Liverpool Three Hold Their Own Against Top Competition in New York State

By Danielle Kennedy

CANTON, N.Y. - When the sun peeked out during the boys Class A race at the State Championship meet Saturday, spectators had every reason to celebrate for the fifteen minutes of warmth that felt far too short-lived.  For three Liverpool runners though, their reason to celebrate will never expire, even though the race conditions were muddy, windy, and cold.

Junior Ben Petrella, and Seniors Dylan McCarthy and Connor Buck earned All-State honors, finishing top-20 in the boys Class A race.



(c) 2014 Danielle Kennedy

Bryce Millar of Fayetteville-Manlius earned his second-consecutive NYSPHSAA championship title, finishing the 5k race in 15:30.3.  Petrella finished in second with a time of 15.35.6, earning his third-consecutive All-State honor and placing higher than any other Liverpool runner has at the state championship.

Petrella finished strong after staying conservative in the first half of the race, a strategy he conceded could have caused him problems.

“My biggest risks were not going out fast enough, and waiting and trusting myself to reel them in at the end,” Petrella said.

Although he passed nearly a dozen runners in the second-half of the race, Petrella  could not close the five-second gap on Millar.  The toughest part, he said, was trying to run hard through the mud in the last 400 meters of the race.    

Following Suit

McCarthy made his first state championship appearance Saturday, placing tenth overall with a time of 16.01.4.  He said the best part of the day was passing runners who couldn't maintain a fast pace.

“It was really fun to watch people go out hard up front who weren’t supposed to be there, and then they died,” he said.  



(c) Danielle Kennedy 

After a disappointing performance at the Section 3  meet last weekend, Buck said this race brought some life back to him and his teammates.  His 17th place finish (16.12.2) earned him honors for the second-consecutive time.   

"I wanted top-ten [today], but the fact that I felt great today and seeing Dylan and Ben's performance, I'm happy," Buck said. 

With the pressure of team competition turned off , Buck said it helped him focus more on having fun.  

“I was definitely more relaxed today, especially in the first 800 [meters].  I didn’t let my nerves get the best of me, which is what usually happens. We knew we were going out individually and as individuals we wanted to do best for ourselves.”  

Mud Run  

By the time the Class A race started, nearly 600 runners from the five previous races had turned the already muddy course into a treacherous slip n' slide.  Runners lost their spikes, slipped, fell, and threw their arms up in the air as they skated through four-inch deep sections of mud.

 

But Liverpool head coach Tracey Vannatta said the mud didn't hinder the Warriors' strength.  Instead, it was even more of an opportunity to have fun.   

“I told them before the race, ‘if there’s something you’ve been doing that you don’t like, now is the time to try something different," she said.  “This race wasn’t really our focus.  If we had our whole team we certainly would’ve came ready to race hard in the mud,” she later added.



(c) Danielle Kennedy 

 

Remembering Teammates

As the three Warriors stripped off their warm-ups four minutes before the gun went off, Senior captains Dan Muldoon and Nick LeClair watched from a distance.  

Muldoon, who competed at states his past two seasons and earned All-State honors as a junior, said being there to support his teammates felt bittersweet.  These two will have three weeks until Nike Cross Country Regionals to race with their teammates again.

Sadly referencing his teammates, Petrella said, "they deserve to be here, even though they weren't in the race.  Well, they deserved to be in the race, but that's a story for another day."

Full Results Courtesy of Leone Timing