Returning State Qualifiers in bold Saratoga is The Harrier magazine's pre-season number one team and there's no reason to argue that. They're too tough and too deep. Colonie and Columbia should battle it out for second. I give the edge to Colonie since their top three returning runners were all ahead of Columbia's first returning runner at last year's sectionals. Bethlehem and Shaker could be a spoiler and Shenendehowa could sneak up on some teams. Individually, Saratoga's Nicole Blood is the defending champ and is retuning strong. Niskayuna's Caitlin McTague, Colonie's Eryka Perreault, and Bethlehem's Emily Malinowski will challenge.
Averill Park: Last year's record: 2-8 Sectional Place: 4th place - Class B Top Returnees: Andrea Hollinger Fr., Brittany Wensley 8th, Tara Mulcahy Jr., Megan Curran Jr., Elissa Wilson Jr., Liz Gallant So. Outlook: Everyone returns but will still have a tough time competing in the league...Good Youth with Hollinger and Wensley but times need to drop if they want to move up in the league. Bethlehem: Last year's record: 6-4 Sectional Place: 5th place - Class A Top Returnees: Emily Malinowski So., Taylor Jackson So., Ashley Dwyer Jr., Kate Parafinczuk Sr., Amy Cunningham Jr., Lauren Ginsburg Jr. Outlook: Only lose one from last year and should still be tough...lead by returning state qualifier Malinowski...Fourth and fifth runners need to drop times to move up to second or third Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake: Last year's record: 4-6 Sectional Place: 2nd place - Class B Top Returnees: Maura Kinney So., Brittany Trowbridge Fr., Amanda Rusilas Fr., Kristen Wayman Jr., Erika Vonie So., Elizabeth Montgomery So. Outlook: Young team lead by state qualifier Kinney...Top two are strong but third through fifth need to drop their times under twenty minutes to improve their place...Should challenge for Class B title. Colonie: Last year's record: 9-1 Sectional Place: 2nd place - Class A Top Returnees: Eryka Perreault Jr., Anna Jankowski So., Nicole Soblosky Fr., Ashley Couch Sr., Jen Gierka Sr., Alexi Rodriguez Jr., Kate Wolfe So. Outlook: Tough top three returning with Perreault and Jankowski state qualifiers...Fourth and fifth need to improve to solidify second place and have any chance of challenging Saratoga...I give then the edge over Columbia based on their top three. Columbia: Last year's record: 8-2 Sectional Place: 3rd place - Class A Top Returnees: Katrina Hines So., Julie Carr So., Shannon Walion So., Brina Seguine 8th, Kayla Wilt Fr., Tara Green So., Jen Guay Outlook: Tough young team returning but losing Chelsea Corr to graduation hurt them up front...Definitely one of the top teams in the state and ranked 16th nationally in the pre-season Harrier. Need to break up Colonie's top three if they want to move up. Guilderland: Last year's record: 4-6 Sectional Place: 7th place - Class A Top Returnees: Megan Lynch So., Kate Marcella Sr., Marissa Commisso Sr., Amanda Garlin Sr., Erin Grosso So., Lindsay Goldberg Sr. Outlook: Strong top three which is lead by returning state qualifier Lynch...fourth and fifth runners need to drop times if they want to move up, seems like the theme here with many teams. Niskayuna: Last year's record: 4-6 Sectional Place: 8th place - Class A Top Returnees: Caitlin McTague So., Sarah Miller Jr., Chelsea Stone Fr., Sarah McTague Fr., Addie Pagano So., Leslie Johnston Fr. Outlook: Solid up front with McTague who should be one of the top runners in the state...Miller is a good number two...After that, some freshmen will have to make the team more competitive. Mohonasen: Last year's record: 0-10 Sectional Place: incomplete - Class B Top Returnees: Rachel Bennett Jr., Kelly McGarry So., Kelly Kressner Jr. Amy Partington Sr. Outlook: Only ran four last year but return all of them so they should have a full team this year...Bennett is a decent number one for Class B standards but they are going to have a rough time in the Suburbans. Saratoga Springs: Last year's record: 10-0 Sectional Place: 1st place - Class A Top Returnees: Nicole Blood Fr., Ali Rowe Jr., Melissa Sue Trauscht So., Amanda Meyer Jr., Ruby Solomon So., Megan O'Connor Sr., Kristen Hornbach Sr. Outlook: I don't know, what do you want me to say? Defending National champ bring back nine out of ten along with their J.V. and Frosh teams that both won Suburbans...Pre-season Harrier number one and they deserve to be...Blood is a national threat and the rest of the team is tougher than most teams number one. Shaker: Last year's record: 7-3 Sectional Place: 4th place - Class A Top Returnees: Christine Snyder Jr., Angela Bernarde So., Meghan Ray Jr., Bridget Seebald So., Kathryn Bernarde So., Katelyn Reepmyer Jr. Outlook: Return five out of top seven and should still be up to challenge for the top three...Snyder is a returning state qualifier and rest of the top five look solid...Will definitely be tough if third through fifth runners can go from low nineteen minutes on Saratoga to under nineteen minutes. Shenendehowa: Last year's record: 2-8 Sectional Place: 6th place - Class A Top Returnees: Susan Ashe So., Sarah Rogers So., Katherine Schafer Sr., Jamie Schulte So., Libby Babcock So., Jackie Gniewek Fr., Jenn Rybak Fr. Outlook: Could be a dark horse with some good runners from their successful freshmen team coming up to varsity...Ashe and Rogers need to drop under nineteen minutes on Saratoga and Gniewek and Schulte had good springs in track so they should also do well.
|
