Shaun Thompson wins NYS State Steeplechase Championship, sets new Section III record.

John Nepolitan, Dystat.com

Thompson Wins State Steeplechase Championship - Shaun Thompson captured the 3000 meter steeplechase title on Saturday (June 12th) at the New York State Track and Field Championships at Vestal High School. Thompson set a new Section III record with his effort, finishing with a time of 9:20.30. The previous record of 9:21.32 was set by FM's John Heron in 2006. It was a great day for Section III as the Liverpool 4x800m team won their event with a time of 7:38.78 (improving on the Section III record they set earlier in the season), while FM's Alex Hatz placed first in the 1600m run with a time of 4:07.47 and Marcellus' Mike Quercia (1:50.27) and Liverpool's Zavon Watkins (1:51.28) placed 1st and 2nd in the 800m run. Two other Baldwinsville athletes qualified to compete at the state meet. Andrew Hoover finished in 19th place in the 110 high hurdles with a time of 16.01 seconds, while Brian Kane finished in a tie for 12th place in high jump with a 6 foot 2 inch effort.

Brian Lang earns All-American status at NCAA Nationals - Brian Lang, a 2007 Baker HS graduate and former MVP of the Baldwinsville cross country team, placed 3rd at the 2010 NCAA Division III National Track and Field Championships. Lang received an automatic bid to the race after winning the ECAC Championships 3000 meter steeplechase race with a time of 9:05.24, the fastest time run in Division III competition so far this year. In the championship race, Lang improved his time to 9:00.51. That time was only .25 seconds off the school steeplechase record set by Eric Lutz in 1982. Lutz is also a former Baldwinsville MVP, graduating from Baker HS in 1978. For more details check out the University of Rochester website.

Bees finish in 8th place at NXN NY Qualifiers - The Bees returned to Wappinger Fall's Bowdoin Park to finish out their season at the Nike Cross Country Nationals NY Qualifier on Saturday, 11/28. The meet brought together the top scholastic teams of the year in a contest to determine what teams and individuals from New York state would qualify to compete at the national championship next weeked in Portland, Oregon. Fayetteville-Manlius was the big winner, taking 1st place in both the boys' and girls'championship races. Burnt Hills-Ballston Spa placed 2nd in the boys' race, while Saratoga was the runner-up in the girls' race. The top two finishers receive automatic invitations to next week's championship. Otis Ubriaco of Burnt Hills was the individual winner in the boys' race while Lizzie Predmore of Shenendehowa was the winner in the girls' race. F-M's Brandon Farrell was the fastest central NY entrant, finishing 6th with a time of 16:16.1. The top 5 individuals not on one of the qualifiying teams also receive invitations to compete in the Portland final. Nate McCabe was the top Baldwinsville runner in the meet, completing the hilly 5 kilometer course in a time of 16:31.2 to finish in 10th place. McCabe was followed by Shaun Thompson in 15th place (16:38.8) and Adam Pacheck in 31st place (16:54.1). Completing the Baldwinsville effort were Chris Wicks (119th, 18:12), Ethan Pacheck (129th, 18:21), Charles Parker (146th, 18:45), and Jim Fleming (168th, 20:47.5). In addition to Baldwinsville and F-M, several other CNY teams competed in the meet. Liverpool placed 5th in the boys' team competition with Colin Savage (18th, 16:41.9) and Alex Wilkie (19th, 16:41.9) leading their squad, while Tully placed last in the field of 20 teams. Steve Houghmaster from Camillus ran unattached, finishing 26th with a time of 16:49.9.

