GUILDERLAND — On his home turf, Guilderland senior Roland Graves defended the title of top runner.

After watching former teammate Brian Rhodes-Devey win the Guilderland Invitational, it was Graves’s turn to win and he did, holding off Jacob Smith of Thousand Islands of Canada by four-tenths of a second to win the 37th installment of the Guilderland meet held at Tawasentha Park.
"Roland had a kid from Thousand Islands stay with him," said Guilderland Coach Bob Oates. "And then they finished less than one second apart. And their times put them third and fourth all-time in the top 25. That’s pretty fast running.
"We didn’t expect that from Jacob Smith," Oates added. "He made a big jump and he surprised himself, and he surprised Roland, that’s for sure."

Graves won the race in 14:01 and Smith was right behind in a time of 14:02.

Rain threatened to damper the event, but stopped early enough for the meet to go on without much of a problem.
"It was raining in the morning and I went into a tailspin for awhile," Oates said. "I always think of the kids’ safety and the course and cars getting stuck and other things as well. The rain stopped and we were able to have some great racing.
"Temperature-wise, it was perfect for the runners," Oates added. "It had awhile to dry and the rain soaked right in. I got a lot of compliments on the course about it being safe and fast by my own personal team and others."

Second place

The Dutchmen team finished second behind Burnt Hills by a score of 43-58. The places of each team’s runners are tallied up, and the lower, the better.
"Burnt Hills did a good job not just on the boys’ but the girls’ as well," Oates said. "They get a pack of runners up front. They don’t have the one top runner, but they are strong as a group and that helps their team score well."
There were fewer teams at the meet this year. Twenty-five teams came, which is "a bit down" from other years, Oates said.
"We lost a few," he said. "There are a few more meets out there. I think there are three or four on the same day as ours. And the price of gas keeps teams from travelling like they used to. Twenty-five is a good field in the small and large divisions. It was a well-balanced field. But I would like to have 35 to 40. I like to be at that many from a competition point of view."

Oates was pleased with his team and how it competed on Saturday. He was also impressed by Graves’s running.
"He did quite well," Oates said on Wednesday. "He didn’t run yesterday, because he felt a little twinge in his hamstring. We pulled him just to be safe."

Graves has had to take on more of a leadership role with the departure of Rhodes-Devey, who is now running at the University of Texas.
"When Brian left, Roland found out the hard way," Oates said. "Everybody was expecting him to lead. I don’t think he knew how much people looked to Brian. Roland’s a captain, and everyone looks to him and looks to what to do. That happens. The best runner on the team becomes a captain, whether they are appointed or not."

Personal records

Oates has 33 runners on the varsity and junior varsity teams. On Saturday, a majority of them set personal records.
"Roland took off 19 seconds," Oates said. "At the rate he is going, it’s going to be enormous. All the runners better themselves. The JVs really moved up and made great improvements overall. They all ran well at the invitational. It’s our home meet. They know the course and now they have the home crowd cheering."

Justin Veldhuis was the next Guilderland finisher on Saturday. He came in ninth in a time of 14:52.

Kevin Sheehan finished 13th for the Dutchmen. He clocked 15:04.

Gianni Vissat came in 17th for Guilderland. Will Russo was right behind, coming in the next spot.

Jacob King was 23rd for the Dutchmen and Dan Lee came in 30th.
"We have some guys moving up and down from junior varsity," Oates said. "We are splitting 30 seconds between our second and fifth runners. I would like to tighten that up more. And I would like to move the whole pack up closer to Roland."

Oates liked what he saw from his runners, but a couple stood out a little more.
"Will Russo made an impression," Oates said. "He’s improved that much. He’s is coming up quickly. Gianni Vissat improved by 33 seconds and is approaching the 15-minute mark for our course."

Oates also expects some big things from King, though he is struggling in the early part of the season.
"He is not back to his p.r.," Oates said of his personal record. "But he will get back to it. He did the same thing last season. It takes awhile to get his competitive juices flowing."

"Ultimate goal"

Oates wants his team peaking later in the season, when the big, important meets come in late October and early November.

Though the Dutch have earned some respect to start the season.
"At the start of the season," the coach said, "we were ranked 10th in the state. That was for the pre-season. In Class AA, last week, we were ranked eighth. But then we lost to Burnt Hills. But between Class A and Class AA we’re probably around 10th. That will help us in making the Federation meet. That is our ultimate goal.
"We want to go to the Federation Meet and we tailor all our workouts for that," Oates added. "We take all our meets seriously, but we are working for the end of the season. We want to do well with everything at the end of the line."