Fayetteville-Manlius sweeps at less than full strength Otis Ubriaco, Lizzie Predmore use big kicks to pull out individual wins
DyeStat Metro meet story - Photos by John Nepolitan
Some of strengths of the Fayetteville-Manlius NY (Manlius XC Club) program are not always obvious to the naked eye. Sometimes you have to look beyond the proverbial box score to really get a sense for the true greatness that helps define F-M. The Nike New York Regional presented that opportunity as the F-M girls and F-M boys scored a rare daily double over a strong field.
And both did so at less than 100 percent.
For the F-M girls, usual front runner Courtney Chapman (#513 right) got hit with a mid-race illness, causing her to fall back and not even score for the nation’s No. 1 team. She was No. 6 for her team.
Meanwhile, the US#15 F-M boys had to go to bat without 2008 Regional Champion Alex Hatz,. who has battled various illnesses this season.
But through it all, F-M was still the toast of Bowdoin Park as the girls easily dispatched of US#3 Saratoga Springs (Kinetic RC) for its third straight title, 41-77, while the boys scored a 63-105 win over runner-up Burnt Hills.
The F-M girls, 3-0 on the season vs. Saratoga Springs, will be favored to win its fourth straight NXN title next Saturday at Portland Meadows in Oregon.
Freshman Jillian Fanning led the way for F-M by placing fifth in 18:44.2, and F-M jammed its five runners in the top 18, averaged 18:59.7, and had a 37 second compression from 1-7.
Aris, who also coaches the boys, instructed his girls to not run their absolute hardest in an attempt to preserve their legs for a run at another national title.
"We came here to qualify," said F-M senior Mackenzie Carter, 17th in 19:11.3. "Times weren’t that important. We just wanted to advance and prepare for Nationals. It’s all about the end game next week, and we did what we had to do."
Carter said her F-M team is confident it can make it four straight in Portland.
"I feel we have the potential to be an even stronger team than the last three," said Carter. "But first we have to go and win next week, and we feel good about our chances."
Aris said the strategy was simple.
"The hay is in the barn," he said. "This was all about running smart, advancing, and preparing for next week."
As for the F-M boys (left), second to Shenendehowa by eight points last year, how do you overcome the loss of a star like Hatz and still become the Kings of NY?
"We knew over the summer that we might not have Alex, but we also knew that we had five guys that could step it up and put it together," said senior Brendan Farrell, sixth in 16:16.1. "We aren’t as strong at the No. 1 spot as we were last year, but we sure are better from 2-5."
F-M’s tight pack, 33 seconds between 1-5 and just 16 ticks between 2 and 5, was certainly the difference as F-M jammed its five guys ahead of the No. 3 man for Burnt Hills and had an average of 16:39.0, tops on the day.
So what’s in the water in F-M land?
"It’s all about the coaching and the tradition," said Farrell. "We look at what the girls have done, how they’ve prepared and how they’ve succeeded, and try to do the same things. What the girls have done rubs off on us. We want to be as good as they are, and we know that hard work is the key."
Big kick from Ubriaco fronts Burnt Hills to second
Burnt Hills received a huge race up front from junior Otis Ubriaco, who came from way back to win in 16:03.4, as his team knocked off North Rockland, 105-114, for the second and final automatic qualifying place.
Burnt Hills put two in front of North Rockland’s No. 1, and four ahead of its third.
"We were kind of the team on the outside looking in, because everyone was predicting North Rockland to get second," said Ubriaco. "But guys like Chris Fernandez, [Burnt Hills’ third man], really came through for us. I think we probably surprised a lot of people."
Ubriaco certainly surprised a lot of people with his crazy comeback to run down the favorite, Max Straneva of Chenango Valley (Binghamton) and take the individual crown.
Ubriaco (#182 right) was sitting in seventh place with 1,000 meters to go, a good 50 yards behind Straneva.
"I was really just trying to catch up to the chase pack and try to get the first team point since I knew Straneva’s place didn’t count for the team standings," said Ubriaco. "But then I started to see that I was closing on Max and then on the last downhill I got by him and then I didn’t see his shadow anymore. It was a pretty incredible feeling."
Straneva wound up third in 16:09.3 as Ubriaco avenged his runner-up finish to Straneva at Bowdoin last week at the NY Federation Championships.
"Last week I was just too far behind him," said Ubriaco, who has overcome some back issues over the summer that limited his training. "This week, I knew he (Straneva) was going to go out hard and push it like he always does. That actually helped me because I knew that makes a lot of the other guys work harder than they wanted to, and I just stayed back and waited to start moving up"
Predmore pushes to victory
Lizzie Predmore (left) of Shenendehowa (Clifton Park TC) also used a strong late race surge to post a dramatic victory in the girls race.
Predmore, a sophomore who was 10th last year, capped a comeback of her own when she broke away from twins Danielle and Brittany Winslow of Queensbury (Adirondack Runners) with about 800 to go, and then reeled in Shaylyn Tuite of Pittsford-Mendon (Pittsford) with about 400 to go on her way to victory in 18:24.3, four seconds ahead of Tuite.
"I was feeling pretty strong. so I just went for it with all I had on the last downhill and she didn’t go with me," said Predmore..
The victory was especially sweet for Predmore, who missed nearly a month of the season with a shin injury.
"I couldn’t do any running and I was really worried that I might not even have a post season," said Predmore. "But things finally started getting better and I got healthy for the big race at the end of the season and everything finally came together for me today."
Some of strengths of the Fayetteville-Manlius NY (Manlius XC Club) program are not always obvious to the naked eye. Sometimes you have to look beyond the proverbial box score to really get a sense for the true greatness that helps define F-M. The Nike New York Regional presented that opportunity as the F-M girls and F-M boys scored a rare daily double over a strong field.
Carter said her F-M team is confident it can make it four straight in Portland.
"Last week I was just too far behind him," said Ubriaco, who has overcome some back issues over the summer that limited his training. "This week, I knew he (Straneva) was going to go out hard and push it like he always does. That actually helped me because I knew that makes a lot of the other guys work harder than they wanted to, and I just stayed back and waited to start moving up"
