S-VE'S ELLISON, CANDOR'S LANG POST TOP-20 FINISHES
Tioga County Sports Report
CHENANGO FORKS, N.Y. — In her first year running cross country, 8th-grader Hadley Merrill is headed to States after a runner-up finish here Thursday at the Section IV, Class D Girls Cross-Country Championships at the 5K Chenango Valley State Park course.
Merrill clocked in with a time of 20:51.8 — finishing just off the pace of Deposit-Hancock 8th-grader Kali Buttacavoli — to lead the Cardinals to a second-place finish in the Class D team standings.
"We are very excited for Hadley (Merrill), she ran an amazing race and has improved every race this season," said Newark Valley coach Eric D'Arcy.
"We are also very proud of the girls and boys teams throughout the year," he said. "This may have been the most improved cross-country teams we have ever coached in my 32 years at Newark Valley.
"The kids were focused all season and made huge strides all season.
"This was the best Class D girls has been in Section IV in many many years and to take second as a team was a huge achievement," added D'Arcy.
Delhi-South Kortright won the team title with 49 placement points, while Newark Valley had 68, third-place Trumansburg had 73, and fourth-place O-M tallied 83 points.
Newark Valley senior Brook Illsley narrowly missed a trip to States, placing eighth in a time of 21:22.8, while senior Olivia Vaughn (23:55.6) and junior Malerie Gregow (23:59.8) finished 22nd and 23rd, respectively.
Sophomore Leah Lansing (24:42.7) and 8th-grader Nora McCann (24:42.8) were 34th and 35th, respectively, while junior Abigail Escalante was 37th in 24:56.2, and senior Savannah Beebe was 40th in 25:21.5.
Newark Valley sophomore Elle Webb finished 49th in 25:57.5, and senior Emily LaPorte was 52nd in 26:19.5.
The New York State Cross-Country Championships are set for Nov. 15 at Queensbury High School.
ELLISON PLACES 14TH TO PACE S-VE
Junior Madelyn Ellison finished 14th in a time of 22:57.4 to pace S-VE at the Class D meet, while junior Sofae Cook was 59th in 27:17.4, and senior Grace Bishop was 72nd in 29:54.3.
LANG FINISHES 18TH TO LEAD CANDOR
Sophomore Zoey Lang finished 18th in a time of 23:33.4 to lead Candor at the Class D meet, and senior Calli Marsh was 76th in 31:15.2.
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IN PHOTO 1: Newark Valley's Hadley Merrill. IN TOP PHOTO: Newark Valley's Hadley Merrill. ... PHOTOS BY BRIAN FEES.
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