BERNE — This year’s state cross-country meet will be a little different for Berne-Knox-Westerlo’s coach, Bill Tindale.

Tindale has coached the Class D Section II champion in the boys’ race for the past four years and led the team to a state title last year. But this year, BKW was moved up to Class C, a more competitive class, and went up against a talented and strong Fonda-Fultonville team. BKW finished second in the sectional meet behind the Braves.
"It was a very strong Fonda team," Tindale said. "They may be the best team in the state. I’m pleased with our performance. When you win for so many years, you are concerned that there might be a little bit of a letdown. But in my mind, we won this year."

BKW will be represented at the state meet. Ada Lauterbach won the Class C girls’ race and Travis DeRusso finished second in the boys’ race behind Fonda’s Jeremy McAllister. Jared Finke also qualified for the Bulldogs after finishing eighth. The top five finishers that were not on the winning team qualify for the state meet. Fonda had three finishers in the top eight.

Tindale was excited to see Lauterbach win the sectional title and he guesses she was too.
"I think she was," Tindale said. "It’s hard to tell, she’s pretty even-keeled. I’m thrilled for her. There were five or six runners that could’ve won. It came down to just who had the best day.
"She ran a very intelligent race," Tindale added. "A lot of runners came out strong and she held back and slowly and steadily waited to make her move. At about two-and-a-half miles, the leaders began struggling and Ada was able to pick it up."

Lauterbach won the race in 20:03 and the BKW girls’ team finished fifth overall.
"It’s very competitive in Class C," Tindale said. "We’ve been ranked in the state, 12th or 13th. All the teams ranked ahead of us in the state beat us as well. That will help us get better."

DeRusso ran a tight race against McAllister and ran with the winner for most of the race before finishing five seconds behind McAllister.

DeRusso had a strong season.
"He won quite a few invitationals," Tindale said. "He won at Burnt Hills, Guilderland, and Fonda earlier in the season. He was first or second in every race except for the Albany County and he was fifth there."

Both BKW teams have young runners.

Sarah Furman and Katie Schoiniere are the only seniors on the girls’ team. DeRusso will graduate from the boys’ team, but the rest of the top runners will return.

Looking ahead
"The kids are excited about the future," Tindale said. "We get almost everyone back.

Tindale is happy with strides his teams made this season.
"They achieved far more than what was reasonable," Tindale said. "That is attributed to their work ethic. I very much enjoyed coaching this team."

And, with a lot of young runners returning to an established program, the future looks bright for the Bulldogs.
"Eighty percent of the team is freshmen, sophomores, and eighth-graders," Tindale said. "I except us to challenge for sectional titles for years. And, if we get a couple more girls, we can bring that program up to the level of the boys."