B'ville boys second at National Division Championships - The #5 state ranked Baldwinsville Bees were narrowly edged by #2 state ranked Liverpool in the CNYCL National League meet this evening (10/21). The Bees finished second behind Liverpool by the score of 31 to 38. CNS finished third with 57 Followed by Rome with 111, Utica with 161, and Henninger with 169. The individual race winner was Liverpool's Colin Savage in 15:36 and he was followed closely by Baldwinsville's Shaun Thompson in 15:39. The race started off with a very slow pace as no team wanted to set the tempo, but by mile 2 the race was down to Liverpool and Bville with Shaun and Colin fighting for top honors. Other Bees scoring for the varsity squad were Nate McCabe 4th overall in 15:45, Adam Pacheck in 16:03, Chris Wicks in 16:14, first time varsity scorer Connor Martin in 16:18, Ethan Pacheck in 16:41, and Pat Colligan in 16:57. Also running fast for the Bees were Justin Dalaba in 19:16 a 1:03 improvement for the season, Shaun Devlin in 19:48 a 1:25 improvement, Andy Fleming in 16:59 a 6 second improvement, Jim Fleming in 17:45, Jon Hingre in 18:41, Andy Hoover in 18:40, Greg Johnson in 18:54 a 1:16 improvement, Jeremiah Johnson in 20:19 a 39 second improvement, Theo Kaminski in 18:36, Nate LoParco in 19:01 a 1:27 improvement, Antonio Martinez in 22:06, Ronnie May in 17:34, Zach McCaleb in 18:07, Casey McCallister in 20:45 a 1:27 improvement, Kevin Pregent in 18:44 a 12 second improvement, Matt Purdy in 19:39 a 1:22 improvement, and Brian Wisely in 18:35. The Bees also scored a dual meet against Henninger out of this meet and the Bees defeated Henninger 15-50 to make their final record for the season 4-1. The Bees look to avenge back to back losses to the Liverpool Warriors on November 7th at the sectional championships. Good Luck BEES!!!!

Bees defeat Rome - The boys team improved to 3-1 by defeating RFA 19-38. The Bees were led by Senior Adam Pacheck who won his first ever cross-country meet in 16:43. He was followed by Nate McCabe in 17:23, Chris Wicks in 17:29, Shaun Thompson in 17:58, Ethan Pacheck in 18:00, Charles Parker, Connor Martin, and Pat Colligan all in 18:24, Andy Fleming in 18:26, Ronnie May in 18:26, Jim Fleming in 18:37, Zach McCaleb in 19:10, John Hingre in 19:52, Kevin Pregent in 19:54, Chris Monohan in 19:56, Brian Wisely in 19:57, Andy Hoover in 21:13, Justin Dalaba in 21:14, Nate Loparco in 21:14, Shaun Devlin in 21:44, Drew Biederman in 21:59, Matt Purdy in 22:09, Casey McCallister in 22:38, Jeremiah Johnson in 22:54, and Antonio Martinez in 23:08.

Bees fall to Liverpool - The #2 Ranked Bville Bees hosted the #4 ranked Liverpool Warriors and were handed their first loss of the season in a very competitive race. The Bees attempted to set the early tempo on a very windy, cold, wet day, but the Warriors were up to the task as they were led to the finish line in a 1,2 finish by Colin Savage 15:34 and Alex Wilke 15:37. The Bees received tremendous efforts from Nate McCabe in 3rd 15:39, Shaun Thompson in 4th 15:47, Adam Pacheck in 7th 16:10, Chris Wicks in 8th 16:22, Ethan Pacheck in 11th 16:58, Connor Martin in 12th 17:05, and Pat Colligan in 13th 17:13. The final score was 23-33 in favor of Liverpool. Other Bees putting out fantastic efforts in the tough conditions were freshman sensation Andy Fleming 17:15, a nicked up Charles Parker 17:29, freshman sensation part deux Ronnie May 17:35, a breakthrough run by Jimmie Fleming 17:53, Zach McCaleb 18:14, Brian Wisely 18:35, Andrew Hoover 19:04, Kevin Pregent 19:10, Greg Johnson in 20:02, Justin Dalaba in 20:17, Nate Loparco in 20:17, Shaun Devlin in 20:47, Casey McCallister in 21:06, Drew Biederman in 21:13, Matt Purdy in 21:17, Jeremiah Johnson in 21:29, and Antonio Martinez in 22:18. Two Bees sacrificed their own times today for the betterment of the team by helping set the early pace and breaking the ferocious 30+ mile an hour winds for the rest of the field. Theo Kaminski and Jon Hingre ran 19:46 and 20:04 respectively after doing a fantastic job for the benefit of everyone else. Great effort Bees.

