The Great ‘C’-Scape
Tri-Valley Girls Capture Section Nine Class C Track Championship For Fifth Straight Year; Stars From Sullivan County Schools Shine Across The Spectrum Of The Storied Meet
Boys: 1. Pine Plains 149; 2. Tri-Valley 135; 3. Rhinebeck 103; 4. Sullivan West 100; 5. Liberty 93; 6. Fallsburg 64; 7. John S. Burke Catholic 35; 8. Millbrook 19; 9. Chester and James I.O’Neill 16.
Girls: 1. Tri-Valley 211; 2. Liberty 113; 3. Sullivan West 102; 4. Pine Plains 84; 5. James I. O’Neill 76; 6. Millbrook 49; 7. Rhinebeck 48; 8. John S. Burke Catholic 19; 9. Fallsburg 17.
By RICHARD A. ROSS
rross@sportsinsightsny.com Complete meet results: http://ny.milesplit.com/meets/94908/results/161508
Scenes from a Golden Day: Class C championship moments include (clockwise) Tri-Valley seventh grader Autumn Bender wins the 3000, Liberty's Jessica Dunnigan wins the 100. She came back to win the 200, the long jump and ran a leg in the winning 400 relay. Liberty's Kane Sauchuk wins the 400 hurdles.Tri-Valley's Hauk Boyes triumphs in the 3000 steeplechase. Sullivan West's Dani Myers wins the 2000 steeplechase. Tri-Valley's Kaitlynn Greffrath wins the high jump. Liberty's Erick Cuellar wins the 400 after taking the 100 and 200. He capped off the day by running a leg in the winning 1600 relay. Fallsburg's Michael Robinson won the triple jump. He is pictured here in the long jump. O'Neill's Megan Clark won the pole vault with a leap of 12-0.
KINGSTON, NY—The days of my epic stories are just about over as it seems I have to choose between being a photographer or a writer, especially when it comes to mega-events such as Section Nine track meets an overwhelming workload and the exigencies of Mother Nature which zapped my electricity and phone rendering my best of intentions useless.
Coming home with 531 photos in my camera and encountering a tornado-like storm that consigned me to a darkened isolation and then looking over the countless times, distances and places from the meet, much of which deserves major exposition by way of the stories I’ve written over the years, I threw my hands in the air and said, “I give up.”
Loading the photo album which appears on www.sportsinsights.smugmug.com took six hours alone and here I am sitting in an Internet Café with no power or phone at home and just unable to write the tale with the verve and acumen I’ve evinced since 2002. That includes what I wanted so much to say about the Class D victories by the Eldred boys and girls who grabbed the titles for the third straight year and to throw in a last kudos to the Monties from the Class A meet as well.
I hope to soon get a CD of photos from that marvelous Class D encounter and post them on my photo site in tribute to the Yellow Jackets whom I respect beyond words.
That the Tri-Valley girls claimed the Class C title for the fifth straight year came as no surprise to me. Deep and talented, the Lady Bears were unbeatable in my estimation but kudos to the T-V boys for their second place finish to Pine Plains. Liberty and Sullivan West girls put up an epic effort but T-V’s depth and talent is just beyond the pale.
The meteoric rise of T-V’s boys team continued. A sweep by the Bears of both genders is becoming more and more of an imminent possibility in the coming year.
Notable performances by individuals from Liberty, Sullivan West and Fallsburg were part of the fabric of the day. All I can do at this juncture is to reel off the list of winners. Swamped with work for school presentations next week (slide shows) and the specter of days without power, I’m cognizant of how abrupt this coverage is and how it shortchanges the kids whose names are not on this brief list. With scoring going to eight places, there are so many who deserve praise. The best I can do is to link the complete results so that you can see who did what.
The day had its share of epic performances including Jessica Dunnigan’s long jump of 17-8 1/4. Dunnigan’s day was golden to say the least with wins in the 100 (12.89), 200 and the anchor leg in the Lady Indians winning 400 relay (52.39).
