A championship day for John Jay girls cross-country

The John Jay girls varsity cross-country team, from left,  Sloan Wasserman, Maya Serai, Emma Barniv, Brodie Albert, Mia Haimelin, Ainsley Graham and Megan Krebs, celebrate after receiving their Section 1 championship awards. (Jim MacLean Photos)

From the left, Maya Serai was fourth overall and the second runner to finish for John Jay. Emma Barniv heads toward the finish line in seventh place overall. Sloan Wasserman was far in front of the pack on her way to winning her third-straight Section 1 title. Marc Desforges of Fox Lane was fourth in the boys Class A race to earn a trip to the state championships.

By JIM MACLEAN 

They were the first bus to arrive, eager to hit the course.

And that was the first of many firsts on the day for the John Jay girls varsity cross-country team at the Section 1 championships on Nov. 8, at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls.

John Jay had been building up to this day all season long, the Wolves knew they had the potential to make it a special day, and they went out and proved it on the course in the Section 1 Class B girls championship race. It was the first race of the day, and John Jay dominated. As expected, Sloan Wasserman was the first runner to cross the finish line, cruising to victory for her third-straight Section 1 title. Her teammates did the rest, with six runners in the top 22 places to pull away and finish first in the team standings to claim the Section 1 Class B championship.

Wasserman was far ahead of the pack as expected, but even by her high standards it was an impressive day as she crossed the line at 17:58.8, a new personal best on the Bowdoin course and a full 1:18 ahead of the second-place finisher Bridget Dunn of Tappan Zee.

“I stayed with the group at the start to warm up, and then I was just chilling, I was smiling, having a good time, relaxed and felt really good, then when I saw sub-18 I was like wow, and I was really happy,” Wasserman said of her race. “For me to break 18, I did not expect that at all. Coach Dey said, ‘go out and have fun and surprise yourself, and I did.”’

Wasserman had the fastest time of the day for all four girls championship races. She may have surprised herself with her time, but John Jay coach Dey Dey is not surprised by anything that she does on the course.

“That was the fastest time she has run on this course, so far,” Dey said of Wasserman. “The plan was for her to just have fun, and she ended up doing that. What I’m seeing now for Sloan is the dedication she put in all summer long, she committed to it and I’m happy for her. It’s paying off. Every one of them had a good race. They all stepped up, they’re all pushing each other to get better and they need to do that. I tell them every day we train as a team, it’s a collective sport as a team and you all need to run well and get the best time that you can if you want to go to states. And now, we’re going to states.”

With Wasserman in first, it was then up to the rest of the team to come through to win the team title and one after another the Wolves came through. John Jay knew going in that the main competition would be with Pearl River and Tappan Zee, but in the end it wasn’t even close as Maya Serai finished fourth, Emma Barniv was seventh, Brodie Albert was 14th, Mia Haimelin was 18th, and Ainsley Graham was 22nd to have six runners in the top 25. John Jay won the team title with a score of 44, with Pearl River in second at 75, and Somers in third at 102.

Wasserman credits coach Dey for helping the team turn it on and peak at the right time.

“As a team, this is so special, so much fun, I knew we could do it and they had to believe in themselves and I’m super happy to go to states as a team,” Wasserman said of the team title. “Everything is coming together, the girls are listening to Dey, trusting our training because Dey is always right. Dey knows everything, he’s never steered me wrong, so once the girls listened and trusted in their training it all came together and we were able to go out and do this.”

A big reason for the Wolves coming on strong is the improvement throughout the year of the two freshmen additions to the lineup in Serai and Albert.

Serai was the second John Jay runner to cross the finish line in fourth place overall with a time of 19:38.7.

“I was just trying to pick off as many people as I could, I didn’t really think I could make it on to the podium,” Serai said. “Going into the season, Sloan was telling us how we’re going to make it to states and I couldn’t imagine it, but we’ve worked so hard and I guess the hard work paid off. Sloan is our role model, we try to follow her, and I’ve gained confidence with each race and it’s really exciting.”

Next across the finish line for the Wolves was Barniv as the senior co-captain kept improving to help lead the team to the title.

Barniv was seventh overall with a time of 20:03.7, and she was excited to accept the championship trophy at the award ceremony and to be going to the state meet as a senior with her team.

“This is amazing, I’m so proud of this team,” Barniv said. “The past month we’ve been talking about qualifying for states as a team and we’ve been pushing each other really hard. It feels so good to hold this trophy and have the hard work pay off in the end. This team is doing so well and I’m excited for states.”

Albert was next across the line for John Jay in 14th place as the freshman came through with another strong race.

She explained the early arrival was a sign of how bad John Jay wanted to win this race as a team.

“We were the first ones here and it was cold when we got off the bus,” admitted Albert. “We’ve been very determined throughout the season looking forward to this meet. Now that it’s happening, it’s great and we’re confident and we’re all excited to go to states.”

A perfect example of how focused on the team title the Wolves were entering the race was Haimelin as she came across the line in 18th place to round out the top five for the team score for John Jay.

Haimelin raced down the stretch toward the finish line, passing a pair of Pearl River runners to move up to 18th.

“We knew from the start Pearl River was our biggest competition and I just followed the blue shirts in front of me,” Haimelin said. “At the end I saw Pearl River girls in front of me and I had to catch them. We’ve been winning every meet we’ve run this year and we know we’re a good team. We knew this was our year and if we wanted to go to states the time is now.”

And they did it. Section 1 champions heading up to the New York state championships as a team Saturday, Nov. 15, at Queensbury High School.

Fox Lane’s Desforges earns a trip to state meet

The highlight of the day for Fox Lane came in the Class A boys race as senior Marc Desforges finished strong to cross the line at 16:44.1 in fourth place against a very competitive field to earn a trip to the state meet.

Desforges was with a pack of strong runners heading down the hill toward the field and the finish line, and he turned it on and held them off.

“I just followed my coaches’ game plan to take them on the field, right there I started to feel it and made my move, it was risky, but I decided to commit and pushed through to the end,” explained Desforges. “I wasn’t sure if I could do it. I just decided this seemed like the spot, so I’m going for it. My first time going to states and I’m excited.”

Fox Lane as a team finished ninth in the Class A boys race, with Jacques Desforges in 25th place as the second finisher for the Foxes.

The John Jay boys finished eighth in the Class B race led by Rohan Patel in 10th place overall and Matthew Ebert in 28th, and Tarun Patel in 38th for the Wolves.

The Fox Lane girls were sixth in the Class A girls championship race with three runners in the top 50. Victoria Ransom led the Foxes in 28th place with her sister Alexandra Ransom in 31st and Natalie Desforges was 38th overall.