Girls' Varsity team places second at the Sherburne-Earlville Invitational - The Baldwinsville girls cross country team placed second at the Sherburne-Earlville Invitational on Saturday (10/3). It was a unique race where both the JV and Varsity squads ran in the same race. The course was one with many challenges including stream crossings and steep descents, but the girls faired well. As a result, the team ran strong from top to bottom. Nicole Waterrud of CNS was the first girl to cross the finish line with an impressive time of 18:56 and was also the fastest female competitor of the day. She led the CNS team to a victory for the race. The first girl to finish for the Bee’s was Nicole Fecco (7th, 21:31). Continuing to run extremely well and just on Nicole’s heels was Ashley Shaheen (10th, 21:40). Following ten seconds behind was an impressive pack of B’ville girls. They were led by Kristen Biedermann (13th, 21:50), and followed by Jaimee Balloni (14th, 21:54), Anne Peterson (15th, 21:56), Mallory Warner (16th, 22:04), Andrea Moore (18th, 22:12), and Erika Wilcox (19th, 22:15). Rounding out the team was Shelby Squire (23rd, 22:39), Aubrey Francis (28th, 23:01), Abby Nelson (32nd, 23:19), Lydia Darling (33rd, 23:34), Sarah Hall (34th, 23:44), Lara van Braam (35th, 23:56), Julia Johnson (36th, 23:57), Catherine Felberbaum (39th, 25:15), Megan Meszaros (42nd, 26:13), Holly McMahon (43rd, 26:14), Kimmy Cushman (45th, 26:47), Maria Halstead (47th, 26:49), Casey Alecewicz (51st, 28:23), and Rebekah Zarnowski ( 52nd, 28:39).

Girls’ team suffers first dual meet loss to CNS The girls gave a valiant effort in a loss to CNS last Wednesday (9/30). The score of the meet was 21 – 36, but it does not show how close the meet really was. CNS girls Nicole Watterud (1st, 18:28) and Marissa Colburn (2nd, 19:29) were the first two girls to enter the chute. Close behind was Kristina Sprague (3rd, 19:38) and Ashley Shaheen (4th, 19:55). Unfortunately, CNS put the next three girls across the line and sealed the victory

Varsity Boys defeat Northstars - The Bville Bees ran to their 11th consecutive league dual meet victory Wednesday with a 24-31 victory over the CNS Northstars. CNS's Chris Buchanan won the race with a time of 15:35, but 4 Bees cruised in right behind him to help the Bees gain the victory. The Bees were once again led by Shaun Thompson (2nd, 15:42), Nate McCabe (3rd, 15:47), Adam Pacheck (4th, 16:02), Chris Wicks (5th, 16:07), and Ethan Pacheck (10th, 16:31). The Bees also received some nice performances and some PR's from Pat Colligan (16:45) and Connor Martin (16:48). Other Bees competing to help the overall cause were Charlie Parker (16:54), Andy Fleming (17:07), Ronnie May (17:46), James Fleming (17:56), Brian Wisely with a PR(17:59), Zach McCaleb with a PR (17:59), Andy Hoover (18:16), Chris Monohan with a PR (18:22), Theo Kaminski with a PR (18:25), Kevin Pregent with a PR(18:32), Jon Hingre (18:40), Justin Dalaba with a PR (19:42), Nate LoParco with a PR (19:43), Greg Johnson with a PR (19:50), Drew Biederman with a PR (19:59), Shaun Devlin with a PR (20:26), Matt Purdy with a PR (20:35), Jeremiah Johnson (21:20), and Casey McCallister (23:40). The Bees now set their sights on undefeated Liverpool at home next Wednesday. Good Job Bees!!!!!!!!!

Varsity boys on top at B'ville Invite- The Bees continued their impressive 2009 season by winning their third straight invitational. This time the Bees did it on their home course in the Baldwinsville Invitational. The victory did not come easy though as the Bees battled a strong 16-team field that included state ranked Burnt Hills and Ithaca, while several of the Bees were also dealing with minor illnesses. Scott Maughan of Burnt Hills won the large school race by chasing down the leaders in the last mile to earn the victory. The Bees swarmed in close behind the race leaders and were once again led by the unshakable Shaun Thompson who finished in 4th place with a time of 15:20. Nate McCabe demonstrated his trademark kick to finish close behind in 5th with a time of 15:21. Adam Pacheck overcame an early race shove on the first corner of the race to finish in 9th at 15:31. Chris Wicks and Ethan Pacheck finished the scoring for the Bees and continue to close the gap between the 1 and 5 runners for the Bees. Chris was 17th in 16:02 and Ethan was 24th in 16:24. Displacing runners for the Bees were Connor Martin in 41st in 16:54, and Jimmy Fleming in 64th 17:34. The Bees take on the Northstars this Wednesday and head to McQuaid next weekend.

