By JIM MACLEAN
One week after claiming Section 1 cross-country titles, the John Jay duo of senior Andy Condon and junior Sloan Wasserman turned in another impressive performance on the course, earning their place among the top runners in New York state.
This time they were lined up against the top runners from public schools across the state that had earned the right to compete in the New York state championships in Queensbury on Nov. 16. At the finish line, both of them had only one runner in front of them with hundreds behind as they both finished second in their respective races.
For Condon, it was another example of how much he has improved to put together a great senior season. Condon crossed the finish line at 15:28.6 in second-place, just seven seconds behind champion William Tempest of Pittsford-Sutherland.
Tempest entered the race as the defending state champion. Last year, Condon was 19th at the state meet, almost four minutes behind Tempest, but he has made big strides and showed how far he has come to finish second close behind Tempest.
“Going in I was seeded sixth and I felt if I could stay with the lead pack I would have a chance and I went for it,” explained Condon. “There were two big hills and I stayed with the pack. Coming out of the woods for the last 600, there was a pack of four or five of us and I said I have to go now and I went for it and held them off. I just wanted to give myself a chance and when I crossed the line it felt great.”
Wasserman faced a similar challenge in the Class B girls championship race facing a defending state champion. Last year Wasserman was third in the state finals, a full 45 seconds behind defending champ Sophia McInnes of Bayport-Blue Point. McInnes was the favorite heading into the race on Saturday, and Wasserman knew there were several talented runners ready to compete with the front of the pack.
McInnes went out fast and took the lead and crossed the line at 17:45.5 in first-place to defend her title in her senior year, but Wasserman made her work for it as she was close behind in second-place at 17:52.2.
“Coming in I was seeded third, with a lot of good girls within five seconds of each other, but I executed and felt I ran well,” said Wasserman. “I expected her (McInnes) to win and the first mile she was far out, everyone went out fast, but it’s a long race. Coming out of the hills I was like wow, I’m here, and I wanted to fight to win. I ended up getting even with her on the second hill and I stayed with her until the last 200 meters.”
John Jay coach Dey Dey praised both runners for putting in the hard work all year long focused on the state meet, and for running a good race to finish strong.
“Our plan from the start was to get ready for the state meet, and they went with the plan and they did very well,” coach Dey said of his two star runners. “To place second in the state, that is very good. Andy was really far behind him last year and the guy beat him by only a few seconds this time. Sloan puts a lot of pressure on her shoulders every race and she handles it well, has the right state of mind to be one of the top runners every race. Both of them work very hard every day and our younger runners see what they do and get motivation from them.”
With their second-place finishes at the state meet, both Condon and Wasserman earned the chance to compete in the New York State Federation meet this Saturday, Nov. 23, at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls.