The Manhattan
Invitational
Saturday, October 14, 2006 @ Van Cortlandt
Park, NY
The Eastern States at Manhattan:
"A Perfect 10"
By Rich Gonzalez
DyeStat.com
(--)
We've already heard the talk. More than once it has been stated this
year's Manhattan Invitational could play host to "the greatest
girls field ever".
The criteria for such is
vague. Are we talking the best few teams? Or the deepest field? Or?
We won't go as far as to
pre-rate Manhattan's Eastern States Championship (Saturday, 2:38 p.m.)
as the greatest girls field ever, but we will rate it a "Perfect
10". That's because there are 10 NTN-ranked teams scheduled
to meet, including the marquee programs from two separate NTN regions!
The biggest question here is how
will the Southeast Region's Fab Four fare against the Northeast's very
powerful collection of top-end talent? The Northeast dominated the girls
scene last year with a 1-2-9 team finish at NTN, but this year could
be just as strong. The Southeast was a very respectable 11th and 14th
with its two NTN berths last year, but appears on a definite upswing
and far stronger in 2006.
How will it all shake out? Time
(and the times) will tell on Saturday, but here's a first look at some
of the main team players in the Girls Eastern States Championship:
Photo by Kirby Lee
Time To Fly Again?:
Hilton of New York rose to the occasion to defeat Saratoga Springs runners
in club
competition at the 2005 Nike Team Nationals. Two close calls already in
2006, but Hilton remains #1 so far.
:
Hilton
(NY) leads
the decorated cast of teams by possessing the most gleaming credential
in the field: Defending NTN champion. Five return from last
year's historic lineup, including four scorers headlined by Allison
Sawyer and Caroline Schulz. They are ranked #1 in the Northeast (and
in the nation) and unbeaten thus far in 2006, but have been hardly unchallenged.
Recently, there was a tough 9-point win over #2-ranked Radnor of PA
at the Warwick Mania invitational. Before that, there was a hard fought
10-point triumph over #3 Greenwich at the Baldwinsville Invitational,
a race in which Hilton was trailing heading into the final mile.
Greenwich,
a small school in New York, inherited a lineup of runners that includes
former Saratoga Springs standout Caitlin Lane, her freshman sister Brittany,
and the Fung siblings, Emily and Ashley. Much like Hilton, they are
comprised of a pair of frontrunner, a solid third scorer, and thn gaps
to their final two scorers. Each team can easily have a scoring gap
of 2 minutes on a given day.
2004 NTN winner Saratoga
Springs (NY) has taught the skeptics a lesson or two
heading into this year, overcoming some key graduation and transfer
losses to quickly "remodel" itself into a juggernaut running
machine yet again. The Blue Streaks trounced a talented Colts
Neck (NJ) lineup by triple digits earlier this fall
and find themselves as the #3 team in the region as of "press"
time. Since then, Colts Neck (Northeast #5) has rebounded to defeat
NTN-ranked teams at its own meet two weekends ago and hopes to have
star runner Briana Jackucewicz returned from injury in time for this
weekend's action.
Eleanor
Roosevelt HS (MD) was a big surprise on the national
scene a year ago, culminating that Cinderella episode with an 11th-place
finish at NTN. EVERYONE from that squad returns, with the group now
top ranked in the Southeast Region and fresh from a win over Southeast
#4 Tatnall (DE) at the
big Maymont Invitational in Virginia.
The additional impressive
facet about the Southeast Region this year is its top four girls teams
are clear of their local rivals and nearly interchangeable on most race
days. Florida's Episcopal HS
(Southeast #2) and Virginia's Midlothian
(Southeast #3) went 1-2, respectively, at the Great American Cross-Country
Festival in Alabama, with the teams separated by a mere 15 points in
a 23-team field. Episcopal relies on superb frontrunning to excel (with
Katie Traylor and Laura Steel leading the way) while Midlothian is also
fairly strong up front but has sensational depth. "Midlo"
is led by heralded frosh twins Kathleen and Leia Lautzenheiser.
Other regionally ranked
squads in the 30-team field include Northeast #6 Fayetteville-Manlius
(NY), paced by super 9th-grader Mackenzie Carter, and
Northeast #7 Bromfield (MA), recent
winners of the Boston Invitational. Bronxville (NY) and South Lake Tahoe
(located on the California border, but competing in the NTN Southwest
Region) have also been previously ranked in their NTN regions this fall,
with Central California power Clovis also in the mix.
The individual battle
should be a dandy as well, with four FootLocker finalists entered, although
Jackucewicz's status is questionable. Greenwich's Caitlin Lane (31st
at FootLocker in 2005) and Saratoga Springs' Hannah Davidson (36th),
who were both teammates a year ago before the former transferred out,
are joined by Jackucewicz (37th) and Suffern's Shelby Greany (38th)
as those with nationals experience.