In the JV race, the Bees showed their depth, and continued desire to improve for the betterment of the program by charging to a 1st place finish. Following a more aggressive race strategy Charlie Parker led the Bees and all other runners to the finish line with a quick 16:46 first place finish. Helping the Bees in the scoring were Pat Colligan in 3rd 17:00, Andy Fleming in 4th 17:05, Ronnie May in 10th 17:19, and scoring for the first time this year Zach McCaleb in 29th 18:08. Displacing runners for the Bees were the ever improving Andy Hoover in 18:13, Brian Wisely in 18:15, Jon Hingre in 18:16, Theo Kaminski in 18:27, Chris Monohan in 18:43, Kevin Pregent in 18:56, Greg Johnson in 20:10, Drew Biederman in 20:16, Justin Dalaba in 20:19, Nate LoParco in 20:28, Jeremiah Johnson in 20:58, Matt Purdy in 21:01, Shaun Devlin in 21:13, Antonio Martinez in 21:16, and Casey McCallister in 22:12. Great efforts by all involved resulted in great results for the Bees.

Girls' Varsity team places fifth at the Baldwinsville Invitational -The Baldwinsville girls cross country team placed fifth at the 58th Annual Baldwinsville Invitational on Saturday (9/26). The girls ran a respectable race with 4 out of the seven runners besting their 2008 times by as much as 90 seconds. Mary Carroll of Ithaca was the first competitor to cross the finish line with a speedy time of 17:41, but Lauren Mullins of Johnson City ran the fastest time in the girls’ small schools race with a time of 17:36. Kristina Sprague (14th, 19:29) was the Bees’ first girl to cross the finish line. Not too far behind were Nicole Fecco (27th, 20:01) and Ashley Shaheen (28th, 20:01). Rounding out the Bees’ team were Erika Wilcox (31st, 20:15), Kristen Biedermann (32nd, 20:19), Mallory Warner (35th, 20:32), and Jaimee Balloni (38th, 20:39). Even though there was improvement by many of the girls, they are ready to show that they can give much more. Wednesday will be a great test for them as they go head to head with rivals CNS.

Girls’ JV team places second- The girls JV squad put together their best race of the season by placing second with a score of 33 points. They were just 4 points behind Ithaca who won the race. The highlight of the race was Andrea Moore’s (1st, 20:28) performance in which she won the race by outkicking Caitlyn Whittaker of Ithaca with just 20 meters to go. Annie Peterson (4th, 20:44), Shelby Squire (8th, 21:17), and Abby Nelson (9th, 21:29) all finished in the top ten and looked strong the whole race. Sarah Hall (11th, 21:35) rounded out the top five with another impressive performance. Finishing in the top 25 were Aubrey Francis (19th, 22:09) and Lydia Darling (22nd, 22:23). Not to be overlooked, were the fine racing performances from Julia Johnson (39th, 22:58), Danielle Depaulis (40th, 23:01), Catherine Felberbaum (48th, 23:25), Kim Contant (49th, 23:26), Maria Halstead (51st, 23:27), Kelsey Roman (62nd, 24:09), Holly McMahon (72nd, 24:21), Megan Meszaros (75th, 24:26), Kimmy Cushman (85th, 24:51), Rebekah Zarnowski (102nd, 25:33), and Heather Mendiola (110th, 26:04). A special congratulations goes out to Holly and Rebekah because this was their first 5k that they have run in competition and they both ran well.

