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Manhattan Invitational
Girls Eastern States
October 13, 2007 Van Cortlandt Park, New York City
Results
Brilliant wins by
Fayetteville-Manlius NY
and Carly Seymour PA
Smash winners were Harrier US#1 and defending Nike Team Nationals champion Fayetteville-Manlius NY (below) and Carly Seymour PA (right) 13:56, breaking Nicole Blood's course record. F-M dominated with 87 points, placing 5 in the top 26.
Matt Soja story:
"The most anticipated race of the day undoubtedly lived up to its hype, producing a new course record, best marks all-time for most of the top places, and the second best team average in meet history . . . ."
photos by John Nepolitan
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Most anticipated race of the day lived up to its hype. By Matt Soja The most anticipated race of the day undoubtedly lived up to its hype, producing a new course record, best marks all-time for most of the top places, and the second best team average in meet history. Carly Seymour, Central Cambria PA senior, ran the race of her life, taking advantage of the perfect weather to set a new Van Cortlandt Park 2.5 mile course record with a 13:55.3 clocking. She was only the second girl to ever break 14 minutes on the hilly layout, taking the mark away from the former Saratoga Springs national star Nicole Blood, who ran 13:57.0 at the same meet 3 years ago.
Seymour, who finished 9th in last year’s Foot Locker Finals (highest place among today’s runners), went out conservatively, letting others in the star-studded field do the front-running before the backhill portion of the race. She then picked up runners ahead of her one-by-one and took the lead at the top of the last hill with about a mile to go. Seymour pulled away gradually on the steep, long downhill and emerged onto the final straightaway with a comfortable lead, with the clock as her only remaining challenge. The new queen of VCP won this extremely competitive race by an astounding margin of 15 seconds.
After the race Seymour said she did not have any great expectations going into it and was a little surprised to get the record. Asked for her goals for the remainder of the season, she emphasized her desire to improve upon last year’s Foot Locker performance and her hopes for her team, which finished 9th in the race ahead of the Pennsylvania powerhouse Emmaus, to come out on top in the state. However, she added that if she had to choose between Foot Locker and running for her team at NTN Regionals, she would probably choose the former. Defending NTN champ Faye-Man lives up to US#1 ranking In the spectacular team competition, Fayetteville Manlius showed why it is ranked as the best team in the country. Despite missing its best girl, Kathryn Buchan, FM crushed the national-level field by more than 70 points. The NTN champions put their entire top 5 in the top 26 places in the race, and despite not having anybody in top 10, they still scored only 87 points! Their 14:48.9 average was the 2nd best ever in course history, only behind the legendary 2004 Saratoga team, which averaged 14:39.8. With only a 24-second spread between first and fifth, it is hard to see if FM will have any vulnerabilities as it speeds towards its second national crown in a row.
Saratoga Springs, running its second major meet of the season, exceeded most fans’ expectations, getting second place easily with 159 points, and in the process defeating their archrivals from Shenendehowa and Warwick Valley. Toga has an impressive 1-2 punch in Hannah Davidson and Cassie Goutos, but it lacks the type of depth FM has. Brianne Bellon, who is usually right behind the leading duo, had a slightly off day, finishing 4th on the team and 34th overall, but there was another 40-second gap after her before Toga’s fifth runner. Nevertheless, this performance will vastly improve Saratoga’s state and national rankings and give them big hopes for this season.
DyeStat regional rankings will be impacted Behind the two New York teams, there was a vicious clash between the two best teams in the Northeast region, Hanover NH and Voorhees NJ. They both proved they deserved their ranking, finishing 3rd and 4th overall, with 215 and 235 points, respectively. Such a close score indicates that the battle for the Regional crown a little more than a month from now will be very exciting. Both teams have very strong front runners, with Hanover’s Georgia Griffin finishing 2nd behind Seymour in 14:10.1, which was the 5th best time ever on this course and a New England record. Voorhees was led by Melanie Thompson, who finished 5th in 14:17.4.