Photo by Rich Gonzalez
For Shen, it's time to make a point: With
six Northeast Region ranked teams converging at
Van Cortlandt Park, here's an ideal opportunity for #3-ranked Shenendehowa
to make a
definitive statement as the postseason quickly approaches. Shen took 2nd
to #1 Collegiate (NY)
at Great American. Neither Collegiate nor #2 Coatesville (PA) are in attendance
this weekend.
BOYS OVERVIEW
The Northeast Region's two heavy hitters to date -- Coatesville
of Pennsylvania and Collegiate of New York -- are sitting on the bench
for this one, with such teams as Shendehowa, Fayetteville-Manlius and
Warwick Valley of New York joining Danbury of Connecticut and others
in stepping up to the plate and aiming for a home run. Only six of the
region's Top 10 teams are participating here this weekend (as of this
preview's writing), a mild surprise considering the size and prestige
of this mid-season invitational. Teams competing here put themselves
in advantageous position of facing other quality teams/runners head-on
along a well-chronicled course in seeking to improve their NTN standing.
As is customary here, meet management
has decided to spread the talent across the seven varsity heats, depriving
spectators and supporters alike of some great matchups. Regardless,
the meet still offers plenty of solid action with talent aplenty.
Here's our race-by-race take on the seven
varsity sessions:
BOYS VARSITY "A"
- 1:16 P.M.
The first varsity boys race of the afternoon
features the defending Nike Team Nationals champion, but with a vastly
different look. Saratoga Springs (NY) is ranked neither nationally,
regionally, nor even locally in 2006 as a massive rebuilding task follows
that improbable fulfilled dream in Portland in December of 2005.
A new chapter of the venerable meet opens
on the famed "Vanny" layout, with a trio of fine squads helping
carry this 40-team heat drawing representation from six states -- Massachusetts,
Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Delaware and New Hampshire. Chaminade
(NY) is considered the
race favorite over Shaker (NY)
here, being fresh off a dominant 17-point trumph in its race at the
Grout Run last weekend. Ryan McDermott led the way for Chaminade, gunning
it from the start en route to a wire-to-wire win in a meet-leading 13:15
for 2.75 miles. Shaker lost by eight points to in-state foe Queensbury
in its race at Grout. Chaminade averaged 13 seconds faster per man at
the Grout Run than Shaker did, and it wasn't just because of Dermott.
The 'Nade run quicker at most of the team positions at Grout.
Bishop
Hendricken, the defending Rhode Island state champion
and atop the state polls once again, is another formidable entry here,
with its fine frontrunning duo of Andrew Palumbo and Steve Wood setting
the table. BH will be competing in New York for the second consecutive
weekend after being fourth by just six points to eventual winner Arlington
(NY) in a jogjam team finish at last week's showdown at Sunken Meadow
for the St. Anthony's Invitational.
BOYS VARSITY "B"
- 1:28 P.M.
St. Anthony's
(NY) heads up this 41-team assortment hailing from eight
states, including leading teams from New Jersey and Florida. St. Anthony's,
ranked 11th in the new state Class AA poll, was sharp last weekend at
its own invitational, taking third overall but only four points behind
race winner Arlington (ranked eighth in Class AA), a team on the NTN
regional radar.
Winter Park
(FL), a program some may recall advanced to the inaugural
NTN championships two years ago, is making the journey up the East Coast
for this one. Senior Peter Posada leads the unit, which is ranked third
in the state 4A poll. Perennial New Jersey power Don
Bosco was involved in an ambush at the
Stanford Invitational over in California two weekends ago, finishing
21st among 23 teams in a monster field of teams. Seniors Conor Sullivan
and Coliun McCullough are among the leaders for their proud tradition
in 2006 as the squad aims to right the ship at Van Cortlandt Park on
its paths to a hoped-for state podium finish.
BOYS VARSITY "C"
- 1:40 P.M.
A fine duel between NY powers Smithtown
and Queensbury is projected
to emerge from this 39-team clash, which also includes one of America's
finest traditions in Christian Brothers
Academy. Smithtown rocked the house at the St. Anthony's
meet last weekend, with its top three touring the 2.5-mile Sunken Meadow
layout in a sparkling 13-minute average to go 2-3-4 in that race, roughly
a half minute behind speedburner Charles White of Garden City. Smithtown
is projected to climb into the NTN Northeast Region rankings this week
based on that showing.
Queensbury upset Shaker at last weekend's
Grout Run, with race winner Matt Flint (13:28 for 2.75 miles) igniting
a 45-second scoring gap for the Q-men, a group that has been at or on
the fringe of the NTN regional rankings for each of the last three years.
CBA is patiently rounding into form,
with some growing pains along the way. The team took third in its flight
of the Shore Coaches meet last weekend, 19 points behind 2006 state
pacesetter Jackson Memorial and within 11 points of runenr-up Old Bridge.
