Running on its home course, the cross country team defeated Newburgh and Monroe-Woodbury in a three-team meet on Oct. 1.
The three-mile route at the high school isn’t hilly, but it covers some rough terrain. The event is always exciting.
There are no freshman or JV races. Everyone is lumped into the same heat. At the front of the pack, there’s usually some distance between the leaders. But further back, there are some intense battles as runners near the finish line and are energized by the cheers of the spectators.
Dan Bennett of Cornwall and Brandon Pascale of Monroe-Woodbury ran shoulder-to-shoulder for the last 50 yards until Dan lunged ahead at the finish line. Brianna Wallace of Cornwall kicked past an opposing runner with her last few strides.
Up front there was less competition. Mike Vecchio won the boys race by more than 100 yards, as he shaved 11 seconds off his time from last year. Mike became just the third Cornwall runner to finish the race in less than 17 minutes. He was followed by his teammates Dave Brubacher, Alex Combs and Dan Thurau, who claimed places three through five.
Gianna Frontera of Newburgh won the girls race in 18:48. Only Aisling Cuffe (18:11 in 2010) has run the course faster. After Gianna crossed the finish line, five of the next six girls were wearing Cornwall green.
Bea Boylan (19:24) was the runner up. Her 11th-grade clasmates Dara Cuffe (19:46) and Ashley Wallace (19:51) placed third and fourth. Sophomore Victoria Caroli was sixth and freshman Hannah Mellino was seventh.
It was a good week for Hannah. On Saturday, she was fourth out of more than 200 runners in a JV race in Carlisle, Penn. Abby Munterich, another Cornwall freshman, was seventh.
Carlisle Invitation
Sept. 28, BOYS: Vecchio (33) 16:22, Brubacher (66) 16:50, Combs (94) 17:04, Thurau (118) 17:25, Abbott (141) 17:45. Boys 16th out of 31 teams.
GIRLS: Boylan (5) 18:29, Wallace (20) 19:23, Cuffe (38) 19:55, Caroli (77) 20:52, Markley (80) 20:57. Girls seventh out of 24 teams.
Cornwall meet
Oct. 1, BOYS: Vecchio (1) 16:49, Brubacher (3) 17:24, Combs (4) 17:37, Thurau (5) 17:46, Abbott (8) 18:03, Skoog (11) 18:13, Ormiston (12) 18:17, Bennett (13) 18:30. Boys beat M-W and Newburgh.
GIRLS: Boylan (2) 19:21, Cuffe (3) 19:46, Wallace (4) 19:51, Caroli (6) 21:17, Mellino (7) 21:21, Markley (11) 21:49, Tricomi (12) 21:55, Munterich (14) 22:13, Colson (15) 22:21. Girls beat M-W and NFA.