Pearl River Cross Country Teams Pursue Section Titles Friday

The Pearl River boys and girls cross country teams both already won Rockland County Championships.

Now they will try to add Section 1 Class B titles to their 2011 season resume when they run in the championship meet Friday at Bowdoin Park. The Class B girls race is set for 1 p.m., with the Class B boys at 2 p.m.

"We’ve had a very good season," Pearl River girls cross country coach Dan Doherty said. "I thought could be pretty good. We have exceeded expectations. We've had a lot of younger kids really come along and run much better than last year."

They also have a young runner who is new to the sport and running very well in sophomore Kelly Hayes, who finished second overall at the county meet.

"Kelly Hayes is having a fantastic season," Doherty said. "She’s new to cross country. She ran track last year, but not cross country."

Doherty said three other sophomores have stepped up to contribute -- Laura Cooper, Emma Haley and Brianne Garvey, adding depth along with veterans Molly Shine, Ceili McMorrow and Maria Kohlbrenner. Shine has been Pirates' top finisher in many of their meets this season.

"Molly Shine always had a lot of potential, but she always had injuries and illness," Doherty said. "This year, she is healthy and doing better than ever."

Doherty said Nanuet is the strongest challenger to keep Pearl River from winning a 33rd consecutive section championship, but the Pirates have beaten the Golden Knights in dual meets and larger meets, including the county championship.

"We just have to continue progressing and running well and hopefully things fall into place," Doherty said. "We definitely don’t take anything for granted.

"The most important thing is for this team to win this year and advance to the state meet."

The Pearl River boys team is also a top contender for the section championship, entering Friday's meet as the top-ranked team in the state, but they face a strong challenge from Brewster.

"We're going to have to beat Brewster, which can win a state championship," Pearl River boys cross country coach Mike Kiernan said. "If either of us, TZ or Somers could take it."

Kiernan said his team is coming off its best meet of the season at the Rockland County Championships. Pearl River beat out Class A powers North Rockland and Suffern, both of which had beaten Pearl River in a tri-meet during the regular season.

"That was hands down our best meet of the season," Kiernan said. "We're finally putting things together. Last week they ran the way they are capable of running."

Kiernan said he knew he would have four strong runners this season in Joe Clinton, Kieran Brennan, Brian Edsell, Steven McNiff, all of whom finished in the top 10 overall at counties.

The Pirates had depth behind them, but needed somebody to step up in the fifth scoring spot.

"Brian Cook has really filled that well," Kiernan said. "We knew the front four would be strong. Brian really stepped up."

That would be a key to beating Brewster.

"Their front (three) guys are really stong, and on paper, slightly better than ours," Kiernan said. "Our guys can really close the gaps and our five gives us a significant advantage on their five."

The two teams have not run head-to-head this year, but they have run the same courses on the same days, allowing for some comparisons. Kiernan said that really does not mean much until they are in the same race together.

They did run together in the coaches' invitiational Oct. 22 at Bowdoin, which gave teams an opportunity to run the course for the section finals. Doherty said that was important.

"Especially for the younger kids and Kelly, who had not run there before," Doherty said.