Wasserman, John Jay fall in final race of magical season

From left, Sloan Wasserman of John Jay (404) leads the pack of 300 runners heading into the hills for the New York State Federation championships on Saturday at Bowdoin Park. Marc Desforges of Fox Lane earned a medal with a top-40 finish out of 300 runners at the Federation championships. John Jay senior Emma Barniv was the second finisher for the Wolves at the Federation meet. Jim MacLean photos

By JIM MACLEAN 

To succeed in a cross-country race your mind and body need to deliver a peak performance from the starting gun to the finish line.

And sometimes that is just not possible. One week after winning a state individual and state team title, Sloan Wasserman and the John Jay girls cross-country team were hoping for a big finish at the New York State Federation Championship meet at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls on Nov. 22.

The federation meet is a monster, one giant pack of almost 300 runners, all of the best qualifiers from each class at the state meet plus all the private school runners combined in one giant race.

Most teams would have been thrilled to do what John Jay did as the Wolves finished sixth overall in the team standings with a score of 279. John Jay was still the top Class B school in the meet trailing only five Class A schools with Shenendehowa in first at 106 and Bethlehem in second at 107. Wasserman was 14th overall out of the 295 runners that finished the girls championship race, but she and her teammates were hoping for more.

“It’s one of the biggest races, a highlight at the end of the cross-country season,” said John Jay coach Dey Dey. “They’re not happy, but I told them don’t take all the credit you’ve earned all year long away because of one race. Your body didn’t feel good today, that’s fine. They didn’t do what they think they can do today, but regardless of today it doesn’t change anything for what they did this season and I’m happy.”

Entering the race, Wasserman was hoping to battle for the title after winning the NY State Class B title last week while setting a course record with the fastest time of the day in the four girls races. Leyla Bhusri of Shenendehowa had won the Class A race at states with a time five seconds slower than Wasserman. Those two were the favorites coming in as Wasserman, who will run at Boston College next year, and Bhusri, who will run at Notre Dame, were both turning in impressive senior seasons.

However, Wasserman had been battling the flu all week long, and it took its toll on Saturday. Wasserman was at the front of the pack heading into the hills on the course at Bowdoin where she usually makes her move. At the midway mark, Wasserman and Bhusri were in a three-way tie for first, but Bhusri pulled away to win with a time of 17:40.4, while Wasserman finished at 18:45, a minute behind her time two weeks ago on the same course for the Section 1 finals.

“I knew she wasn’t feeling good, but she gave it her all and I’m happy with what she did,” Dey said of Wasserman. “You can’t force your body, if you’re sick something is not there. Today she was in the thick of it and I’m sure she would have run faster than her time two weeks ago when she was running all by herself. I know she really wanted to make nationals; that was her plan all season long, but you can’t help the sickness. It didn’t happen and that’s OK. I couldn’t be more proud of her.”

It was a tough day for the rest of the John Jay girls on the muddy course as well. Emma Barniv was the second John Jay girl to finish in 70th place overall. May Serai was third in 124th, followed by Mia Haimelin at 131, Ainsley Graham at 149, and Brodie Albert at 160 for the Wolves.

“This is a crazy race, a very fast start and it was very muddy, but I enjoy how competitive it was surrounded by so many runners,” said Barniv, a senior co-captain with Wasserman who ran her final cross-country race for the Wolves. “Even though it wasn’t our best, it was an incredible season and I’m really proud of this team. We’ve never had such a united team before, all thanks to coach Dey. We worked so hard together and it’s amazing what we accomplished.”

Desforges earns a medal for Fox Lane

One week after finishing 27th in the New York State Class A Boys Championship race in Queensbury, Fox Lane senior Marc Desforges continued to come on strong as he finished 33rd at the Federation meet with a time of 16:38.1. That was good enough to earn a medal with a top-40 finish, and Desforges turned in the fastest time ever for a Fox Lane runner on the Bowdoin Course.

“Marc has had a very steady fantastic season, one race after the next,” Fox Lane coach Chris Dossena said of Desforges. “At the Fed meet, we looked at what he would need to be top 40 to get a medal and he got it. He ran a spectacular race, a personal record on the course and the fastest time a Fox Lane runner has ever ran on that course. He has burst onto the scene. Back in June, he was all-in, ready to do whatever it takes, but being in Class A it wasn’t going to be easy just to make states. He did everything he could to put himself in position to have a successful season and I’m very proud of him.”