Amsterdam freshman Olivia Lazarou placed 23rd in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) Cross Country Championships Girls Class B race held Saturday, November 8th at SUNY Canton. Her finish helped the Section 2 Class B Girls team win the sectional team competition.
Lazarou, whose Amsterdam team is part of the Foothills Council finished with a time of 19 minutes and 31.8 seconds to place 23rd out of 120 runners in the Class B race, and 83rd out of 473 overall. Lazarou made her first appearance and was the schools first girl to run at the state competition. She was one of three girls representing the Foothills Council. Queensbury freshman Alexis Bartlett was also on the winning Section 2B team and finished 14th with a time of 19:07.4 . Schuylerville sophomore Ashley Watson was the top Foothills Council girl to place finishing ninth in the Class C race coming in at 19:24.2 .
The Section 2B girls scored 287 points. A Section 2 school team also took home a title. The Burnt Hills- Ballston Lake girls team won the Class B school team title with 57 points. Eve Scott (19:12.8) placed 16th and Emily Dingman (19:14.2) was 17th leading the Lady Spartans who advanced to the Federation meet. Lily Dingman (19:34.2) was 24th and was followed by teammates Allison Fernandez, Alexis Scott, Janelle Rochacker, and Jordan Casey. Courtney Breiner (22nd, !9:30.8) of Emma Willard, and Kaylee Scott of Holy Names Academy were part of the winning Section 2B girls team.
Watson’s finish helped the Section 2C girls to a third place finish. Emily Acker of the Albany Academy for Girls finished second with a time of 19:08.8, Greenwich’s Annabel Greg (19:19.7) was sixth, and her teammate Tori Spiezio (19:45.6) was 21st . Section 2 champion Greenwich was third among Class C school teams.
The Saratoga Springs girls team finished second in the Class A race with 85 points. Spencer Hayes (19th), and Peyton Engborg (21st) led the way for the Lady Streaks. The Section 2A girls placed third. In the Class D girls race Allie Tedeshi (20:11.5) of Berne Knox Westerlo finished eighth. Monica Strain (20:41) of Maple Hill, and Maggie Gordon (20:46.1) of Berlin Central School were among the top 25 runners.
The Foothills Council was represented in the boys races as well. Daiken Broadhead of Scotia Glenville placed 42nd with a time of 17:12.2 in the Class B race. Schuylerville’s Spencer Swoboda (17:58.4) finished 70th in the Class C race. The Section 2C boys were fourth overall.
Jeremy Spiezio (16:13.8) finished fourth, and Chandler Hansen (17:05.7) was 26th to lead the Greenwich boys to a fourth place team finish. The Shenedehowa boys were best among Section 2 with 100 points, good enough for a second place team finish in Class A. The Section 2A boys came in second overall with 286 points. Aidan Tooker (15:40.3) of Saratoga Springs was best among Section 2A boys with a fourth place finish. Tooker’s time was also tops among all Section 2 runners. Section 2 got a first place individual finish from Duanesburg’s Patrick Murphy (16:07.2) in the Boys Class D race. Daryn Hutchings (16:10.9) of Argyle was close behind in second. Mayfield’s Josh Gallup finished 38th out of 119 runners with a time of 17:54.5 .
When the 2014 Foothills Council Cross Country All Star teams were announced, Lazarou, Watson and Bartlett were all named to the first team girls along with Foothills Council champion Alex Bielli of Gloversville. Broadhead, the boys Foothills Council champion made the first team that included Gloversville’s Zach Funk and Jack Hayes, and Broadalbin-Perth’s Alex Hitrick. Schuylerville’s Swoboda was named to the second team.
