GUILDERLAND — Guilderland’s Brian Rhodes-Devey was ecstatic on Friday afternoon.
So had the senior cross-country runner added another first-place trophy to his vast collection at the Section II meet held at Saratoga Spa State Park" No.

But Rhodes-Devey was celebrating the accomplishments of some of his friends.

He finished second in the Class AA race in a much-anticipated showdown with friend and rival Steve Murdock of Shenendehowa.
"It was a hell of a race," Rhodes-Devey said on Friday. "I knew Steve and I would take it. I was looking forward to it. You definitely have to race against him to understand how powerful he is. He ran a hell of a race and he really kicked it in at the end."

Murdock finished in 14:36.5, just one second off the course record. Rhodes-Devey came in at 14:46.7 improving his time by eight seconds from last year’s sectionals.

It was a good day for the Guilderland team. Roland Graves finished eighth overall but was the fourth non-Shenendehowa finisher and clinched a spot in the state meet that takes place this weekend. The top five runners not from the winning team, which was Shen, also go to states.

Graves ran a time of 15:34 to earn his spot.
"We had four people below 15 minutes," said Guilderland Coach Bob Oates. "And Brian took eight seconds off his time, which is unbelievable. Both will move forward and we have four more races to go for Brian."
"It’s awesome," Rhodes-Devey said about Graves’s qualifying for states. "Roland worked his butt off all year. He really has been putting the miles in and doing everything he needs to do. I knew he would be right on the bubble. It’s incredible; I am so proud of him."

Second place
"I knew I couldn’t give up at all," Graves said. "I put another gear on in time and just kept running for my life."

The Dutchmen finished second with 74 points. Shen won with 24 points, and Niskayuna followed with 82 points.

Justin Velhuis was 20th overall in a time of 16:19.5. Jared Moriarty was 21st in 16:20.6 and Kevin Sheehan was 23rd in a time of 16:30:.5.

Jacob King and Fabio Ritmo also ran for the Dutchmen but their place finishes did not count toward the points.
"I’m very pleased," Oates said. "Overall, our times were unbelievable. We had a lot of personal records and huge jumps. Everybody ran as hard as he could. I’m hoping for a Federation bid. We put all our cards on the table. We got two on the bus. Roland is on the bus. He had a good enough year, but he came out of nowhere."

Graves set a personal record of 21 seconds on the Saratoga course.
"I’ve put in a good amount of miles over the summer," Graves said. "I was not giving up today. No way."

Team work

The Murdock/Rhodes-Devey battle came down to the final stretch.
"We were duking it out for most of it," Rhodes-Devey said. "He didn’t pull away until the back woods. I was hoping to hold on to second, especially after last year, which was kind of a disaster."

Rhodes-Devey finished sixth at sectionals last year, but won the state meet the next week.

He is looking forward to defending his title this weekend at the state meet in Warwick in Orange County.
"I’m looking forward to getting on that course again," Rhodes-Devey said. "It’ll be great to have Roland there. He’s been my training partner. He’s been there for me all year. He was there for me this summer when I had to go on the 6:30-in-the-morning runs."

Graves said that Rhodes-Devey also had an impact in his running.
"He helps a lot with workouts," Graves said. "He helps me out with everything. I was so nervous today, and he told me some stuff because he’s been here before. He helps me out with everything."

Graves was chasing Matt Bogdan of Shaker at the end of the race. He didn’t catch Bogdan but the pace he kept allowed him to finish with a great time.
"I stayed with him," Graves said. "I wasn’t going to let up. This is the best feeling in the world. I’m hurting so much, but it’s a great feeling."

Girls’ results

The Guilderland girls’ team finished sixth in the Class AA race earlier on Friday. Erin Mossop, an eighth-grader, was the top Lady Dutch runner. She came in 23rd in a time of 19:07. Jen Madsen was 24th in 19:09.5.

Courtney DeLorenzo was 36th, Lea Cure was 39th, and Lynley Joynt was 40th. Kelly Camardo and Abbey Levy also ran for the Lady Dutch but their finishes didn’t count in the scoring. The Lady Dutch will have room for improvement as DeLorenzo is the only senior who ran at sectionals.
"We had a good finish today," said Coach Dave Kosier. "But this team will get better and we’ll be very competitive next year."