Fox Lane tunes up for sectional cross-country race

Left, Michael Laclavik was the top finisher for the Fox Lane boys at Bowdoin Park. JIM MACLEAN PHOTOS

By Jim MacLean

For the Fox Lane cross-country teams heading up to Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls for the Section 1 Coaches Invitational Meet on Saturday, Oct. 17, it was a chance to compete on the familiar course and a tune-up to get ready for the upcoming Section 1 championships on the same course in November.

Fox Lane knew it would be a tough field with several top runners from all around New York state coming to compete in the Varsity 1 races.

The Fox Lane boys team faced an additional challenge with one of its top runners in Luke Sweeney out of the lineup due to illness, but the boys made the most of the opportunity on a nice fall day for a race.

Fox Lane finished in 14th place in the team standings with a final score of 417. Ward Melville from Long Island won the race, with North Rockland in second place and Bronx High School of Science in third.

“We were in a tough field, running a man down with Sweeney out sick, but we’re in a good spot heading to the big meets ahead,” Fox Lane boys coach Chris Dossena said. “For their first time on Bowdoin this season, there were some promising performances. At this point with a couple of races left we just have to make sure that we finish strong. We’ll come back here in a couple of weeks and you want to see a jump to the next level.”

Daniella Perez-Lopez and Franke Kelly run side by side down a hill heading to the finish.

Michael Laclavik continued his strong season, as he was the first Fox Lane runner to cross the finish line in 50th place with a time of 18:02.2. James MacDonald was the second finisher for Fox Lane in 97th. Evan Siemers was 106th, followed by Timmy Harrison in 113th and Tyler Nakajima-Graham in 116th.

“Laclavik ran well, a big improvement from last year on this course, now we just have to see if he can take the next step to get to where I think he can be for the finish,” Dossena said of his lead runner. “As long as they’re working to the best of their ability, that’s all you can ask for.”

The Fox Lane girls team faced a similarly tough field of opponents from schools across the state in the Varsity I race as the Foxes also finished 14th as a team. Monroe-Woodbury from Orange County finished first, followed by Shenendehowa and Irondequoit from upstate New York.

“We come here and know that there are a lot of really good teams from out of the area and this is an important race for us to get to on this course,” said Fox Lane girls coach Steve Petrillo. “I told the girls early in the season our goal was to build up their endurance and we’re seeing the benefits of that now. They’ve started to click together as a team, our two-to-five runners were all within about 15 seconds of each other pushing each other on to the finish.”

Victoria Ransom led the way for Fox Lane as she finished 50th overall with a time of 21:52.7. Her sister Alexandra Ransom was the next runner for Fox Lane to cross the line in 89th, with Franke Kelly right behind in 90th, followed by Daniella Perez-Lopez in 92nd, and Isabella Ransom in 94th. Sky Smith finished 114th, Amelia Agor was 122nd, and Alisson Lopez-Felipe was 136th.

Victoria Ransom led the way for Fox Lane as she finished 50th overall with a time of 21:52.7.

“She’s our top runner and she ran a great time, I think it’s her best time ever on this course,” Petrillo said of Victoria Ransom. “Then we had the whole group come in together. To run cross-country you have to wait for results, they don’t come immediately, and I’m really happy with how it went today and how they’ve improved.”

Fox Lane is set to compete in the Westchester County Championships on Saturday, Oct. 24, at the Milton Sports Dome, and the Foxes will return to Bowdoin Park for the Section 1 championships on Saturday, Nov. 7.