SECTION VI CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
Lockport's Perilli shows grit with comeback win
Clarence, EA take dual team titles
Drew Perilli hardly looked like a runner coming off a two-month layoff, having run just two races this season.
On Friday the Lockport senior had the look of a winner after capturing the Class AA race at the Section VI cross country championship at Elma Meadows. The 63rd annual event was run on a sunny but cold day.
The winning team in each of the day's 10 races, along with the top five runners not on the winning team, advance to next Saturday's New York State Championships at SUNY Plattsburgh.
Perilli was the two-time defending champion, but a three-peat seemed unlikely with him unable to train with tendinitis in his knee.
"I wanted to tell myself that I had a shot. I knew the odds were so much against me," Perilli said. "But I just wanted this so bad and I knew this was a true test. I know everyone else is in better shape than me right now. But I guess it just comes down to grit. How much you want it, and I wanted this bad."
Perilli didn't take the lead until the final 800 yards. He finished in 16:38.0, the fastest time of the day for boys. Taylor Yerrick of Clarence was runner-up in 16:56.4. The Red Devils won the team title for the third time in four years.
Boys
Class A: After missing last year's state meet by 2/10th of a second last year, senior Brendan Gregg of West Seneca West is going this year as the medalist, finishing in 16:47.0. Gregg becomes just the second runner from West to win the title, joining Ron Pascucci, who won it in 1992-1994.
"There was five or six of us who were really in the hunt, all those guys ran so tough, I just want to say that," Gregg said. "My training has been really going good."
Williamsville North, the Class AA winner in 2005, won the team title behind top 10 finishes from Don Seitz (fourth) and Ryan Perry (fifth).
Class B: East Aurora captured its fifth Class B team title in six years. Albion senior Bryan Deibel — who last year finished 21st — won the race in 16:56.8. Runner-up Chad Maloy of Springville was four seconds behind. EA's top runner was fourth-place finisher Alex Weberg.
Class C: Cliff Nielson, who missed six days of running with the flu, shrugged off a teammate late in the race to win. "My running mate, Kevin [Brown], gave me a huge run. He had me like by 50 yards when we were on the backstretch and I had to pull him back in. He was doing great," he said.
Nielson's run helped the Panthers win the team title for the second year in a row.
Class D: Barker ran away with this one, finishing 1-2-3. The title was the third in a row for the Raiders, who are ranked No. 4 in the state. Eric Bennes took the lead in the last 100 meters to win it in 17:23.0, followed by Tyler Scheving and Michael Lantinen.
"Our team is amazing," Bennes said. "I don't even care about the individual stuff. It doesn't matter to me. We won the race and this is awesome." Frewsburg beat Maple Grove for second place based on its sixth-place finisher.
Girls
Class AA: Marissa Saenger of Clarence picked the perfect time to win her first race of the year. The petite eighth-grader took the lead at the three-quarter-mile mark and held off all challengers to win in 20:28.7. "My teammates told me I was the top-ranked girl in the race, so I was hoping to win," she said.
Clarence won the team title, completing a boy-girl sweep in Class AA. All seven girls placed among the top 16.
Class A: Senior Katie Niblock of Sweet Home held off fellow senior Maritina Tsembelis of Grand Island to defend her title. "As we hit the final mile, Maritina and I, we just went at it for that last mile," said Niblock, who ran a 19:13.5.
Winning the wide open team title was Grand Island, by a four-point margin over West Seneca West. The race was decided between the team's 3-4-5 runners.
Class B: East Aurora ran the second-fastest team time on the Elma Meadows course in 97:25.2. They also hold the fast time of 96:20.7 in 2007. The Blue Devils placed all seven runners in the top 11 to win their sixth straight title in Class B. Eighth-grader Marta McLaughlin, coming off her title in the ECICs, won the race in 18:56.0, the fastest time of the day for girls.
The season came to a disappointing end for Amherst senior Brenna Symoniak, who did not run because of illness.
Class C: Freshman Kaylea Rustay of JFK, new to cross country this season, won the race by 26 seconds in 19:30.3. She was a sprinter on the modified track team last spring. Fredonia, led by Alissa Conti's third-place finish, won the team title. Defending champion Shannon Murphy of Falconer was second.
Class D: Caroline Benson won her second title in a row and she's just an eighth-grader. Benson, who won by a six-second margin last year, won this year by 57 seconds. "This is the best race I've ever had in cross country," she said. "I just felt great and was happy the whole race." The Red Dragons also won the team title, placing runners in the 1-2-3-5 spots.
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