High school cross country: Bernard captures second consecutive Section 3 title, Zehr wins first sectional championship

Nov. 5—VERONA — Brynn Bernard's latest effort on Section 3's biggest stage proved to be business as usual for the versatile runner.

Bernard methodically ran her way to winning her second consecutive sectional championship on Saturday at Vernon-Verona-Sherrill High School.

The South Lewis senior traversed the 3.1-mile course in 19 minutes and 17.2 seconds to claim the Class D title and now she's setting her sights even higher as she looks to pull off a three-peat at the state championships which will be run over the same layout next Saturday.

"It was pretty good, it wasn't muddy and we all ran great times, the whole team did," Bernard said.

Bernard led a banner day for South Lewis as both the girls and boys squads secured team championships.

Once again the Frontier League represented itself well as in all, 16 runners qualified for the state meet, including Beaver River senior Conner Zehr, who won the Class D individual title.

Bernard was pleased with her time, but Saturday's race was essentially a tune up for her as she looks to conquer the state meet once again.

"It was pretty good, this week was really about just running it and getting ready for next week's states," Bernard said.

Teammate and fellow senior Mallory Kraeger (20:11.3) finished third in the race, with eighth-grader Felicity Szucs (21:11.2) and senior Grace Bailey (21:39.6) rounding out the Falcons' top four finishers, finishing eighth and 13th, respectively.

"We've all been working super hard so it's nice to see it come together," Kraeger said of the team title, which marked South Lewis' third consecutive Section 3 crown.

Kraeger also took a notable step forward after finishing eighth in sectionals last year.

"It's definitely a good set up for next week, we all ran pretty good and we'll just wait and see what comes next," Bernard said.

Bernard won last year's sectional title a year after finishing runner-up to older sister Lexi Bernard in the 2021 Section 3 meet.

Brynn Bernard then turned the tables by besting her sister to win her first state championship that year, when the state meet was held at Chenango Valley, with Lexi Bernard placing second.

"I just love running with my team and we all enjoy just hanging out and racing together. So it's pretty amazing to do it with my team, we're like family," Brynn Bernard added.

In the boys Class D race, Zehr secured the sectional title after finishing runner-up in the event last year.

Zehr, who finished in 16:31.0, out dueled fellow senior Collin Stafford of South Lewis, who finished a strong second.

"Honestly, I didn't think I was going to beat him, but in the end I did," Zehr said of Stafford.

He continued: "For like the first mile I kind of conserved it and in the hill section, I kind of pushed up the hill. I was really tired back there. ... and then I tried to push it the best I could."

Zehr used last year's finish to fuel his motivation for this season as he'll return to the state meet.

"It feels good, the year before I took second, so I'm making progress," Zehr said. "So I'm really looking forward to next week, I'm excited for states."

"He's just worked really hard and nobody deserves it more than him and other guys work hard, too," Beaver River coach Chris Roggie said of Zehr. "But he's worked hard and has been motivated to get to this point, I'm proud of him and what he's accomplished. "He's consistent, he works hard and he does everything right and it pays off."

Stafford (16:36.5) qualified for states after missing out on the sectional meet last year because of an injury.

"It was a good race, definitely a good race," Stafford said. "He had that kick at the end which was good for him, but I made sure I stayed right on him, so I'm not too far off. I always like a good competitive race, which usually happens between me and him."

The Falcons secured the boys team title with 44 points to outdistance top four finishers Remsen/Old Forge (124 points), Cato-Meridian (164) and Tully (183) after finishing runner up in last year's event.

While Stafford led the charge teammates MacCoy Maciejko (17:14.8), a junior, and senior Aiden Sampson (17:16.7) placed fourth and fifth, respectively.

Michael McGrath and Dakota Maciejko, who finished 16th and 17th, respectively, also qualified for South Lewis, as did teammate Matteo Brinkerhoff.

"The conditions were great, good times and I'm looking forward to next week, hopefully it's like this," Stafford said. "So we all definitely did really well as a team, I think we improved a lot, we dropped a lot of times and really performed well. This is a great opportunity for us."

Also qualifying for the Falcons' girls team were Hadassah Siegrist and Zoey Babcock, who finished 21st and 24th, respectively, as well as Asley Garcia Lucas.

"I thought we ran pretty good, our fifth was little bit back, she should have been fourth, but there's always next week," South Lewis coach Jack Bernard said of the girls race. "We just wanted to get through this week and try and run hard next week and save a little bit. Maybe they ran a little bit harder than we wanted to, but you do what you've got to do to and get on to next weekend."

The squad totaled 46 points to cruise to the title, with Pulaski (94), Cato-Meridian (142) and Sauquoit Valley (150) rounding out the top four.

"We were the favorites, we said that when we started the season, even during the summer and I said the same thing for the boys," Jack Bernard said. "You've got to do everything you can do and I think we ran well. It's good for the school and fun for the kids."

In the Class C girls race, South Jefferson placed second in the team competition, led by freshman Annabelle Renzi, who qualified for states with a sixth-place finish.

Renzi (20:36.7) finished just ahead of teammates Elle Roberts (20:45.1), who is a seventh grader, and sophomore Carley Worden (20:52.0), who finished seventh and eighth in the race, respectively.

"It was really awesome and I'm excited about how we did," Renzi said.

As a team, South Jefferson tallied 56 points, placing second to team champion Adirondack (43).

Spartans coach Justin Crossway was visibly proud of the team's effort, not just on Saturday but for the entire season.

"They ran very well," South Jefferson coach Justin Crossway said. "And I know they're disappointed, but when they see the math of it later they're going to know they had a really good day. Everybody did a great job, not a single one of our athletes faltered or had a bad day, Adirondack just had a better day, that's what racing is. And I think in our community everybody wants to do well and move on to the next level, but we're trying to build a legacy that's never been done before.

"Adversity has to come first before you become kind of that champion-level team and we've got work to do, but that's okay."

In the day's final race, Indian River sophomore Ryan Gauthier finished sixth in the Class B boys competition an and qualified for the state meet in the process.

Gauthier (18:42.0) said he admittedly wasn't feeling well in the early stages of the race, but rallied himself to generate a strong finish.

"I was running and I didn't feel good to begin with and on that first mile I had cramps and dropped all the way back to 14th place," Gauthier said. "And then like that last mile I really wanted to go, so I just pushed it and I never felt like that in my life. It feels amazing, I'm only a sophomore in high school and I really wanted to go."

Gauthier is the second Warriors' runner to qualify for the state meet in as many years. Last year, Hector Ramos reached the state meet and is believed to have been the first Indian River boys runner to do so in cross country in program history.

"He ran the game plan we had for him," Indian River coach Dave Rowley said. "We told him we wanted him to get six-minute splits in the first two and go hard on that last one and get in the top six, he thought he could get to states. And he did it perfect. ... He took a huge step from last year to this year, we had a lot of seniors last year and this year he's kind of the old veteran on the team because we have all freshmen and sophomores."

Also for the Beaver River boys team, junior Tyler Boliver (18:17.1) and sophomore Mason Zehr (18:20.5) finished in 13th and 14th place, respectively, in the Class D race.

Also among area teams, Carthage freshman Hayley Vanputte (22:41.1) finished in 16th place in the Class B girls race, while eighth-grader Joelle Gravelle (22:03.7) finished in 34th place in the Class A girls race representing Watertown.