Bear Mountain. Boys finish first, girls finish second at Section 9 Cross Country Championships
![Bear Mountain. Boys finish first, girls finish second at Section 9 Cross Country Championships Crusader Mia Sisilli finished fourth with a time of 19:08 at the Section 9 Cross Country Championships held last Thursday, Nov. 4th, at Bear Mountain State Park. Photos by William Dimmit.](http://www.thephoto-news.com/binrepository/376x432/0c0/0d0/none/1050949/WTXQ/pn-mw-cross-country-1_4-3624859_20211108130833.jpg)
![Bear Mountain. Boys finish first, girls finish second at Section 9 Cross Country Championships Off to the States. Pictured from left to right: Crusaders Samantha Apostolico, Mia Sisilli and Lily Benza all qualified for the State Finals by finishing in the top 10.](http://www.thephoto-news.com/binrepository/548x432/0c0/0d0/none/1050949/IXMQ/pn-mw-cross-country-12_4-3625286_20211108130834.jpg)
![Bear Mountain. Boys finish first, girls finish second at Section 9 Cross Country Championships Crusader Collin Catherwood leads team mate Collin Gilstrap with about one mile to go in the race on Thursday at Bear Mountain State Park.](http://www.thephoto-news.com/binrepository/453x432/0c0/0d0/none/1050949/UWMF/pn-mw-cross-country-13_4-3625288_20211108130836.jpg)
![Bear Mountain. Boys finish first, girls finish second at Section 9 Cross Country Championships Pictured from left to right beginning in the front row, the Section 9 Champion Crusaders are: Collin Catherwood, Brian Benoit, Gavin Catherwood and Aman Shetty; and in back: John Urciuoli, Collin Gilstrap and Ethan Hala.](http://www.thephoto-news.com/binrepository/367x432/0c0/0d0/none/1050949/MEMF/pn-mw-cross-country-14_4-3625290_20211108130837.jpg)
On a beautiful fall afternoon, Thursday, Nov. 4, the Crusaders Boys and Girls Cross Country teams traveled to Bear Mountain State Park to participate in the Section 9 Cross Country Championship races.
Girls Cross Country
The girls 1-A race went off at 11:30 a.m. with 73 runners representing 10 schools over the three-mile course.
The Cornwall Dragons took first place with a score 37 points and an outstanding performance by Karrie Baloga who captured first place with a time of 17:40 - more than a minute ahead of the second place finisher.
The Crusaders took second place with a score of 54 and Washingtonville came in third with a score of 84.
The top Crusader runners were Mia Sisilli who finished fourth with a time of 19:08, Samantha Apostolico fifth with a time of 19:22 and Lily Benza who came in seventh at 19:30.
The three girls qualified for the state finals with their top 10 finish in the race.
Boys Cross Country
The Boys 1-A race went off at 1:30 p.m. and featured 76 runners representing 11 schools.
The Crusaders captured first place with a score of 45, their top five runners coming in 2-3-4-11-25. Washingtonville took second with a score of 82 and Cornwall took third with a score of 84.
The Crusader top finishers were Collin Catherwood who came in second with a time of 15:50, Collin Gilstrap third with a time of 16:03 and John Urciuoli fourth with a time of 16:10.
Crusaders Aman Shetty 11th place and Brian Benoit 25th place rounded out the Crusaders top 5 finishers.
Next
The Boys Cross Country team qualified for the State Finals with their first-place finish at the Sectionals
The three girls and the boys team will travel to next Saturday to Chenango Valley State Park to participate in the NYSPHSAA Cross Country Championships.
- William Dimmit