QUEENSBURY - Kerrin Epstein was hoping to make the most of her fourth trip to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships.
Nathan Pallace / Special to The Citizen
Moravia's Kerrin Epstein runs down the home stretch of the 3.1-mile course at the state championships in Queensbury on Saturday.
Moravia's Kerrin Epstein runs down the home stretch of the 3.1-mile course at the state championships in Queensbury on Saturday.
Following a fourth-place finish, it looks like the Moravia senior did just that on Saturday at Queensbury High School.
“I was definitely happy with the way I ran today. I had a good race,” Epstein said. “The pace was really fast. The runners in front got out there.”
Epstein, who finished ninth last year at Chenango Valley with a time of 20:13.9, stayed a little bit behind the pacesetters but was in a comfortable stalking position throughout.
“The girl in third was pretty far ahead and then there was another girl about 100 meters behind me,” Epstein said. “We pretty much stayed that way the entire time.”
Epstein's teammate, Claire Hunsinger, finished 28th (20:38.7) as the two were the only qualifiers from a team that won sectionals last year.
While there was frost on the ground during the morning races, the sun had warmed up the proceedings by the time the Class D race rolled around as it was the finale of a 10-race day.
“It was definitely one of my best times. I've improved each year at states,” Epstein said. “The weather was perfect.”
Moravia coach Jan Hunsinger and his runners arrived on Friday and walked over the 3.1-mile course to get accustomed to the twists and turns that include two hills, but a mostly flat course overall.
“It's not really the kind of course that favors our kids. We're used to running over a lot of hills, and this is very fast,” Hunsinger said. “I think our kids still ran good races.”
Among Hunsinger's finishers is freshman Jason Phillips, who was making his first trip to states and finished 22nd overall with a time of 17:25.2.
“I felt pretty good. I ran harder today than I have ever run,” Phillips said. “I worked with the two people from our section and that helped a bit.”
Phillips, who finished fourth last week at sectionals, had similar feelings about the course as his coach.
“It's a really fast course and it's cold out in the woods. The hills helped me out there,” he said. “I was just trying to stay behind the pack and not get tripped up throughout the whole race because that's happened to me a few times.”
Phillips didn't get tripped up on Saturday and is hoping what he learned from states will help in the future.
“This has been a great experience,” he said. “Hopefully, I can keep things going throughout my high school career.”
Section III, which won the meet as a section, had solid performances from Auburn junior Chris Mason (37th, 16:22.3) in Class AA and from Weedsport senior Chelsea Gibson (11th, 19:53.7).
Gibson's run was her first time breaking the 20:00 barrier on a 3.1-mile course. She beat her previous fastest time by nearly 10 seconds.
“Chelsea ran very well,” Weedsport coach John Lawler said. “She had another solid performance, which she has been doing all year.”
Section IV's Katharine Miller of Southern Springs finished 44th (20:15.2) in Class B.
“I was definitely happy with the way I ran today. I had a good race,” Epstein said. “The pace was really fast. The runners in front got out there.”
Epstein, who finished ninth last year at Chenango Valley with a time of 20:13.9, stayed a little bit behind the pacesetters but was in a comfortable stalking position throughout.
“The girl in third was pretty far ahead and then there was another girl about 100 meters behind me,” Epstein said. “We pretty much stayed that way the entire time.”
Epstein's teammate, Claire Hunsinger, finished 28th (20:38.7) as the two were the only qualifiers from a team that won sectionals last year.
While there was frost on the ground during the morning races, the sun had warmed up the proceedings by the time the Class D race rolled around as it was the finale of a 10-race day.
“It was definitely one of my best times. I've improved each year at states,” Epstein said. “The weather was perfect.”
Moravia coach Jan Hunsinger and his runners arrived on Friday and walked over the 3.1-mile course to get accustomed to the twists and turns that include two hills, but a mostly flat course overall.
“It's not really the kind of course that favors our kids. We're used to running over a lot of hills, and this is very fast,” Hunsinger said. “I think our kids still ran good races.”
Among Hunsinger's finishers is freshman Jason Phillips, who was making his first trip to states and finished 22nd overall with a time of 17:25.2.
“I felt pretty good. I ran harder today than I have ever run,” Phillips said. “I worked with the two people from our section and that helped a bit.”
Phillips, who finished fourth last week at sectionals, had similar feelings about the course as his coach.
“It's a really fast course and it's cold out in the woods. The hills helped me out there,” he said. “I was just trying to stay behind the pack and not get tripped up throughout the whole race because that's happened to me a few times.”
Phillips didn't get tripped up on Saturday and is hoping what he learned from states will help in the future.
“This has been a great experience,” he said. “Hopefully, I can keep things going throughout my high school career.”
Section III, which won the meet as a section, had solid performances from Auburn junior Chris Mason (37th, 16:22.3) in Class AA and from Weedsport senior Chelsea Gibson (11th, 19:53.7).
Gibson's run was her first time breaking the 20:00 barrier on a 3.1-mile course. She beat her previous fastest time by nearly 10 seconds.
“Chelsea ran very well,” Weedsport coach John Lawler said. “She had another solid performance, which she has been doing all year.”
Section IV's Katharine Miller of Southern Springs finished 44th (20:15.2) in Class B.
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