Varsity Boys open dual meet season at Utica- The Bville Boys outran both Utica Proctor and a looming storm to take their first dual meet of the season. The Bees defeated Utica 17-44 and the last boy crossed the finish line just before a lightning strike forced a postponement of the girls race. Scoring for the Bees were Chris Wicks in 1st 17:36, Shaun Thompson 2nd in 17:38, Adam Pacheck 3rd in 17:41, Nate McCabe 4th 17:49, and Connor Martin 7th in 18:40. Also running for the Bees were Jimmy Fleming in 18:43, Pat Colligan in 18:54, Charlie Parker in 19:23, Ethan Pacheck in 19:32, Ronnie May in 20:17, Andy Fleming in 20:17, Theo Kaminski in 20:29, Zach McCaleb in 20:30, Brian Wisely in 20:38, Jon Hingre in 20:53, Chris Monohan in 20:53, Kevin Pregent in 20:54, Andy Hoover in 21:18, Greg Johnson in 21:53, Justin Dalaba in 21:57, Matt Purdy in 22:43, Nate Loparco in 23:08, Antonio Martinez in 23:21, Drew Biederman in 24:10, Shawn Devlin in 24:48, Casey McCallister in 25:06, and Jeremiah Johnson in 25:23.

Boys top the field at Chittenango Invite - The Bees followed up their solid opening weekend, by backing it up with a fantastic second weekend in the Chittenango Invite. The Bees looking to get an early preview of the sectional course sent an early message to the rest of section 3. The Bees won the Varsity 2 race over the likes of West Genesee, Jordan-Elbridge, and Tully. Cody Stanton of JE was the overall race winner, but right behind him three Bees swarmed to the finish. Shaun Thompson finished second with a time of 15:48, followed by Nate McCabe in third with a time of 15:56 and Adam Pacheck in 4th with a time of 16:01. Completing the scoring with huge efforts for the Bees were Chris Wicks in 12th 16:44, Ethan Pacheck in 16th 16:59, Connor Martin in 22nd 17:19, and Jimmy Fleming in 18:34. With that effort the Bees also managed to run the fastest team time of the day, narrowly edging #2 state ranked Liverpool. Liverpool won in the Varsity 1 race and were led by Colin Savage and Alex Wilke. All in all it was a great day to run and the Bees seized the moment. The Bees now look to build on this past weekend’s performance. Next up for the Bees is the Bville Invite this weekend.

In the JV race, the Bees came away with the second place team trophy behind a deep CNS Northstar team. Anthony Lupia won the race for the Northstars with many Bees nipping at his heels. Andy Fleming and Charles Parker who finished 5th and 6th respectively in times of 17:36 and 17:39 led the Bees. Close behind them were Ronnie May in 10th 17:58, Pat Colligan in 13th 18:05, and Brian Wisely in 32nd in 18:56. Also running for the Bees were a fast and refocused Andrew Hoover 19:05, a bounce back performance for Jon Hingre in 19:07, and a breakthrough performance for Zach McCaleb also in 19:07. Team Motivator Theo Kaminski ran 19:31, and was followed by Kevin Pregent in 19:32 who is making a return to x-country after a year away from the sport. Justin Dalaba continues to improve with a time of 20:44, and Casey McCallister posted a 6 minute improvement from last week by running 20:48. Drew Biederman was next in 21:06, followed by Nate LoParco in 21:10. Greg “I Can’t Feel My Foot” Johnson finished in 21:39, with middle linebacker Shawn Devlin tracking close behind in 21:45. Young guns Matt Purdy, Jeremiah Johnson and Antonio Martinez all finished with vastly improved times of 22:00, 22:16, and 22:24. Great efforts as the Bees try to build depth and look to the future.

Girls' Varsity team places fifth at the Chittenango Invitational -The Baldwinsville girls cross country team placed fifth at the Chittenango Invitational on Saturday (9/19), which again will be this years sectional course. Running in the Varsity 2 race, the girls had only 5 of their 7 competitors finish. Unfortunately, Kristina Sprague and Andrea Moore sustained injuries on the course. The team pulled together and still put forth a strong effort. In a race won by West Genesee 8th grader Laura Leff (18:26), Nicole Fecco led the way for the Bees’ (23rd, 21:04) followed closely by Kristen Biedermann (24th, 21:11) with both finishing in the top 25. Close behind was Ashley Shaheen (26th, 21:16) and Erika Wilcox (31st, 21:37). Running varsity for the first time this season, Shelby Squire (45th, 22:41) rounded out the top five for the team. Shelby improved her performance on this course by two minutes over last year’s time. Equally as impressive is that the girls finished 10th out of all 52 teams after the merge of results for the day. Good luck to the team next week as they host the 58th annual Baldwinsville Invitational.