Incidentally, last year Thompson ran 14:44 in a non-Eastern race, which was a non-Eastern meet record until fellow New Jerseyan Jillian Smith broke it with her 14:33.9 in the Varsity D race. Hanover had a slightly better mid-pack, which decided its win over Voorhees, but that could change next month.
Behind them, Shenendehowa NY finished 5th with 236, just one point behind Voorhees. Last month at Bowdoin the Jersey team beat Shen by 39, so they have improved greatly since then, and their victory over Warwick Valley guarantees they will move up from the #7 spot in the New York rankings. Lincoln Sudbury, 5th in the Northeast rankings, claimed 6th in the race with 276 points, soundly beating higher-ranked Pennsylvanians from Emmaus.
There were obviously some disappointed teams as well. One of them has to be Warwick Valley, which not only suffered its first defeat of the season, but also placed only 7th with 277 points, far behind Saratoga and Shen, not to mention FM. Although their superb duo of Lilian Griebesland and Tori Pennings took 10th and 16th respectively, it was almost another minute before the rest of the Purple Wave pack rolled in, costing them dozens of points. WV will have to cut that gap drastically if it wants to compete for the very top spots in the state.
The defending champions from Midlothian VA were apparently not at full strength and only ended up in 10th place, with only one of its girls cracking top 50 individually. That will surely cost them the top spot in the Southeast, especially since Tatnall DE edged them by two spots.
Also, Emmaus of Pennsylvania finished a disappointing 11th despite having Christina Faust back from appendectomy. Emmaus lost to another Keystone State team, Central Cambria, by two spots and 26 points, which will shake up the state and regional rankings quite a lot.
On the positive side, Immaculate Heart Academy of New Jersey, not even a bubble team in the region, finished an impressive 14th, defeating Monsignor Donovan, ranked 7th in the Northeast, by more than 100 points.
As some predicted, another New York powerhouse from Greenwich scratched from the meet, opting instead to run at the Burnt Hills Invitational. Vanny's deepest girls race ever Individually, it was the deepest girls’ 2.5 mile race in Van Cortlandt history. As already stated, Seymour smashed the course record and Griffin the New England record. Interestingly, the third and fourth place finishers were the same as last year – Shelby Greany of Suffern NY (14:15.4, making her the 11th fastest girl ever on the course) and Emily Jones of Bromfield MA (14:16.1, a new Massachusetts state record and 13th girl all-time).
Hannah Davidson of Saratoga NY, a three-time Foot Locker finalist who won this race last year, was only 6th in 14:18.1 this time around. Perhaps the biggest individual surprise was the 11th place finish of unheralded Katie McCafferty of Oak Knoll NJ in 14:37.3, putting her in contention for the individual state title and perhaps Foot Locker finals. Overall, a record 23 girls dipped under 15:00 in the Eastern race and five more accomplished this feat in the remaining varsity races later in the day.
Whatever the numbers say, for most observers this will have been probably the best Eastern States race in the decades-long history of this meet. It will become the benchmark for performances for years to come and all the biggest stars of girls cross country on the East Coast will now aim for Carly Seymour’s new amazing course record. One can only hope these great teams and individuals will stay healthy and keep improving through the next few weeks to thrill the cross country aficionados during the championship part of the season.