The good news for Christian Brothers is that it packs well in races,
with a nice 33-second scoring cushion in its last outing. Just a little
improvement for that pack goes a long way in the scoring column.
2005 FootLocker finalist Brian
Rhodes-Devey, who just very recently committed to the University of
Texas, is the Manhattan Invitational's top returnee from a year ago
off his 12:44 race-winning effort in flight "B". Alex Willis
of Colonial HS in Florida figures
to be among the harriers positioned in the lead pack.
BOYS VARSITY "D"
- 1:52 P.M.
Where's the love for Xavier??
For a Connecticut team wishing to prove its worth and crash the Northeast
Region rankings, the seeding committee did this group no favors. This
race appears to be the lightest of the seven heats, meaning Xavier team
members must dig down and run against themselves and the clock in seeking
to boost its stock. The X-factor is among a good group of Connecticut
teams compared to recent years, with two squads recognized in the top
10 in last week's regional rankings! Senior Adam Vess, seventh at his
single-division state meet last year, is the team's frontrunner.
Germantown (PA) and Pope
John XIII (NJ) are among a string of state-ranked teams also in the
mix.
BOYS VARSITY "E"
- 2:04 P.M.
If you're looking for the
race of the day, this should be it. With the region's top two teams
sitting this meet out, Shenendehowa (NY)
is the meet's highest-ranked team (#3
in the NTN Northeast Region) and Danbury
(CT) is the meet's third-highest (#5 in NTN NE). They'll
get plenty of aid while striving to run fast for the sake of post-meet
team-time comparisons as Colts Neck's
(NJ) Craig Forys, Clovis'
(CA) Mikel Thomas and Crested
Butte Academy's (CO) Adam Lenz are all national-class
performers among those undoubtedly setting a torrid pace.
: "Shen" is seeking a
breakthrough showing here to vault past the region's top two ranked
teams -- Collegiate of New York and Coatesville of Pennsylvania, neither
of which are in attendance this weekend.. A big key will be how close
the Shen pack is to its frontrunner, senior Stephen Murdock, who will
battle the aforementioned trio for lead individual honors.
Murdock and Lenz chased down
a fast-starting New Yorker Brian Rhodes-Devey at last month's Great
American Cross-Country Festival, finishing 2nd and 3rd, respectively,
on the moderately challenging 5k layout at Alabama's Spain Park. Thomas
finished seven seconds behind two-time defending California state 3200m
champion Michael Cybulski on the state meet cross-country course at
the Clovis Invitational last weekend, signaling his very fine fitness
for this outing. Forys, the defending state cross-country champion and
a sub-9:00 eight lapper in track, is another expected to carry the race
pace to superb levels. Shenendehowa indeed has the opportunity to boost
its stock here, but that's the benefit for choosing to attend the region's
most prominent invitational of the season. The payout could be grand!
BOYS VARSITY "F" - 2:16 P.M.
Yes, Fay-Man still
can!
There were plenty of
skeptics choosing to discount Fayetteville-Manlius'
returnees on both the varsity and lower levels entering this year, but
the program's faithful were rewarded with "good times" in
a convincing 31-point triumph over regionally ranked Liverpool at the
recent McQuaid Invitational. F-M has an outstanding frontrunner in Tommy
Gruenewald while Luke Fitzgibbons provides quality back-up. It was F-M,
as many of you may recall, that threw down a historic showing here in
2005, scoring a perfect 15 points and averaing 14:48 for its top five.
This team isn't THAT good, but it is better than most of you probably
think.
Ridgewood
(NJ) is one of the better New Jersey teams this year
although it lost a great deal of talent to graduation this past summer.
Although F-M is the clear favorite in this one, the runner-up spot is
wide open.
BOYS VARSITY "G"
- 2:28 P.M.
The final varsity
joust of the day could be a very competitive one, with a pair of current
NTN-ranked teams and a third vying to crack into the next Top 10 poll,
which is released the day before the big Manhattan meet. Warwick
Valley has enjoyed multiple strong performances thus
far this fall, includind dominating wins at the Edgewater Invitational
in Florida and at its own meet two weekends back. In between was a steady
- but not stunning - during a bit of an off team showing at the Great
American Cross-Country Festival. Individually, Terrence Prial and Zack
Price are part of a very potent attack!
Liverpool
(NY), still smarting from a head-on setback to Fay-Man
at McQuaid, seeks a dose of redemption in this one and will be afforded
that chance against Warwick's "Purple Wave." Although it has
been an uncharacteristic down year for New Jersey so far, Jackson
Memorial has picked up the flag, so to speak, to emerge
as that state's top team. La Salle College,
the #6 team from PA, also checks in here. The race up front could be
between Warwick Valley's Prial and Mark Amirault, the reigning Massachusetts
state champion from Xaverian High.