The girls JV squad put together a strong race and many of the girls’ improved their races dramatically from last week's performance as they finished 6th overall. Freshman Annie Peterson (7th, 21:58) put together a terrific race and had a top 10 finish in a race of 126 competitors. Sarah Hall (20th, 23:09) with a top 25 finish was the next runner into the chute for the Bees’. Abby Nelson (27th, 23:29), Aubrey Francis (35th, 24:01), and freshman Julia Johnson (42nd, 24:48) rounded out the top five and all finished in the top 50. Kim Contant (61st, 24:52) and Catherine Felberbaum (65th, 24:57) completed the top seven. It was an exciting day for Catherine because this was her first 5k she had run in two years and she posted a very good time. Freshman, Kimmy Cushman (86th, 26:26), in her first 5k ever ran a very smart race and Maria Halstead (88th, 26:40), who ran through rolling her ankle on the course, were the final competitors for the Bees’.

Boys' Varsity team wins season opener --The Baldwinsville boys cross country team came up with a big win at the Vernon-Verona-Sherill invitational on Saturday (9/12). Running in the white race the varsity boys easily outran the rest of the field to capture the 1st place trophy. Shaun Thompson led the Bees finishing a close 2nd behind Jesse Garn of Marcellus in a time of 16:53. Only a few steps behind Thompson were teammates Nate McCabe in 4th with a time of 16:57, Adam Pacheck in 5th (16:59), and Chris Wicksin 6th (17:23). Ethan Pacheck completed the Bees scoring effort in 15th (18:03), while Andy Fleming (21st ,18:40) and Charles Parker (22nd, 18:47) displaced runners from opposing teams. The boys worked together as a 7-man unit for the first 2 miles; then, as the race progressed, Shaun, Nate, Adam, and Chris raced to the front of the pack to lead the Bees to victory. It was a solid effort to start the year.

In the JV race, the Bees came away with the second place team trophy behind the strong FM Hornets with Connor Martin capturing the individual win for the Bees with a stunning time of 18:06. The JV boys started the race very aggressively, with a goal of showing off the Bville depth, and trying to earn varsity spots. Scoring for the Bees behind Connor were Pat Colligan 8th in 18:51, Ronnie May 9th in 19:03, a new and improved Brian Wisely in 16th (20:01), and Andy Hoover in 20:18. Also turning in quality efforts were Theo Kaminski (20:31), Chris Monohan (20:56), Jon Hingre (21:05), Kevin Pregent (21:10), Nate LoParco (22:06), Drew Biederman (22:48), Justin Dalaba (22:59), Matt Purdy (23:18), Antonio Martinez (24:19), and Jeremiah Johnson (25:50). Casey McCallister gutted out an ankle injury to finish in 26:46. Pictured below are some of the JV runners.

Girls' Varsity team places second in their season opener The Baldwinsville girls cross country team placed second at the Vernon-Verona-Sherill invitational on Saturday (9/12). Running in the white race, the varsity girls overcame missing two of their top 5 runners with strong performances from all seven members of the varsity squad. Kristina Sprague (9th, 21:32) led the Bees with a top ten finish with the race being won by Allison Lasnicki (19:16) of Canastota. Ashley Shaheen (16th, 22:05) followed closely with a top 20 finish. Kristen Biedermann (25th, 22:35), Erika Wilcox (28th, 22:57), and Mallory Warner (32nd, 23:01) rounded out the top five for the team. Newcomer Andrea Moore (40th, 23:50), who has never run a 5K before this race, and Danielle Petti (63rd, 26:27) were the sixth and seventh finishers for the team. Even though Danielle suffered an injury on the course, she still toughed it out to finish the race.

The girls JV squad ran an impressive race and finished second behind a strong Fayetteville-Manlius squad. Shelby Squire (8th, 23:54) and newcomer Annie Peterson (9th, 24:05) both ran well and placed in the top ten of the race. Not to far behind and turning in solid performances were Sarah Hall (11th, 24:35), Abby Nelson (12th, 24:47), newcomer Lydia Darling (14th, 25:15), and Aubrey Francis (16th, 25:34). Quality efforts were also turned in by Maria Halstead (20th, 26:05), Kim Contant (23rd, 26:21), Danielle Depaulis (24th, 26:24), Kelsey Roman (27th, 26:37), Julia Johnson (29th, 26:42) and Megan Meszaros (32nd, 27:14).