Leading off today: Cornwall junior Aisling Cuffe scored big in the girls Eastern States Championship yesterday at the
Manhattan Invitational, winning in 14 minutes, 03.3 seconds over 2.5 miles.
Cuffe broke away from Hannah Luber and Courtney Chapman of Fayetteville-Manlius over the final mile to produces the No. 4 girls performance in the 37-year history of the meet at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. Cuffe was the Varsity C winner in 2008 in a relatively pedestrian 14:36.9.
Fifteen competitors went sub-15 minutes in the Eastern States race.
The team title went to F-M. The three-time defending Nike Cross National champions put four runners in the top five and absorbed just 22 points for their third straight Eastern States win. The Hornets averaged 14:35.5 to break Saratoga's 2004 course record of 14:39.8. F-M's Luber was second to Cuffe in 14:26.2 and Chapman nailed down third in 14:26.8.
Saratoga (80) was second, Queensbury (111) third and Monroe-Woodbury (140) fifth.
In other team races, Liverpool won the Varsity A, Shenendehowa took C and North Rockland won D. Megan Young of Nanuet and Laura Leff of West Genesee took individual honors in the B and E races, respectively.
New York boys squads took six class championships: West Genesee (A), Shenendehowa (B), North Rockland (C), Sachem East (D), Baldwinsville (E) and Shaker (G). Individually, Brandon Freyer (Pawling, B), Nick Hughes (North Rockland, C) and Alex Saavedra (Sachem East, D) raced to first-place finishes.
The boys Eastern States Championship team title went to CBA from New Jersey (116), just ahead of Fayetteville-Manlius (125). Liverpool (192) was fifth. Jonathan Vitez of Haddonfield, N.J., was the top finisher in 12:25.6. F-M's Alex Hatz, running in his first weekend meet after late-summer surgery, was 54th in 13:28.8.
