Birds flying high in cross-country
VOORHEESVILLE Its been another successful year for the Voorheesville cross-country teams.
The boys team won the Colonial Council regular season championship and the girls team finished second in the league behind powerhouse Holy Names.
"We’re stronger this year than last year," said Voorheesville coach Kelly McHale. "The boys won the Colonial Council but we have the championship race on Tuesday. The boys went undefeated and the girls only lost to Holy Names. They finished better in the Colonial Council than last year. We also lost to Cohoes."
The league meet will be held at Saratoga State Park on Tuesday. The Blackbirds just competed in the Burnt Hills Invitational on Saturday at that site and the boys team won and the girls were second in their tough division.
"This was our second time at Saratoga," McHale said. "Last week, we did really well. We got up there and we were scheduled to run in the Division I race. But we asked to be moved up to Division II and they did. It was nice competition. Sectionals are up there again."
The season has gone smoothly for the Blackbird teams this year. Theyve had just one injury, to Alison Vogelien.
"She had an injury from track and it’s come back in the middle of this season," McHale said. "But she’s back now and it makes the team even stronger."
The Birds continue to be led by Mackey Lloyd on the boys side and Hilary Edmunds on the girls side. But McHale said a bunch of other runners have contributed all season.
"Chantel Little and Grace Giampaglia have stepped up pretty well," McHale said. "And on the boys’ team we have a battle for the two through five spots with Ryan Allison, Nathan Bub, Conor Cashian, and Ian Powell. It’s made them a lot stronger and everyone a lot faster."
The boys team beat Fonda-Fultonville at the Burnt Hills Invitational on Saturday and the rivals will see each other at the sectional meet in early November.
"They are now gunning for us," McHale said. "It’s a great accomplishment for us. They beat us at the first two meets at Fonda and Blackbird [Invitational] by four points. We lost to them in sectionals last year. They’re the big one and they are very strong. But we have the ability to pull something out. This is the best season I’ve seen in awhile. We’ll do some things on November 3."