Tri-Valley seventh grader Autumn Bender captured the 3000 (11:21.85) divesting Sullivan West’s Dani Myers of a chance to repeat as champ in the event. Bender attacked the race with a vengeance and took advantage of Myers’ slower start unlike the one the stalwart Lady Westie had used to run 11:04 in the OCIAA Championships. Myers found her grit later by winning the steeplechase as she kept T-V’s Caroline Bertholf from repeating in that regard.
T-V’s Hauk Boyes captured the 3000 steeplechase in 11:20.54. He is the first Bear to win the event since Travis Wolfe.
Imagine the surprise when it was announced that T-V’s Mareena DiMilia had made it to the finals in the 100 hurdles after missing her steps and tumbling to the track. DiMilia got right up and raced to the finish making the cut. Then in the finals she beat out SW’s Hannah Feinman to take third place. DiMilia was a stunning winner in the shot put besting teammates Dominique Darby and Heidi Furman. All of this in a spring when she divided her time between track and softball.
Liberty’s Erick Cuellar gave the Indians a vanload of points with a sweep of the 100, 200, 400 and a leg in the winning 1600 relay.
Here are the winners of Class C. (Since there are now Class B schools in Sullivan County I’m not writing about those schools, nor can I go into the fine efforts cashed in by Class C kids from schools outside of Sullivan County. I’ll make an exception for O’Neill’s Megan Clark who won the pole vault and the high hurdles.
A wonderful athlete and a charming person with exemplary skills and self-discipline, Clark embodies what I so love about high school athletics at its best. As Megan is moving to Georgia at the end of this school year, I want to take this opportunity to wish her the best of luck in her future endeavors. She will be greatly missed.
Here are the County Class C girls gold medalists: 100 Jessica Dunnigan (Liberty) 12.89; 200 Dunnigan 26.50; 3000 Autumn Bender (T-V) 11:21.85. 2000 Steeplechase Dani Myers (SW) 8:18.27; 400 Hurdles Rebeccah Harman (Liberty) 1:10.79; 400 Relay B (Liberty) 52.39 (Dunnigan, Lara Heslop, Amanda Bertholf and Nikole Snyder); 1600 Relay Sullivan West (4:28.27) Rianne Erlwein, Rosa Martinez, Laura Vennes and Kristina Sumfleth; High jump Kaitlynn Greffrath (T-V) 4-11; Long jump Dunnigan (L) 17-8 ¼ – A personal best leap for the state-bound Dunnigan whose jump meets the qualifying standard. Dunnigan is the reigning state champ in the 200. Triple jump Hannah Feinman (SW) 33-08.50; Shot put: Mareena DiMilia (T-V) 34-08-50; Discus Dominique Darby (T-V) 109-11; Javelin Heidi Furman (T-V) 84-07.
Sullivan County boys gold medalists: 100 Erick Cuellar (Liberty) 11:93; 200 Cuellar (L) 23.56; 400 Cuellar (L) 53.44; 400 Hurdles Kane Sauchuk (L) 51.89; 3000 Steeplechase Hauk Boyes T-V) 11:20.54; 400 Relay (SW) 47.31 Kyle Flynn, Sam Smith, Rob Feeney, Andy Kinch. 1600 Relay (L) 3:42.34 Cuellar, Dylan Blackwell, Raiquann Malloy and Sauchuk. Triple jump Michael Robinson (Fallsburg) 42-03-75; Shot put Brian Edwards (T-V) 41-10.50; Discus Edwards (T-V) 141-03. Javelin Chris Lockwood (L) 136-09.
* I Will come back and add pix and highlights from Eldred’s Class D boys and girls championships thanks to photos /notes from Tom Brucher. At this juncture I’m not quite sure when that will be included but it will get here eventually.
For an album of photos from the Section Nine Class B/C Championships and instructions on how to order reprints and other keepsakes, CLICK HERE: http://sportsinsights.smugmug.com/Sports/Section-Nine-Class-B-and-C
