By William McDermott
It’s been quite a last few weeks for the White Plains Cross Country team. Both the boys and girls teams have had great success at both the Varsity and JV levels. This stretch started with the much anticipated Fred Gressler Memorial Run on September 28th at White Plains High School and capped off with the League Championships on October 15. After not one, not two, but three cancelations to the meet last fall, the White Plains High School campus was once again lined with cheering spectators and family members who rooted on the Tigers at Gressler.
The Tigers did extremely well in defense of their home course, with both the boys Varsity and JV winning their respective races. Pierce Biffert came in fourth place and was the top White Plains finisher with a time of 18:22. The next four scores from White Plains were Patrick Cave, Mathew LaRosa, Michael Grande, and Connor Dominick. They sealed the victory for White Plains, beating the second place team by a score of 44-81. Evan Espin won the JV race with a time of 20:22 and led the JV team to a winning score of 27. Olivia Manorqui led girls varsity to a ninth place finish with a time of 26:06.
The Tigers then took their talents up North to the 85th annual Grout Run in Schenectady, NY the following weekend. Both the boys Varsity and JV took second, with the winning Varsity team being the Christian Brothers Academy of Albany. CBA is the second ranked Class B school in the state, so the Tigers went up against some very tough competition. Biffert’s time of 14:57 was the fourth fastest time in school history on the course behind only Thomas Hughes (two fastest times on the course) and Nico Crino. Girl’s Varsity was once again led by Manorqui, who finished 21st in her race.
The team then returned to Croton Point Park for the League Championships. It was the team’s second time running this course this season, and there was much improvement. The boys finished third in the league, losing only to two of the top teams in the county, Fox Lane and Horace Greeley. The girls took fourth in the league behind only Fox Lane, Horace Greeley, and Yorktown. The Tigers were able to close the gap significantly from the last time these teams met, but they came up just a bit short. However, taking the seniors out of the results on the boys’ side, White Plains would’ve finished second by just one point.
This is a very promising sign for the future of White Plains Cross Country.
The Tigers now turn their focus towards another championship meet: the Westchester County Championships on Saturday October 26. It’s been two years since the team last won in 2022, so maybe this is the year that the Tigers reclaim the title. If not, the team has a very bright future and with plenty of room to grow and will certainly be a dominating force next year and for years to come.
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