Championship Season

It has been a busy end of the year for Webster Schroeder XC!  For the second year in a row, Schroeder was represented at both the State Meet and the Federation Meet.

At the NYSPHSAA (New York State Public High School Athletic Association) Cross Country Championships, held at Veron-Verona-Sherill High School, east of Syracuse, on November 12th, Amanda Paratore improved upon her 40th place finish in 2010, by placing 25th in the Class A race.  This improvement was especially impressive, given the elimination of Class AA meant that the old Class AA was combined with a substantial portion of Class A, to create a much stronger field.  That is the best performance by a Webster Schroeder girl since 2001, when Kristen Coon placed 3rd, when there was only one high school in Webster.

This past weekend, the Federation Meet was held at Bowdoin Park in Wappinger Falls, south of Poughkeepsie.  Val Palermo, who was the fastest girl in the state that did not qualify for the State Meet, was granted a spot in the Federation Meet, based on her performances at Sectionals and earlier in the year.  Amanda's performance at the State Meet secured her spot at the Federation Meet.  Only 40 individuals are invited from public schools outside of New York City, so for two Schroeder girls to be invited is an excellent accomplishment.

Because of the way the start locations are drawn, Amanda and Val had to line up in different locations along the starting line.  Fortunately, the locations were not too far apart: boxes 25 and 30, respectively.  The race went out very fast, but the girls were able to locate each other through the crowded field by the end of 150 meters.  At the 1/2 mile mark, they were placed in the high 60s, in a very crowded and steady stream of runners.  They passed the mile in just about 6 minutes.  Val was able to move ahead a little bit on the first part of the challenging uphill that dominates much of the first half of the second mile, but Amanda caught back up as they passed the top.  When they came down the hill just before the 1.75 mile mark, they had moved almost to the top 50, with 40th place only ahead by several seconds.  The third mile featured very evenly-matched girls trying to hold each other off as they came off the last part of the downhill, then up for the final loop around the large field.  In the final stretch, Val was able to catch one last girl to move up to 48th place, and Amanda was able to fight off another girl to hang on to 50th.  So, both girls were able to top AJ's 54th place finish from a year ago, which had been the first Schroeder appearance at the Feds, since the schools split.

The girls report that they are already looking forward to next year's Cross Country season!

And so am I!