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Once again Championship DMR's produce a new national leader
Burnt Hills and Westerly come from 4th to claim win and US #1 spot
 Without much hype every year the distance medley relays at the Yale Invitational bring together a number of top teams all looking for Penn Relays and National Championship qualifying marks and most times the end result is a new national leader. That was the case once again as Burnt Hills (NY) girls and Westerly (RI) boys each came from behind to claim the top spot in the nation in winning the Championship Distance Medley Relay at the Yale Invitational in New Haven.
There was no waiting around in the girls race as right away Saratoga (NY) and Burnt Hills jumped out to a lead over the field gapping the field. Brianna Welch (North Shore, NY) , the national 3000 meter leader, started to move through the chase pack and by 400 meters had started to bridge the gap to the two early leaders. By the time Welch had reached the 800 meter point in 2:21 she was alone at the front. At the hand off North Shore was alone at the front and moving into second was Tatnall School (De) , the 3rd place finisher at the 2008 NXN Championships, with Burnt Hills getting past Saratoga for 3rd. Over the course of the 2 laps of the 400 meter runners Tatnall would close and gap to the leader and at the hand off have a step on North Shore. The field would start to string out though the course of the 800 meter legs and at the final hand off Tatnall held the lead with Saratoga slipping past North Shore for 2nd and grabbing the stick in 4th place was Sam Roecker of Burnt Hills. Saratoga’s Cassie Goutos would quickly move her team to the front, but moving fastest of all was Roecker and by the time there was 5 laps to go in the race four schools were bunched at the front – Saratoga, Burnt Hills, Tatnall and North Shore. One lap later all four schools were still together, but Roecker had made it to the front and was starting to apply pressure(photo left by John Nepolitan). By 3 laps to go Roecker only had North Shore’s Samantha Nadal left to contend with and the pair had put a 5 second cushion over Tatnall and Saratoga. There were no games being played at the front and Roecker continued to push the pace and Nadal continued to ride in her wake. As the pair hit the back straight for the last time a small amount of daylight opened between the two and Roecker had all she needed to guarantee the win. There was no doubt that a new national leading time was in the works it was just a question of how far under North Shore’s 12:14.39 mark would Burnt Hills go. Swinging wide off the last turn as she lapped runners Roecker continued running hard all the way across the line breaking the tape in 11:59.71 to North Shore’s 12:00.32. Tatnall would hold on for 3rd in 12:14.15 also under the previous national leader.
With little chance for the fans to catch their breath the boys race was on the line and off to a quick start. This time it would be Westerly (RI) that  would jump to the front and get the pass rolling and the field stung out. By 800 meters, reached in 2:07, Port Washington (NY) had taken over the lead with Northport (NY) right behind and Westerly beginning to slip back into the pack. At the hand off , 3:08, into the race Port Washington, Northport and Burnt Hills were at the front 3 seconds ahead of the pack headed by Westerly. By the hand off from the 400 runners to the 800 runners Burnt Hills had taken over at the front and it looked like the Albany area school was headed to a sweep of the championship races. Northport held onto the 2nd spot with Germantown Prep (MD) moving up to take over 3rd from Port Washington with Westerly in 4th. Over the 4 laps of the 800 meter runners Germantown Prep and Northport would be locked at the front with Burnt Hills slipping just slightly back and Westerly establishing itself alone in 4th. As the anchor legs took the baton Germantown Prep held the lead by a step over Northport who also had a step over Burnt Hills, 5 seconds back was Andrew Springer of Westerly. At the half way point for the anchor runners the order remained the same, but Springer had started to close the gap. The past three fall seasons Springer had played soccer, but this year he had run cross country and the benefits of the strength from the many miles run were beginning to show. With 3 laps to go he had moved into 3rd place and was now in striking distance of the leader. With two laps to go it was down to a two team race with Germantown Prep in front and Westerly a stride or two behind ready to jump (photo right by John Nepolitan) . Just as Roecker had done the race before, down the back straight for the last time Springer pulled away for the win. Running hard but very under control Springer would split 4:10.1 for his 1600 meter leg bring his Westerly team home for the win and a new national leading mark of 10:17.50 to Germantown’s 10:19.05. Burnt Hills would come home in 3rd also under the old national lead with a time of 10:24.23.
WINNERS SPLITS
Burnt Hills
Molly Pezzulo – 3:41.1
Callan Gray – 62.2
Kendra Adams – 2:20.8
Sam Roecker – 4:55.6
Westerly
Tim O’Loughlin – 3:11.7
Alex Phelps – 53.9
John DiGangi – 2:01.8
Andrew Springer – 4:10.1
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