By Dave Clark

For the Express

Only one runner from Old Forge took part in the Section III Cross Country Champion-ships last Saturday, Nov. 5, held at the Jamesville Beach County Park. That runner, Maddie Phaneuf, had her best outing of her career in the race and qualified for the states for her effort.

In the Class D competition, Phaneuf shocked many of the runners as she placed third beating out all of the Remsen runners and all but one of the winning Beaver River runners. Phaneuf will be competing this Saturday, Nov. 12, in the state meet held at Verona. Phaneuf’s place is the highest place I can remember any Town of Webb runner ever having in the sectionals.

The Remsen girls fell just short of repeating as Sectional Champions as they came in second to Beaver River, a perennial power in cross country running. Of the top five scoring girls on Beaver River’s team, three are freshmen and one is an eighth grader. The Beaver River boys team also won the championship.

Mike Stripp’s Holland Patent boys team won their fourth consecutive championship and will be competing for a state championship this Saturday. The depth of his team was a bit too much for an impressive showing from runner-up, Hannibal.

In the overall competition, the powerful Fayetteville-Manlius team simply dominated all of the classes. Not only will they be the state champions, they are a national power.

Maddie Phaneuf had another fine showing in the state high school cross country championships at Vernon-Verona-Sherrill High School this past Saturday, Nov. 12.

Phaneuf, running against the top 116 Class D runners in the state, placed 26th overall which, I believe, is the best showing ever by an Old Forge runner in the girls division. Maple Grove, out of Section VI, was the school champion and they helped lead Section VI to first place over Section III. Beaver River, Section III’s winning team, placed second, but, far behind the strong Maple Grove team. Section VI is in the Western New York area which includes Buffalo.

The fine finish by Phaneuf capped off a good finish to her season that was hampered by some nagging injuries throughout the season. The experience she got from such a competitive race as this should help her as she prepares for cross country skiing and for her track season in the spring.

Other notable accomplishments in the state race were turned in by Fayettville-Manlius as both the boys and girls teams won the state championship. The boys team got a big scare from Rush Henrietta out of Section V, but held on to win by one point. The girls team simply swept the meet.

I was very happy to see that Mike Stripp’s Holland Patent boys team won the state championships by two points over Pawling. Stripp’s teams have won the last four Section III titles and this state victory is their second in the past three years. Two years ago, they won and last year they lost by three points to the champion.