Cross country: VVS boys finish 4th, New Hartford girls 8th at state championship
Four runners from the Mohawk Valley area turned in top-15 results Saturday at the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Championships in Chenango Forks.
Camden senior Lizzy Lucason (Class B) and Oriskany senior Paris Welker (Class D) as well as Rome Free Academy senior Emily Toth-Ratazzi (Class A) each turned in top-10 finishes in their respective classes. Vernon-Verona-Sherrill's Keegan Bauer finished 11th as the top boys participant from the area.
Meanwhile, the Vernon-Verona-Sherrill finished fourth as a team in Class B. The New Hartford girls squad placed eighth in Class B.
Lucason finished fourth in a time of 18:51.6, which was just less than four seconds behind third-place finisher of Una Boylan of Pearl River.
Lucason claimed the Class C title in 2019, which was the last time the championships happened. The event was not staged in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Fayetteville-Manlius freshman Izzie Sullivan won the Class A race and turned in the best overall girls time, winning in 17:40.8.
Welker placed fourth in 19:34.5 and about 17 seconds ahead of the fifth-place finisher. Welker's finish is an improvement when she was 23rd at the meet in 2019 at SUNY Plattsburgh. Her time then was 18:59.7.
In Class A, Rome Free Academy senior Emily Toth-Ratazzi was eighth with a time of 18:18.10. In 2019, she posted a time of 18:10.8 and finished 47th on the course at Plattsburgh. On Saturday, she was selected as the sportsmanship award winner from Class A Section III by coaches.
Toth-Ratazzi qualified for the state Federations race, but will defer to run in the Footlockers Northeast Regionals Meet in two weeks in the Bronx.
Teammate Marlo Townsend was 38th in the class on Saturday with a time of 19:37.3. She also qualified for the state Federations meet next week in Wappingers Falls.
The VVS boys -- which earned a Section III title last weekend on their home course -- finished with 118 points in Class C, behind third-pace Fonda-Fultonville (86), Southwestern (80) and champion Irvington (50).
More: New Hartford girls, VVS boys win Section III cross-country team titles
More: Section 3 girls cross-country results, top performers from the Utica area, fall 2021
More: Section 3 boys cross-country results, top performers from the Utica area, fall 2021
VVS senior Keegan Bauer was the team's top participant with a time of 17:13.3. The rest of the team's top five were: Jordan Wingert (46th, 18:10.1), Ben Bellinger (47th, 18:11.4), Xander Pelc (68th, 18:38.5) and Joey Banks (77th, 18:46.1).
The New Hartford girls -- which repeated as Section III Class B champions from 2019 last week -- totaled 191 points. East Aurora was first with 55 points.
New Hartford's scoring runners were: Junior Leah Hilton in 55th in 21:15.5 and was followed by eighth-grader Alexandria French (64th, 21:39.2), senior Kaia Henderson (7th, 22:06.5), junior Katharine Winter (95th, 22:55.5) and freshman Tara Fobare (96th, 23:34.1).
Boys finishers from the area include: Holland Patent sophomore Charlie Howe (52nd,18:16.2), senior Richard Zielenski (78th,18:47.7). Camden junior Jerome Seidl (59th, 17:58.6).
Other girls finishers from the area include: Adirondack eighth-grader Cora Hinsdill (22nd, 21:08.9) and sophomore Kaylee Mathis (23rd, 21:11.2). Oneida junior Juliana Elberson was 32nd in 20:57.1.
Lucason's teammate Sydney Coleman was 51st (21:07.3), Clinton senior Katherine Stockwell finished 60th in 21:48.8 and Whitesboro junior Caleigh McQueeney was 99th in 23:19.5.
Ben Birnell is a sports reporter for the Observer-Dispatch. Email Ben Birnell at bbirnell@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Cross country: VVS boys finish 4th, New Hartford girls 8th at states
