A bystander at Thursday’s Section II Nordic championships at Lapland Lake had wishful thinking.
“Pass Carly,” he yelled to a girl waiting to pole out of the start.
Lots of luck!
First, Carly already had a two-minute head start.
Second, nobody ever passes Carly.
Carly is Queensbury junior Carly Wynn, and she was already well on her way to winning her third straight Section II cross country crown. On Feb. 23, she’ll be going after her third straight New York state high school title.
Wynn skied away with the Lapland race with a time of 23:51. Second place went to her teammate, Danielle Winslow, in 25:12. Glens Falls junior Kate Mulcahy was third with a time of 26:02.
The boys’ race was a squeaker. Lake George senior Steve Petramale and Queensbury junior Will Frielinghas tied for first with identical times of 26:37. Queensbury junior Aaron Newell skied into third, just four seconds behind the winners.
Queensbury had five skiers in the top 10 to take the girls’ team title with a low score of 14. Second was Scotia-Glenville with 54. Guilderland took third place with 84. The Spartans’ boys had six skiers finish top-10, winning with a score of 13. Second was Scotia-Glenville with 65. Third place with 67 points went to Lake George.
After finishing, Wynn had high praise for the course.
“It was beautiful,” she said. “Olavi [Lapland owner Olavi Hirvonen] did a wonderful job of grooming it. It was a little slow in the sun, but really fast in the shade.”
Asked about the upcoming state meet, she said, “Having won the past two years, I want to win it again. I’ve been thinking about it a little bit, but I’m trying not to overthink it. I’ll try to just relax because I know I’ll perform the best I can if I’m relaxed.”
Petramale agreed with Wynn about the course.
“It was amazing, compared to what a lot of us were expecting, because of some of the weather we’ve had,” he said.
One of the oddities of cross country racing is that the skiers are never exactly sure where they stand until it is over.
“I knew at a couple of points I was leading by a few seconds because coaches on the course were giving me the splits,” Petramale said. “After the halfway point, I wasn’t sure, so I just went for it.”
Frielinghaus said he knew he had time to make up because the coaches calling splits told him he was four seconds down. That spurred him on, and he made up the time for the tie.
Joining Wynn and Danielle Winslow on the winning girls’ team were Brittany Winslow, fourth, and Morgan Mueller, seventh. Runner-up Scotia-Glenville scored with Ashley Forshey, eighth; Katie Zeppetelli, ninth; Becca Kraines, 18th; and Erika Rodbell, 19th. Scoring for third-place Guilderland were Marissa Buyck, 16th; Casey Gerety, 17th; Laurie Knapp, 23rd; and Alicia Switser, 28th.
Queensbury boys won by taking four of the first five places. After Frielinghaus and Newell came Nick Underwood, fourth, and Mike Mulshine, fifth. Scotia-Glenville’s points were earned by Avery Francois, 13th; Alex Gilgore, 14th; Ben Kraines, 17th; and Tom Zabin, 21st. Guilderland’s best four were Andrew Klug, ninth; Barrett Smith, 19th, Chris Whalen, 20th; and Bryan Dyer, 24th.
GIRLS
Team scores
Queensbury 14, Scotia-Glenville 54, Guilderland 84, Mayfield 92, Lake George 95, Glens Falls and Shenendehowa 107, Johnsburg 108, Johnstown 149, Saratoga Springs 162, Canajoharie 243.
Top ten individuals
Carly Wynn (Q) 23:51, Danille Winslow (Q) 25:12, Kate Mulcahy (GF) 26:02, Brittany Winslow (Q) 26:11, Emma Underwood (LG) and Emily Burns (Jburg) 26:37 (tie), Morgan Mueller (Q) 26:45, Ashley Forshey (SG) 26:47, Katie Zeppetelli (SG) 27:31, Gabby Lebihan (Q) 27:32.
BOYS
Team scores
Queensbury 13, Scotia-Glenville 65, Lake George 67, Guilderland 72, Johnsburg 115, Johnstown 117, Saratoga Springs 128, Mayfield 134, Canajoharie 172, Shenendehowa 189.
Top ten individuals
Steve Petramale (LG) and Will Frielinghaus (Q) 26:37 (tie), Aaron Newell (Q) 26:41, Nick Underwood (Q) 27:58, Mike Mulshine (Q) 28:19; Willie Underwood (LG) 28:26, Jon Flint (Q) 29:04, Brett Schlesier (Jtown) 29:12; Andrew Klug (Guild) 29:25, Taylor Perry (Q) 29:35.
Categories: High School Sports
