GUILDERLAND – The Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake boys cross country team continued its string of Section 2 dominance by running away with the large school varsity division title at the Guilderland Invitational Saturday, Sept. 8, at Tawasentha Park.

The Spartans took five of the top eight spots to finish with 20 points. Guilderland was second in the large school team standings with 39 points, and Section 9’s Monroe-Woodbury placed third with 90 points. Collegiate High School won the small school division with 24 points, while Schuylerville edged Ichabod Crane 63-64 for second place.

Tyler Berg and Evan Brennan crossed the finish line virtually together to lead Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake. Berg won with a time of 14:32.29, while Brennan placed second with a time of 14:32.45.

“Our race plan going in was to run as a pack,” said Berg. “And then around Mile 2, me and Evan separated a bit from the rest of the pack, and we worked together.”

“It didn’t really matter [who won],” added Brennan. “All that mattered to us was running for Burnt Hills and our times.”

Aidan Gillooley was third for the Spartans with a time of 14:58.88. Nick Hunzinger completed the hilly 3-mile course with a time of 15:22.80 to finish sixth, and David Metacarpa placed eighth with a time of 15:47.11.

Guilderland’s Noah Tindale and Nicholas Soldevere broke up Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake’s pack. Tindale was fourth with a time of 15:10.57, and Soldevere took fifth place with a time of 15:14.74. Sean O’Brien finished seventh for the Dutchmen with a time of 15:28.96.

Collegiate’s William Goodwin was the small school division champion with a time of 16:42.03. Schuylerville’s Ethan Burch placed second with a time of 16:47.74, and Ichabod Crane’s Louis Warner finished third with a time of 16:57.28.

On the girls’ side, Guilderland grabbed the large school team title with 27 points, while Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake finished second with 43 points. Thousand Islands from Ontario, Canada took third place with 63 points.

Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake’s Rory Graham defended her 2017 title by winning the race with a time of 18:01.28, nearly 18 seconds ahead of runner-up Claire Cushing of Thousand Islands.

“I definitely wanted to repeat this year,” said Graham. “Also, knowing the course and running it last year really helped me.”

Guilderland used a pack mentality to claim the team title. Lady Dutch runners finished 3-4-5 and 7-8-9 to pull out the victory in a competitive division. Olivia Fanshawe led Guilderland with a third-place finish in a time of 18:58.78,

In the girls small school division, Schuylerville won the team title with 32 points, five points ahead of Ichabod Crane. Schuylerville’s Sunni LaBounty was the first small school division runner to cross the finish line with a time of 19:07.25.

Due to the small number of participating teams, the large school and small school divisions ran the course together and had their results separated afterwards.

“I’m kind of used to it because we run against bigger schools during track season,” said Ichabod Crane’s Olivia Oligny-Liggett, who placed fifth in the girls small school division with a time of 20:41.74.

For a photo gallery from the Guilderland Invitational, click here.

Guilderland Invitataional results

Boys large school
1. Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake 20
2. Guilderland 39
3. Monroe-Woodbury 90
4. Thousand Islands 101
5. Mohonasen 125
6. Averill Park 175

Top 10 boys
1. Tyler Berg (BH-BL) 14:32.29
2. Evan Brennan (BH-BL) 14:32.45
3. Aidan Gillooley (BH-BL) 14:58.88
4. Noah Tindale (Guild) 15:10.57
5. Nicholas Soldevere (Guild) 15:14.74
6. Nick Hunzinger (BH-BL) 15:22.80
7. Sean O’Brien (Guild) 15:28.96
8. David Metacarpa (BH-BL) 15:47.11
9. Mason Jones (TI) 15:51.23
10. John Parsons (Guild) 15:51.40

Boys small school
1. Collegiate 24
2. Schuylerville 63
3. Ichabod Crane 64
4. Broadalbin-Perth 71

Top 10 boys
1. William Goodwin (Coll) 16:42.03
2. Ethan Burch (Schuy) 16:47.74
3. Louis Warner (IC) 16:57.28
4. Clay Papanek (Coll) 16:58.58
5. Hank Van der Goes (Coll) 17:06.58
6. Divij Jain (Coll) 17:10.29
7. Micah Smith (BP) 17:11.61
8. Jack Mogul (Coll) 17:12.95
9. Alex Christian (IC) 17:17.88
10. Max Dwyer (Schuy) 17:27.74

Girls large school
1, Guilderland 27
2. Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake 43
3. Thousand Islands 63
4. Averill Park 102

Top 10 girls
1. Rory Graham (BH-BL) 18:01.28
2. Claire Cushing (TI) 18:18.71
3. Olivia Fanshawe (Guild) 18:58.78
4. Alexandria Vellekoop (Guild) 19:11.47
5. Alexis Anagnostopulos (Guild) 19:15.30
6. Madison Whited (BH-BL) 19:52.89
7. Grace McFerran (Guild) 20:07.38
8. Jennifer Bartlett (Guild) 20:15.92
9. Anna Capuano (Guild) 20:16.24
10. Madison Smith (BH-BL) 20:22.60

Girls small school
1. Schuylerville 32
2. Ichabod Crane 37
3. Broadalbin-Perth 53

Top 10 girls
1. Sunni LaBounty (Schuy) 19:07.25
2. Emma Gregg (Chatham) 20:24.94
3. Anya Vautrin (Schuy) 20:32.72
4. Samantha Murphy (BP) 20:41.55
5. Olivia Oligny-Liggett (IC) 20:41.74
6. Victoria Slade (IC) 20:43.96
7. Megan Vianese (Schuy) 20:52.57
8. Samantha Kubow (IC) 21:55.50
9. Claire Barton (Schuy) 22:03.31
10. Gabrielle Larsen (BP) 22:16.90