Results
results from armorytrack.com, a milesplit.us affiliate
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Team Score
1 Fayetteville Manlius 87
2 Saratoga Springs 159
3 Hanover 215
4 Voorhees 235
5 Shenendehowa 236
6 Lincoln Sudbury 276
7 Warwick Valley 277
8 Tatmall Wilmington 281
9 Central Cambia 306
10 Midlothian 306
11 Emmaus 332
12 Bromfield 338
13 Acad of Holy Names 362
14 Immaculate Heart 363
15 Blacksburg 416
16 Hilton 425
17 Johnson City 428
18 Brentsville 443
19 Msgr Donovan 465
20 Suffern 483
21 Walt Whitman 503
22 Padua 543
23 North Hunterdon 551
24 North Shore 603
25 Ridgefield 643
26 Fairport 712
27 Nazareth 786
POS FIRST NAME LAST NAME SCHOOL TIME
1 Carly Seymour Central Cambria 13:55.27
2 Georgia Griffin Hanover 14:10.05
3 Shelby Greany Suffern 14:15.35
4 Emily Jones Bromfiled 14:16.05
5 Lanie Thompson Voorhees 14:17.40
6 Hannah Davidson Saratoga 14:18.06
7 MaryKate Champagne Seton Catholic 14.33.35
8 Kathlen Lautzenheiser Midlothian 14:34.66
9 Cassie Goutos Saratoga 14:36.32
10 Lllian Griebesland Warwick Valley 14:36.95
11 Oak Knoll 14:37.27
12 Morgane Gay Walt Whitman 14:40.50
13 Molly Molone Fayettville Manlius 14:41.57
14 Courtney Chapman Fayettville Manlius 14:41.94
15 Hannah Luber Fayettville Manlius 14:42.68
16 Tori Pennings Warwick Valley 14:49.90
17 Sarah Pagano IHA 14:51.30
18 Shelby Herman Hilton 14:51.92
19 M Carter Fayettville Manlius 14:52.55
20 Sydney King Saratoga 14:52.96
21 Brianna Welch North Shore 14:53.97
22 Juliet Bottorff St. John Baptiste 14:55.42
23 Cara Janeczko Shenendehowa 14:57.28
24 Paige Mullins Johnson City 15:01.00
25 Heather Stephens Ridegfield 15:03.63
26 Alexanora Chaymaw Fayettville Manlius 15:05.14
27 Lizzie Predmore Shenendehowa 15:05.57
28 Genna Hartung Seon Catholic 15:05.99
29 Morgan Roche Shenendehowa 15:07.29
30 Meghan Smith Padua 15:08.76
Manhattan Invitational index |
Manhattan Invitational
Girls Eastern States
October 13, 2007 Van Cortlandt Park, New York City
Results
Brilliant wins by
Fayetteville-Manlius NY
and Carly Seymour
Smash winners were Harrier US#1 and defending Nike Team Nationals champion Fayetteville-Manlius NY (below) and Carly Seymour PA (right) 13:56, breaking Nicole Blood's course record. F-M dominated with 87 points, placing 5 in the top 26.
Matt Soja story:
"The most anticipated race of the day undoubtedly lived up to its hype, producing a new course record, best marks all-time for most of the top places, and the second best team average in meet history . . . ."
| | | |
Most anticipated race of the day lived up to its hype. By Matt Soja The most anticipated race of the day undoubtedly lived up to its hype, producing a new course record, best marks all-time for most of the top places, and the second best team average in meet history. Carly Seymour, Central Cambria PA senior, ran the race of her life, taking advantage of the perfect weather to set a new Van Cortlandt Park 2.5 mile course record with a 13:55.3 clocking. She was only the second girl to ever break 14 minutes on the hilly layout, taking the mark away from the former Saratoga Springs national star Nicole Blood, who ran 13:57.0 at the same meet 3 years ago.
Seymour, who finished 9th in last year’s Foot Locker Finals (highest place among today’s runners), went out conservatively, letting others in the star-studded field do the front-running before the backhill portion of the race. She then picked up runners ahead of her one-by-one and took the lead at the top of the last hill with about a mile to go. Seymour pulled away gradually on the steep, long downhill and emerged onto the final straightaway with a comfortable lead, with the clock as her only remaining challenge. The new queen of VCP won this extremely competitive race by an astounding margin of 15 seconds.
