Senior Maggie Hashmall and sophomore Sarah Corning both qualified for the NY State Championships by placing 7th and 8th in the Section 1 Class A Championships in Pawling, NY. Hashmall ran 20:48 and Corning 20:49, both PR's.
The girls team placed 2nd for the 2nd year in a row and for the 7th time since 2000, the year coach Fulton started. The team looked very different from last year's varsity team. They were missing #1 girl Eve Marenghi because of injury and Claire Roediger, a varsity team member, missed the whole season with a hamstring injury. Out of the top 9 girls on last years team, only Hashmall, Corning, and Tillman raced this year at Sectionals.
Hashmall, a senior captain running in her 2nd XC season, finally had the race she was training for all summer. She went out hard with the pack, stormed the hill, and tried to hang on teammate Sarah Corning before out kicking her down the stretch. Corning looked poised to move up even more in the middle but faded a little near the finish as the Harrison girls was charging.
It is the first time since 2005 that Somers is sending 2 runners of the same gender to the state meet. It also extends the Tuskers streak to 13 straight years of sending at least one runner to states.
Senior Crosby Tillman finisher up her career with a lifetime best time of 21:19. Tilllman was finally healthy for the whole year and proved what she can do when she feels good. She went out hard and tried to qualify for states and hung on for 15th place.
Freshman Bene Abbate placed 21st in 21:50. A late addition to the roster, Abbate proved to be vital to the teams success, running in the top 4 at every meet she competed in. With summer miles under her belt next year she promised to be fighting for the #1 spot on the team next year.
Perhaps the biggest improvement of the year came from sophomore Jackie Kruger. Kruger placed 22nd in 21:50, running 1:20 faster than she did just 2 weeks ago to step up as the teams 5th girls after Marenghi went down. Kruger, who has good track speed, looks to be a big part of the teams future.
Rounding out the squad was a pare of rookies: Sophomore Kelli Licursi and freshman Christine Nolan. Nolan placed 51st in 24:04 while Licursi was 59th in 24:27. Licursi was on the varsity team the entire season as a rookie and looks to step it up indoors as a top race walker.
