The Inside Track
Sunday September 28, 2008

Sunday September 28, 2008: Boy Teams Sweep All Races in League Meet #3 at Guilderland’s Tawasentha Park on Tuesday (9/23/08). The Varsity Boys team defeated Niskayuna and Guilderland to move to a league record of 4-2. Craig Weiss won the race with Eric Young and Ryan Egan also finishing in the top four to help provide the margin of victory. The JV Boys team, led by Casey Gilboy, won against both opponents and improved their record to 5-1. In the closest race of the day, the Frosh Boys team defeated Guilderland and Nisky without two of the top Shaker Frosh runners. The Frosh team (5-1) showed their depth with Ryan Recchia (2nd), Brian O’Connor (4th), Adam Schwenzfeier (5th), Brian Hickey (6th) and Jackson Ciavardoni (9th) all contributing to the win.

The Girls Varsity led by Emma Risler and supported by Zosia Dunn and Molly Nephew, defeated Niskayuna and lost to Guilderland as they moved to 3-3 in league meets. The Junior Varsity also went 1-1, with Marissa McIntyre, Tirzah Ziegler, and Julia McCane leading the pack. The Frosh Girls team easily won against both opponents with a big win by Laura Libruk, followed by Kayleigh Lavender (2nd) and Kristen Moras (4th). (Girls report by Katy Sniffen)

Another leader in Frosh Race: In the first five races for the Boys Frosh team this year, there have been four different Shaker runners who have finished ahead of their teammates. Minor injuries, illness, and other reasons have all contributed to the changes at the front. It is a credit to the depth of the team as they have won three straight Frosh Invitational Championships along with posting a 5-1 league record.

No League Meet this Week: There is no scheduled league meet on Tuesday as the league set this up as an off week for the Suburban Council in case there were any weather problems early in the season that required a postponement.

Grout Meet in Schenectady’s Central Park on Saturday. The 70th Annual Grout Run will be held this week with entries from both the Shaker Boys and Girls teams. The S.A.T. testing that is scheduled the same day is expected to keep runners from several schools from participating.

Shaker Boys Varsity remained at #3 in last week’s ranking of Section 2 Class AA teams on the Section 2 harrier website. The Shaker Girls team moved up to #6 in the same poll for Section 2 Class AA Girls teams. The Shaker Girl’s team moved to #15 in the NY State Class AA teams ranking posted on the Armory Track website last week.

The First place finish by the Frosh Boys in the Queensbury Invitational was the third consecutive year that Shaker has won the Championship trophy in the Frosh race. Several 9th graders, led by Mike Libruk and Brian O’Connor have run all three years.

Thanks to Maura Fitzgerald for submitting photos for the Shaker Girls at New Balance Ocean State Invy.