Monroe-Woodbury boys’ cross country makes history

Ten days after the Monroe-Woodbury boys cross country team secured the Section 9 Class A championship they were back in action against eight other top teams, each of which won their geographically based sectional championship.

For the Crusaders, this was their fifth straight appearance in the NYSPHSAA Class A championship race dating back to 2019. The 2020 event was canceled due to the COVID pandemic. The eight-team field was filled with familiar foes and new and upcoming challengers. Entering Saturday, MWXC was the only team that was part of the past three NYSPHSAA Class A championship races. It was that experience that would help them pen a magical chapter in 2024.

The past two seasons, MW has been runners up in the team standings. In 2022 they fell to Corning High School by 17 points. One year later, they fell in heartbreaking fashion as they tied Saratoga Springs for the top spot, but lost the title by virtue of Saratoga having the highest sixth finisher.

Previews of the 2024 competition all reflected the regular season success of many teams. For the most part, the Monroe-Woodbury season had been somewhat underwhelming. Many experts projected the Crusaders to finish between fourth and sixth places. One aspect very few took into account was that MW was without question the most experienced team at running this particular race.

From the 10 a.m. fire of the starter’s pistol, the MWXC harriers flawlessly executed a poised and intelligent approach to the highly competitive race. Senior captains Gavin Catherwood and Shane Golio comfortably established themselves in the lead pack. Not far behind, Devon Ryan was battling in the chase pack. Ronaldo Rodriguez Perez, Vinny Costello, and Krzysztof Balbuena all effectively found their battleground just inside the top half of the 108-person race. Seventh man Tim Belmont had an important role of pushing up from the back.

Over the duration of the 3.1-mile race, the Crusader experience became evident with every step. Each teammate ran for each other and refused to take their foot off the gas until they had crossed the threshold of the finish.

Catherwood and Golio were first to finish in fourth and fifth place, respectively — the highest finishes for a Crusader tandem since Andy Halpin and Jim O’Shea were third and fifth in 1976. Devon Ryan and Ronaldo Rodriguez Perez each ran a spirited last kilometer to move up to 25th and 34th places. One year removed from being on the short end of the sixth man tiebreaker, Vinny Costello shut the door on the 2024 team score with a 58th place finish. Juniors Balbuena (72nd) and Belmont (99th) rounded out the finishers for the Crusaders.

As the remaining racers crossed the finish line, the wait was on for team scores to be calculated. Having lived through the long stressful wait of the tiebreaker calculation one year ago, everyone was anxious to learn their team standing. Thankfully, the wait was significantly shorter in 2024. When the timers from Leone Timing flashed the team scores, Monroe-Woodbury climbed to the top of the list. The Crusaders had finally won a NYSPHSAA Cross Country State Championship. Their team score of 60 points was 22 points ahead of runner up North Rockland and 34 points ahead of pre-race favorites Colonie.

In a brief 20-minute period on a crisp autumn morning in the Adirondack mountains, the seven MWXC competitors erased all past history of Monroe-Woodbury being one of the best programs to never win a NYSPHSAA cross country championship. In the end, it was channeling past experiences that brought the team, coaches, and fans a new experience they’ll never forget!