| The Rocky Grove boys cross country team is having quite a year. So far no one has touched the Class A squad and they have been faring mighty well even against bigger schools as well. They recently placed in the top five on the state course in the Foundation Invite and won the prestigious McQuaid Invitational against schools from all over including New York, Ohio and Canada. “That was a big one for us to win,” Rocky Grove’s coach Josh Beightol said. “We beat most of the top New York schools." Tuesday they claimed the Region 3 title while dismantling an over 20 year course record - twice. Ethan Knapp bested the course record by a second which was impressive in its own right, but teammate Easton Adamczyk had already crossed the finish line nine seconds earlier to smash the course record. Rocky Grove easily defeated Cambridge Springs 15-50 with seven finishers before the Spa’s first runner crossed the the line. Gaige Gierlach, Nate Boley and Cael Dailey all scored. Schiffer Anderson and Jayden Miller all finished above the Spa’s first runner. “Overall we looked pretty good on a hot day,” Beightol said. “The heat does make a big difference,” Ethan Knapp chimed in after the race. Both Knapp and Beightol think at their upcoming invititational the times could drop again. “Weather dictates a lot,” Beightol said adding “I would take muddy over hot any day. Hopefully our invitational will be a little cooler and we can move the course record up again.” Beightol said his team is ranked third in the state for Class A and should fare well at districts in a few weeks. “We can compete and run with the top schools in the state,” he said. “The boys have their sights on the state meet. We just have to get through our invitational and districts healthy, make sure our grades stay up, stay focussed and keep improving.” On the girls side Isabel Griffin has had a great season and is also undefeated thusfar. She ran her own personal best at 21.18 Tuesday. Her efforts have her firmly in third place of the all-time course record. She is 4-0 in the region. The girls too won the meet easily 17-38 with the top four finishers. Kaylin Jacoby, Sophie Wehle and Ellie Coyer all finished ahead of the first Cambridge runner. Ryleigh Baughman’s seventh place finish rounded out the Oriole scoring. The future looks good for the Orioles as well. “The junior high is just getting better each week,” Beightol said admitting many are running for the first time. “The girls have made a huge improvement since the beginning of the year with a lot of seventh graders.” Rocky Grove’s history of excellence comes down to a few things Beightol explained. “We do fun first, running comes second. It’s cross country, we do some things that build so the kids get better. But it is the dedication of all the runners, he said. “The varsity has had some success and they hand it down to the underclassmen. Their work ethic puts them out there (competing with the best.)” |         |
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