Rockland Runners Ready for State Cross Country Saturday

Rockland County will be well represented in the Class B races at the NYSPHSAA State Cross Country Saturday in Queensbury.

The Section 1 champion Pearl River girls enter enters the state meet ranked No. 2 in Class B by the New York State Sportswriter's Association. The track and cross country website tullyrunners.com lists Pearl River and East Aurora, which finished second in the state a year ago, as being relatively even as the top contenders for the team title. Each has depth and features one of the top individual runners in the state, senior Marta McLaughlin for East Aurora and senior Kelly Hayes for Pearl River.

Tappan Zee's Erin Jaskot beat out Hayes for the individual Section 1 championship last week and is also a threat for a high finish. Nanuet's Mary Kate O'Meara also qualified for the state Class B race as an individual runner. 

Tappan Zee won the Section 1 boys championship goes into Saturday ranked No. 4 in the state in Class B by the New York State Sportswriter's Association. Tullyrunners.com listed Pittsford Mendon as the favorite in a strong field of team contenders.  Tappan Zee features two of the top runners in Class B in juniors Luke Gavigan and Liam Burke.

Pearl River senior Brian Cook, the Section 1 champion, placed himself among the top runners in the state regardless of class with his times this season. Lake Shore's T.J. Hornberger is another top contender for the Class B individual title. Nanuet's Kyle Chesterman, Pearl River's Mike Mahoney and David Gates of Nyack also qualified for the state meet as individuals in Class B.

The full list of teams and individual runners from Rockland County who qualified for states is as follows. (Thank you to Tom Doherty for his help with the full list).

Boys Races

Class A
Team

• North Rockland

• Tappan Zee

• Brian Cook, Pearl River
• Mike Mahoney, Pearl River
• Kyle Chesterman, Nanuet
• David Gates, Nyack

• Suffern

• Alex Harris, North Rockland (Alternate)

• Pearl River

• Erin Jaskot, Tappan Zee
• Mary Kate O'Meara, Nanuet

• Emily Auld, Albertus Magnus (Alternate)