Nike Cross Regionals - New York Boys

1 1 Mike Brannigan JR Northport XC Club 15:29.9 7:52 7:38 197.03 197 2 TJ Hornberger SR UNA-NY-Derby 15:40.8 7:53 7:48 193.40 193 *** 3 Josh Dyrland SR UNA-NY-Rochester 15:42.6 7:52 7:51 192.80 193 *** 4 2 Bryce Millar JR Manlius XC 15:45.2 7:52 7:54 191.93 192 5 3 Andrew Berge SR Manlius XC 15:45.7 7:54 7:52 191.77 192 6 Benito Muniz JR UNA-NY-Carmel 15:45.8 7:52 7:54 191.73 192 *** 7 4 Aidan Tooker SO Kinetic RC 15:46.2 7:57 7:50 191.60 192 *** 8 5 Tim McGowan SR Northport XC Club 15:48.0 7:53 7:55 191.00 191 9 6 Patrick Tucker JR Assisi XC Club 15:52.3 7:53 8:00 189.57 190 *** 10 Brian Cook SR UNA-NY-Pearl River 15:55.7 7:52 8:04 188.43 188 11 7 Tom Slattery SR Flyers XC Club 15:55.8 7:55 8:01 188.40 188 12 8 Peter Ryan SO Manlius XC 15:58.2 7:55 8:04 187.60 188

Breakdown

The fastest Bowdoin Boy's Race of all time, hands down. The top twelve individuals broke sixteen minutes. Since 1989, no more than four runners had ever broken that barrier in a single race. If you're looking for more perspective, when Nick Ryan of FM broke the course record, the next closest mark was Mickey Burke in 15:52. This year, their were nine people in front of that mark. But let's talk about that course record, which last year we cited as almost an untouchable record for the coming years. Mikey Brannigan of Northport taught us to never be so sure. Up the hill, the pack stayed close-knit, with all the expected front runners in tow. Tyler Ranke of Hilton did much of the early leading, with a swarm FM Hornets at his side. Included as well was Benito Muniz, Brian Cook, TJ Hornberger, Josh Dyrland, and more. Through the 1.5 mile mark, it was still a pack race, going at an honest pace. Exiting the woods, it was Section 1's Benito Muniz of Carmel who was pulling away, but Northport's Brannigan and Tim McGowan had moved into frontrunning potential. Out of the woods and onto the dirt road, the final pack began to separate, as Brannigan and Josh Dyrland of Irondequoit settled for the lead. That's when it happened, right at the 2-Mile mark shown pictured below. Brannigan hit another gear. What had been an honest pace, right around 15:45, skyrocketed into an all-out sprint. On the pace cart leading the race, we had to speed up significantly as Brannigan surged on every straightaway. Winning wasn't the only thing on the juniors mind, he wanted a time that would set him out to challenge the leaders next week. Pushing all the way to the line, Brannigan clocked in just two seconds shy of that course record set last year, hitting 15:29.2.

Fast times are no surprise to the now junior from Northport. He had been part of the successful 4x800m team last Spring. He also has been competing in Track and Field events since he was seven. Mikey, diagnosed autistic at age 2, began competitively running at 7 years old with a handicapped running club called Rolling Thunder. Rolling Thunder is a nonprofit organization set up specifically for physically and mentally challenged athletes. As an underclassmen, count us as excited to see what happens in the next two years with this talented athlete.

Team Champs

It was a season's worth of momentum heading into the Regional Qualifier. All the controversy behind the State Meet Selections, the back and forth between the State Rankings, and the up and down performances at the elite level. I am not the first to say it, but Saturday did not disappoint. To put it simply, Fayetteville-Manlius dominated the race, running something the original Stotans would be proud of. With that said, everyone knew the race for second would be just as tight, and nobody settled in through the line. Northport took second place, led by a strong top two finish. Fay-Man now holds the Team Average Course Record at Bowdoin, with Northport also under the old mark. When combined with the Northeast Races, both teams would retain their positions, Northport edging out CBA by one point. In third place, Liverpool ran a solid race, one which would earn them an At-Large position. Behind them, St. Anthony's also ran just as well. They look to be just seconds off an At-Large bid. When doing a regional merge, both Dana Hills and St. Anthony's ranked 16th, but Dana Hills had a few points less of a score. The only reason we can see they aren't out in Portland next week. A race all teams should be proud of.

1st Place - Fayetteville-Manlius

2nd Place - Northport

3rd Place - Liverpool - At-Large

TOP TEAMS: 1. 48 Manlius XC (16:02.4 80:11.6 0:41.6) *** Fayetteville-Manlius NY 2. 76 Northport XC Club (16:10.0 80:49.9 1:31.6) *** Northport NY 3. 94 Warriors of Liverpool (16:21.5 81:47.4 0:44.7) *** Liverpool NY 4. 107 Assisi XC Club (16:27.8 82:18.9 1:09.0) *** St. Anthony's NY 5. 121 Kinetic RC (16:32.3 82:41.5 1:04.3) 6. 142 Flyers XC Club (16:40.1 83:20.3 1:28.9) 7. 242 Fox Hill Running Club (17:13.6 86:07.9 1:07.4) 8. 251 Finger Lakes XC Club (17:16.3 86:21.4 1:30.4) 9. 263 Titan Ridge Runners (17:23.3 86:56.4 0:37.8) 10. 264 Riverside Runners (17:14.6 86:12.6 1:54.0)

Photo Highlights

The race strung out early, making the widening of the course essential to tactics.

The front pack separated at the mile mark, but remained at a solid twenty competitors.

At the 2-Mile mark, Brannigan exploded.

The torque needed to stay on the tangents was evident on the turns, as the overall speed was ever increasing.

Brannigan was running alone as he came to the final plateau.

TJ Hornberger took second overall, and first individual.