Cross country - A preview of the Section 9 championships

PHOTOS: Varsity 845 cross country graduates running collegiately

Habits are hard to break, but make sure you're headed in the correct direction for Tuesday's Section 9 cross country championships.

The event, long hosted at Bear Mountain State Park, will be held at Mount Academy in Esopus.

Warwick junior Leo Shostal is the defending boys Class A champ, and he should be challenged by Monroe-Woodbury junior Leo Gowrie and Kingston seniors Redi Felton and Jackson Beesmer. Cornwall, which just won its first OCIAA meet team title, should be favored in Class B, led by senior Luke Potter and junior Colin Lewis. Among favorites in the race are Goshen senior Jackson St. Lawrence and Wallkill senior Nate Diemoz. Defending champ Mount Academy and O'Neill will challenge in Class C. The Class D race should be very close with Sullivan West and defending champ Tri-Valley - Giuseppe Gardner and Bryce Bressler of Sullivan West were top-30 finishers at the OCIAA meet.

The girls Class A race should be challenging. Monroe-Woodbury senior Olivia Heim is the defending champ, and Kingston seniors Charlotte McFarland, Maeve Paul and Hazel Lewis have had strong seasons. Cornwall brings great top strength and would be favored in Class B, a young squad that includes top-20 OCIAA finishers Kaitlyn Hartwig, Jorie Green, Madeline Lewis. Tri-Valley senior Anna Furman is the top runner in Section 9 and should have no problem repeating as Class D champ; teammates Maria Gelsomino and Amaya Meade should bolster the Bears' team effort.

The winning team in each class race will advance to states, and the top five finishers NOT from the winning squad will also advance. The top five finishers per team will count toward point totals, while sixth- and seventh-place finishers will count toward displacing points.

The larger schools will run in the morning, followed by the smaller schools in the afternoon. The order of races: Class A boys, 10 a.m.; Class B boys, 11 a.m.; Class A girls, 11 a.m.; Class B girls, 11:30 a.m.; Class D boys, 12:30 p.m.; Class C boys, 1 p.m.; Class D girls, 1:30 p.m.; Class C girls, 2 p.m.

The course at Mount Academy will not be new to most visiting teams with more than two dozen making the trip to Esopus for the Sept. 12 invitational. On that early season day, Jackson St. Lawrence and Shaun Brenner of Goshen were 1-2 in the boys race, Gowrie fourth and Beacon's Travis Dickston sixth; the top girls finishers were Abigail Caputo of Minisink, Charlotte McFarland of Kington, Hannah Chapin of Rondout, Maeve Paul of Kingston and Avery Flynn and Camryn Flynn of Washingtonville.

A year ago, the boys champions were Monroe-Woodbury in Class A (25-64 over Kingston); Cornwall in Class B (41-59 over Lourdes); Mount Academy in Class C (29-45 over O'Neill); and, Tri-Valley in Class D (44-53 over Burke). The girls champions were Monroe-Woodbury in Class A (38-47 over Kingston); Cornwall in Class B (33-89 over New Paltz); Rondout Valley in Class C (26-32 over O'Neill); and, Tri-Valley in Class D (19-61 over Burke).

The state championships will return to a familiar course at Queensbury High School on Saturday, Nov. 14. That schedule has the boys going first (Class C, D, A, B) every half hour from 9:30 a.m., and the girls going next (Class C, D, A, B) every half hour from noon.

Class A - Newburgh; Middletown; Monroe-Woodbury; Kingston; Pine Bush; Valley Central; Warwick; Washingtonville; F.D. Roosevelt; Poughkeepsie (boys)

Class B - Minisink Valley; Cornwall; Goshen; Wallkill; Monticello; Beacon; Our Lady of Lourdes; Saugerties; Port Jervis; New Paltz; Marlboro; Mount Academy (boys)

Class C - Liberty; Red Hook; Spackenkill; Rondout Valley; Highland; Fallsburg; Ellenville; Dover; James I. O'Neill; Onteora

Class D - Rhinebeck; Chester; Sullivan West; John S. Burke Catholic; Tri-Valley; Millbrook; SS. Seward; Rockland; Eldred; Chapel Field; Tuxedo; Not running in 2026 - Pine Plains; Webutuck; Homestead