After the race Seymour said she did not have any great expectations going into it and was a little surprised to get the record. Asked for her goals for the remainder of the season, she emphasized her desire to improve upon last year’s Foot Locker performance and her hopes for her team, which finished 9th in the race ahead of the Pennsylvania powerhouse Emmaus, to come out on top in the state. However, she added that if she had to choose between Foot Locker and running for her team at NTN Regionals, she would probably choose the former. Defending NTN champ Faye-Man lives up to US#1 ranking In the spectacular team competition, Fayetteville Manlius showed why it is ranked as the best team in the country. Despite missing its best girl, Kathryn Buchan, FM crushed the national-level field by more than 70 points. The NTN champions put their entire top 5 in the top 26 places in the race, and despite not having anybody in top 10, they still scored only 87 points! Their 14:48.9 average was the 2nd best ever in course history, only behind the legendary 2004 Saratoga team, which averaged 14:39.8. With only a 24-second spread between first and fifth, it is hard to see if FM will have any vulnerabilities as it speeds towards its second national crown in a row.
Saratoga Springs, running its second major meet of the season, exceeded most fans’ expectations, getting second place easily with 159 points, and in the process defeating their archrivals from Shenendehowa and Warwick Valley. Toga has an impressive 1-2 punch in Hannah Davidson and Cassie Goutos, but it lacks the type of depth FM has. Brianne Bellon, who is usually right behind the leading duo, had a slightly off day, finishing 4th on the team and 34th overall, but there was another 40-second gap after her before Toga’s fifth runner. Nevertheless, this performance will vastly improve Saratoga’s state and national rankings and give them big hopes for this season.
Behind the two New York teams, there was a vicious clash between the two best teams in the Northeast region, Hanover NH and Voorhees NJ. They both proved they deserved their ranking, finishing 3rd and 4th overall, with 215 and 235 points, respectively. Such a close score indicates that the battle for the Regional crown a little more than a month from now will be very exciting. Both teams have very strong front runners, with Hanover’s Georgia Griffin finishing 2nd behind Seymour in 14:10.1, which was the 5th best time ever on this course and a New England record. Voorhees was led by Melanie Thompson, who finished 5th in 14:17.4.
Incidentally, last year Thompson ran 14:44 in a non-Eastern race, which was a non-Eastern meet record until fellow New Jerseyan Jillian Smith broke it with her 14:33.9 in the Varsity D race. Hanover had a slightly better mid-pack, which decided its win over Voorhees, but that could change next month. DyeStat regional rankings will be impacted Behind them, Shenendehowa NY finished 5th with 236, just one point behind Voorhees. Last month at Bowdoin the Jersey team beat Shen by 39, so they have improved greatly since then, and their victory over Warwick Valley guarantees they will move up from the #7 spot in the New York rankings. Lincoln Sudbury, 5th in the Northeast rankings, claimed 6th in the race with 276 points, soundly beating higher-ranked Pennsylvanians from Emmaus.
There were obviously some disappointed teams as well. One of them has to be Warwick Valley, which not only suffered its first defeat of the season, but also placed only 7th with 277 points, far behind Saratoga and Shen, not to mention FM. Although their superb duo of Lilian Griebesland and Tori Pennings took 10th and 16th respectively, it was almost another minute before the rest of the Purple Wave pack rolled in, costing them dozens of points. WV will have to cut that gap drastically if it wants to compete for the very top spots in the state.
The defending champions from Midlothian VA were apparently not at full strength and only ended up in 10th place, with only one of its girls cracking top 50 individually. That will surely cost them the top spot in the Southeast, especially since Tatnall DE edged them by two spots.
Also, Emmaus of Pennsylvania finished a disappointing 11th despite having Christina Faust back from appendectomy. Emmaus lost to another Keystone State team, Central Cambria, by two spots and 26 points, which will shake up the state and regional rankings quite a lot.
On the positive side, Immaculate Heart Academy of New Jersey, not even a bubble team in the region, finished an impressive 14th, defeating Monsignor Donovan, ranked 7th in the Northeast, by more than 100 points.
