Cross country: Lawson, Wheeler lead strong Section 4 (2024)

September 8, 2015 4:09 pm ET

Cross country is very much a team sport, but it’s a pair of individual girls who are expected to stand out in Southern Tier Athletic Conference West action this year.

The conference features the top two preseason ranked cross country runners in New York state in Jessica Lawson of Corning and Abbey Wheeler of Elmira, with rankings from Tully Runners (tullyrunners.com), widely considered the state’s top high school running website. Lawson, a junior, is ranked 19th in the nation and Wheeler, a senior, is 31st.

Elmira head coach Ben Cardamone said these are the two best runners out of the section since 2002 Elmira Notre Dame graduate Molly Huddle. Huddle, an Olympian in the 2012 London Games, has held the American women’s record in the 5,000 since 2010.

“She’s made it to the biggest stage,” Cardamone said of Huddle. “With Abbey and Jessica, potentially you are looking at two girls that you can ask, ‘How far can they go?’ Both are highly motivated individuals.”

Together with Union-Endicott’s Emily MacKay, who is ranked 15th in the state and third in Class B, Section 4 has some real star power. MacKay, a senior, also qualified for the Nike Nationals last year.

“It think it is really extraordinary for the section to have those nationally ranked girls,” Corning coach Ray Lawson said. “It’s exciting to me.”

Said Cardamone, “These are the golden days of running in Section 4 for these girls.”

Lawson was the 2013 Class B state and Federation cross country champion and a runner-up in both last year in Class A to now graduated Bella Burda of Arlington. Lawson didn’t compete in the spring outdoor season because of a condition in her right foot called Freiberg’s infraction. She returned to compete in the New Balance Outdoor Nationals track and field invitational in Greensboro, North Carolina at the end of June, where she earned All-American status in helping the Corning girls four-by-mile relay to a fourth-place finish in a school and Section 4 record time.

Ray Lawson, who is Jessica’s father, said she is still bothered by the foot injury, which she suffered at the beginning of the year.

“It still bugs her,” he said. “It’s not getting any worse and not prohibiting her from running. … It is just something she has to deal with.”

Wheeler finished third at the state Federation meet and 36th at NXN Nationals (second-best New York state girl). She is coming off a successful track season in which she finished second at the indoor state meet in the 1,500 meters in March and second in the outdoor state meet in the 3,000 in June.

“It’s going to be a fun ride,” Cardamone said. “She is really ready.”

The first cross country matchup of the two phenoms could come at the STAC West Championships on Sept. 22 in West Elmira. Lawson and Wheeler finished 1-2 at last year’s meet. They both ran Saturday at a relay meet hosted by Elmira, with Lawson’s three-girl team finishing first and Wheeler’s squad finishing second.

“It will be a good test for the teams and for the individuals,” Ray Lawson said of the STAC West meet.

Lawson and Wheeler also finished 1-2 at the STAC championships last year, with Lawson completing the 5-kilometer (3.1 miles) distance in 18 minutes, 49.3 seconds, which was nine seconds faster than Wheeler.

“Abbey had a tremendous track season,” Ray Lawson said. “It remains to be seen how it will all play out. … It will be great racing, no matter what.”

STAC West girls

Corning: The Hawks upended two-time STAC champion Elmira last season and went on to wrestle the Section 4 Class A title away from the defending champion Express.

The Lawson-led girls, ranked 15th in the state in Class A, will try to repeat with a largely rebuilt top five. Lost to graduation are three from that group: Natalie Rogus, Katie Butler and Madeline Ustanik.

Coach Lawson said others will have to “step up” but feels his team is capable of successfully defending its crowns.

“The girls have trained hard this summer and we still have our goals set on repeating as STAC and sectional champions,” he said.

Jessica Lawson won her second consecutive STAC and Section 4 titles in 2014. Returning with her is senior Rhian O’Dell, sophom*ores Kate Mertus (77th states in 2014) and Grace Bichkam; and juniors Maeve Holman (14th in Section 4 and 109th in states), Marian Cooper (107 in states), Alivia Collins and Pearl Cooper.

“I’m pleased with the growth I’m seeing,” coach Lawson said. “Kate (Mertus) is continuing to improve and she is going to be very solid for us.”

Junior Emily Niu and freshman Brynne Ketchum are among the top newcomers. Niu, who played volleyball last year, came over after having a good experience in spring track running the steeplechase.

“She really liked the work involved in that,” coach Lawson said. “She has trained really well.”

Last year, the team finished fourth in both the state Class A championships and state Federation championships.

“If we are fortunate enough to qualify for the New York state championships we would hope for a top-five finish, and if we qualify for the state Federation championships we would hope for a top-10 finish,” coach Lawson said.

