by Ryan Mosher
Both the Berlin boys and girls cross country teams always seem to hit their stride at the end of the season. Each year the runners work hard all season, battling injuries and grueling running conditions, just to get ready for the biggest race of the year. The Section II Championships are held at the Saratoga State Park and bring together every team in the Capital District, all fighting to earn their team and individual spots at the State Championships. The Mountaineers have built a strong reputation, challenging every year for team championships and sending individuals to states every year. Each winning team sends its seven runners to the state meet, and the top five runners that are not affiliated with the winning team advance as well.
This year would be no different for Berlin. On the girls’ side, the team faced a tough battle with defending Section II and NYS Champion Greenwich. While Greenwich has dominated the last two years, the Lady Mountaineers brought a strong squad to challenge them, including two-time Section II Champion Kelsey Demick and newcomer Kayleigh Corrado, who is having a great season.
In the race, as expected, Greenwich dominated, taking places one through five for a complete sweep and the win,
and then took places seven and eight as well. Sophomore Kayleigh Corrado looked strong in her first sectional race, battling with an opponent from Lake George the entire race. As they came out of the woods and entered the final straight away, Corrado had fallen behind, and the Lake George runner seemed to have left her behind. Unfortunately for her, the Berlin rookie had other ideas and, with a huge burst in the last fifty yards, overtook her easily. She finished in 12th place in a time of 20:39. Senior Kelsey Demick, running her first race after missing much of the end of the season due to illness, finished in 14th place at 21:24. Berlin’s next runner is someone to watch out for. Seventh-grader Hannah French finished 17th in 22:11. Emily Olson, Rachael Thomas, Brandi Hoffman and Melissa Dawes rounded out the Berlin runners, finishing in a row at 28th, 29th, 30th and 31st.
After the clean sweep by Greenwich, the Lady Mountaineers finished with a team score of 91. That edged out Berne-Knox-Westerlo for second place by just two points. The girls were rewarded with Sectional Runner-Up patches as well as a sectional plaque to hang in the school. This is Berlin’s third second place finish in the last four years. On the individual side, Kayleigh Corrado took the fifth spot when she edged out the Lake George runner and will now represent Berlin at the state meet.
The boys were also a favorite going into their race, but with no dominant team to compete against, this race was wide open. This year’s young team showed why it will be a force for the next few years. Leading the charge for the Mountaineers was sophomore Alex French. French finished 8th in 16:53, followed closely by fellow sophomore Connor Hoyt in 16:55. Junior Llewellyn Palmer finished 19th in 17:49. Senior Cody Blain finished 24th followed immediately by another sophomore, Rocco Farano. Doug Hoard (36th), Tony Hindes (41st), Scott Bamba (45th) and Erik Viner (54th) finished the scoring for Berlin. The Mountaineers scored a total of 79 points, good for second place behind Berne-Knox-Westerlo. This second place is the third in the last six years for the boys program. Unfortunately, French narrowly missed the fifth and final individual spot for the state meet. The good news for Berlin is that with seven of their nine runners returning next year, the future looks very bright.