SECTION IV BOYS CROSS COUNTRY: NV'S SHERWOOD, SVEC'S AVERY QUALIFY FOR STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS (2018-11-01)
BY TIM TAYLORTioga County Sports ReportFENTON, N.Y. - A pair of local underclassmen are heading to the state championships. Newark Valley freshman Jonny Sherwood and SVEC sophomore Calum Avery placed third and fourth, respectively, at the Section IV Class C championships at Chenango Valley State Park Thursday.
Sherwood registered a time of 17:34.1 while Avery crossed the finish line in 18:00.4. The only runners ahead of the duo were a pair of junior standouts, Watkins Glen's Gabe Planty, who clocked 16:30.1, and Windsor's Josh Stone with a time of 16:47.4.
Both Sherwood and Avery were feeling pretty good about their accomplishment.
"It feels really good, being my first year running. I'm really proud of myself," Sherwood said. "I think I did good. I was pretty far apart between every one, so I was pretty confident in coming in third, because I knew Josh and Gabe were quite a ways ahead of me, and then I had some space between fourth."
"I think it hasn't fully sunk in," Avery said. "I understand that it's happened, but I just can't believe that it actually happened for real, so it's amazing.
"I wasn't expecting to do great. Like at the start, I didn't think it was going to go well. I think sometimes you just have to fall into a groove, and once you fall into it you kind of know. It felt good, so I'm pleased with it."
Windsor would win the team title with 87 points and Chenango Forks was second with 96. NV and Waverly both scored 111 points. SVEC was 10th with 204.
Connor Yetter, 12th in 18:39.2, Noah Waterman, 26th with a 19:16.1, Mark Vosburgh, 29th in 19:20, and Patrick Bishop, 41st with a 19:47.5.
NV's other competitors were Seth Hartenstein, 42nd (19:50.3); Jake Ludwig, 47th (20:12.3); Tim Bishop, 65th (21:34.1); Ryan Hawley, 71st (22:05.8).
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Scoring for the Eagles were Levi Mickelson in 22nd with a 19:10.4, Ryan Hodges in 50th, clocking 20:21.8, Issac Lindridge taking 64th with a time of 21:31.9 and Ben Dizer placing 73rd in 22:22.
Also running for SVEC were Zach Watson, 80th (22:45.5); Bryce Mills, 87th (23:00.3); and Luke Simonton, 96th (27:19.5).
The state championships will be held next Saturday at Sunken Meadow State Park on Long Island.
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IN PHOTO 1: Newark Valley's Jonny Sherwood. - PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.
