Amsterdam freshman Trevor Dzikowicz continued his strong 2017 cross country campaign with a tenth place finish in the boys varsity race at the Foothills Council championships on Monday afternoon at Saratoga Springs State Park. Dzikowicz found himself among the some of the best runners in Section 2, and showed he has what it takes to be a contender.
“I’m really happy with the result,” Dzikowicz said after the race. “I was hoping to go under seventeen minutes, but I’ll have to wait for sectionals.”
That positive attitude is part of the reason why Dzikowicz has continued to improve his times since he joined the Amsterdam varsity squad as a seventh grader only two years ago. Dzikowicz finished with a time of 17:15.07, his best yet at the 3.05 mile course.
“I started off going to the lead, but the pace was really fast,” Dzikowicz said. “In the end I had a little trouble keeping up.”
That fast pace was set by runners that included race winner Chris Hughes of Glens Falls. Hughes time of 16:00.40 was a little more than 12 seconds better than Queensbury’s Kevin Bouyea (16:12.86). South Glens Falls’ Frank Triolo (16:18.31) was third, and Queensbury’s Brian Beyerbach (16:23.19) came in fourth. The rest of the top ten included; Queensbury’s Cody Metcalf (16:31.83), South Glens Falls’ Nate Nagle (16:41.55), Scotia- Glenville’s Nathan Tabbert (16:45.72), Queensbury’s Nick Logan (16:54.61), and Scotia- Glenville’s Kyle Ostrander (17:06.78).
The Amsterdam boys varsity team placed eighth with 194 points. Junior Marcos Santiago (19:08.50) passed South Glens Falls’ Eric Hodgeson to earn 36th place, and sophomore Daniel Bublak (19:19.41) gave the Rams three runners in the top forty.
Freshman Chaun J’ Ramos (20:36.06), and sophomore Nick Rodecker (26:54.09) rounded out the field for Amsterdam.
Queensbury won the team competition with 31 points. Scotia-Glenville was second with 63 points, South Glens Falls was third with 94 points, and Schuylerville placed fourth totaling 108 points. All of the top four teams had at least two runners place in the top twenty.
The Broadalbin-Perth boys varsity team placed fifth with 138 points. Micah Smith was the top runner for the Patriots with a time of 17:49.67 good for seventeenth place. Devin Becker (18:28.76), and Wyatt Couperus (18:40.10) gave BPHS three runners in the top thirty.
The Amsterdam cross country teams will prepare for the sectionals with a run at the Harvest Classic Invitational that is being held this year at the Rams home course at Bob’s Trees in Galway. The 2017 New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) Section 2 Cross Country Championships will be held on Friday, November 3rd at Saratoga Springs State Park.
“I’m hoping to get my time under seventeen minutes,” Dzikowicz said. “I hope the whole team gets their personal bests at sectionals.”
Joseph Santiago places in top 20 in modified race
Seventh grader Joseph Santiago was the best finisher for the Amsterdam boys modified team on Monday. Santiago’s time of 13:02.08 was good for 17th place, and gave the Amsterdam cross country teams at least one runner to finish in the top twenty in each of the five races they competed in.
Kai Brennan (14:01.81) placed 28th, and Justin Santiago (15:16.05) was 44th for the young Rams team. Scotia- Glenville won the team competition with 41 points. The young Tartans Gabe Lape (11:25.34) won the race, and his teammate Tyler Green (11:46.59) was second. Amsterdam fielded a team of only three runners and competed as an incomplete team.
Broadalbin-Perth placed fifth with 125 points. Connor Couperus (12:09.52) was the top finisher for the young Patriots squad placing seventh. Robert Carr’s (12:41.49) 12th place finish gave Broadalbin-Perth two in the top twenty.