Elmira: The Wheeler-led Express are preseason-ranked ninth in the state in Class A according to Tully Runners.

Like Corning, Elmira lost its top runners — Jessica Thatcher (Binghamton University), Khiere Ashley (SUNY Delhi) and Jordynn Kurcoba (Bloomsburg, lacrosse) — to graduation.

“For our team, the real question is who is going to fill their shoes,” Cardamone said. “They were three fantastic runners, but the young girls following them are also very talented.”

Returning are juniors Olivia Riley and Mackenzie Tubbs, and sophom*ores Olivia Lovejoy and Olivia Steed. Among the newcomers are ninth-graders Aleziah Brooks and Maddie Nelan.

“It’s going to be interesting to see whoever is going to step up and get the job done,” Cardamone said.

Both Lawson and Cardamone said the Ithaca girls, who are also state-ranked at 22nd, could be a factor in the STAC West and beyond.

“They are going to be very tough,” Cardamone said. “Horseheads girls will also be there with their young, talented group. … I expect this season will be very exciting.”

Horseheads: The Blue Raiders are led by senior captains Marianne Cites and Lexi Deiseroth, but their roster depth is mainly comprised of freshmen and sophom*ores.

Head coach Tom Jansen said sophom*ore Angie Malhotra “had a solid freshman year and will have a solid impact for the top-five ladies.”

“The remaining ladies are working very hard,” he added.

STAC West boys

Corning: The Hawks continue to be one of the elite teams in the state. They swept the STAC West, STAC and Section 4 Class A titles in 2014. They are a good bet to successfully defend all of those titles despite losing three of their top seven (Jared Moore, Colin Sonnefeld, Jacob Drew) to graduation.

Key returners are seniors Peter Kane and Brian Bates, along with junior Kevin Moshier. Those three are ranked ninth, 16th and 33rd, respectively, in the state.

“They are a very solid trio,” Lawson said. “Each of them are capable of being among the tops in the state. … They are all very good two-milers. They have worked hard.”

Also returning are seniors Liam O’Reilly and Sam Mertus, junior Jack Ustanik and sophom*ore Dan Gahagan. Newcomers to watch out are a trio of ninth-graders: Bryce Derick, Owen Juan and John Cleary.

“It really comes down to how good can your four and five be, because if they fall back it could really add a lot to your score,” Lawson said. “Right now, I’m pretty pleased where our four and five are.”

After placing fifth in the Class A state championships and sixth in the Federation championships last year, the seventh-ranked Class A state team has even bigger goals.

“I’m pretty optimistic that we are going to be one of the top four or five teams (in the state),” Lawson said. “We have a very deep and talented group and if we stay healthy and keep improving during the season we hope to be in the hunt for a New York state championship in November.”

Elmira: The Express boys will be rebuilding around the nucleus of seniors Nick Latshaw and Ben Cardamone III, who is the head coach’s son.

The 2014 team, which finished fourth in the STAC championships and third at Section 4 meet, lost a number of runners to graduation and senior Terrell Coleman transferred to Liverpool High School.

Other returning runners are seniors Matt Maycumber, Greyson Sklba and Andy Ellison. They will be joined by senior newcomers Cabin Seymour and Hans Peterson.

“Ben and Nick have the most big-meet experience and it will be up to the others to chase them down,” Cardamone said. “If we can get to a point where we have a strong pack, then we can be competitive.”

Horseheads: Rebuilding the Blue Raiders program won’t be easy as the team graduated its five top runners: Micah Page, John Sepelak, Sebastian Baucco, John Nitterour and Shawn Strayer.

“This year will be a year in which we will truly see a youth movement in the Blue Raider program,” coach Jansen said. “Senior captain Will Armstrong has slowly evolved into a consistent performer. … The next six competitors are comprised of mainly freshmen and sophom*ores who are truly untested.”

Jansen said both the girls and boys teams show promise for the future.

Interscholastic Athletic Conference

Notre Dame: In 2014, Garrett Butters rewarded Notre Dame’s first season of cross country since 1987 with a Class D sectional title. Butters has graduated and is now running for Mansfield University.

Junior Matt Karee, who advanced to states after finishing third in the Section 4 championships, will anchor the boys in their second season under head coach Jeff Naylor. Also back are senior Dawson Hilfiger and sophom*ore Matt Connolly.

Junior Chase Yoder is expected to lead the girls squad. Yoder was second in the IAC Championships, third in Class D in the Section 4 championships and qualified for states. Other girls include sophom*ores Claire Kubinski and Katherine Hallinan, juniors Ariana Bulkley and Claire Fontana, senior Jordynn Naylor and freshman Payton Yoder.

On Twitter: @SGRLevanduski