As some predicted, another New York powerhouse from Greenwich scratched from the meet, opting instead to run at the Burnt Hills Invitational. Deepest Vanny girls field ever Individually, it was the deepest girls’ 2.5 mile race in Van Cortlandt history. As already stated, Seymour smashed the course record and Griffin the New England record. Interestingly, the third and fourth place finishers were the same as last year – Shelby Greany of Suffern NY (14:15.4, making her the 11th fastest girl ever on the course) and Emily Jones of Bromfield MA (14:16.1, a new Massachusetts state record and 13th girl all-time).
Hannah Davidson of Saratoga NY, a three-time Foot Locker finalist who won this race last year, was only 6th in 14:18.1 this time around. Perhaps the biggest individual surprise was the 11th place finish of unheralded Katie McCafferty of Oak Knoll NJ in 14:37.3, putting her in contention for the individual state title and perhaps Foot Locker finals. Overall, a record 23 girls dipped under 15:00 in the Eastern race and five more accomplished this feat in the remaining varsity races later in the day.
Whatever the numbers say, for most observers this will have been probably the best Eastern States race in the decades-long history of this meet. It will become the benchmark for performances for years to come and all the biggest stars of girls cross country on the East Coast will now aim for Carly Seymour’s new amazing course record. One can only hope these great teams and individuals will stay healthy and keep improving through the next few weeks to thrill the cross country aficionados during the championship part of the season.
Results
results from armorytrack.com, a milesplit.us site
_
Team Score
1 Fayetteville Manlius 87
2 Saratoga Springs 159
3 Hanover 215
4 Voorhees 235
5 Shenendehowa 236
6 Lincoln Sudbury 276
7 Warwick Valley 277
8 Tatmall Wilmington 281
9 Central Cambia 306
10 Midlothian 306
11 Emmaus 332
12 Bromfield 338
13 Acad of Holy Names 362
14 Immaculate Heart 363
15 Blacksburg 416
16 Hilton 425
17 Johnson City 428
18 Brentsville 443
19 Msgr Donovan 465
20 Suffern 483
21 Walt Whitman 503
22 Padua 543
23 North Hunterdon 551
24 North Shore 603
25 Ridgefield 643
26 Fairport 712
27 Nazareth 786
POS FIRST NAME LAST NAME SCHOOL TIME
1 Carly Seymour Central Cambria 13:55.27
2 Georgia Griffin Hanover 14:10.05
3 Shelby Greany Suffern 14:15.35
4 Emily Jones Bromfiled 14:16.05
5 Lanie Thompson Voorhees 14:17.40
6 Hannah Davidson Saratoga 14:18.06
7 MaryKate Champagne Seton Catholic 14.33.35
8 Kathlen Lautzenheiser Midlothian 14:34.66
9 Cassie Goutos Saratoga 14:36.32
10 Lllian Griebesland Warwick Valley 14:36.95
11 Oak Knoll 14:37.27
12 Morgane Gay Walt Whitman 14:40.50
13 Molly Molone Fayettville Manlius 14:41.57
14 Courtney Chapman Fayettville Manlius 14:41.94
15 Hannah Luber Fayettville Manlius 14:42.68
16 Tori Pennings Warwick Valley 14:49.90
17 Sarah Pagano IHA 14:51.30
18 Shelby Herman Hilton 14:51.92
19 M Carter Fayettville Manlius 14:52.55
20 Sydney King Saratoga 14:52.96
21 Brianna Welch North Shore 14:53.97
22 Juliet Bottorff St. John Baptiste 14:55.42
23 Cara Janeczko Shenendehowa 14:57.28
24 Paige Mullins Johnson City 15:01.00
25 Heather Stephens Ridegfield 15:03.63
26 Alexanora Chaymaw Fayettville Manlius 15:05.14
27 Lizzie Predmore Shenendehowa 15:05.57
28 Genna Hartung Seon Catholic 15:05.99
29 Morgan Roche Shenendehowa 15:07.29
30 Meghan Smith Padua 15:08.76
Manhattan Invitational index |
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