Warwick Valley Cross Country runners compete in Minneapolis invitational

WARWICK — Early on Friday morning, Sept. 28, 15 members of the Warwick Valley High School Girls Cross Country team waited in the dark and cold rain to catch a school bus to LaGuardia Airport.
The athletes, their parent chaperones and Coaches Richard Furst and Wendy Warnock were flying off to the Roy Griak Invitational Cross Country race in Minneapolis, Minn.
Paid for by the Cross Country Booster Club and with the support of many donors and parents, the group landed in beautiful weather in Minneapolis with only an hour for the Junior Varsity runners to get ready to race that afternoon in the Mustang Invitational.
Running 4,000 meters against 15 teams of girls from across the country, Warwick senior Shannon Bauer placed second overall, followed closely by Aisling Dineen, who finished fourth. Madeline Hoey finished in 17th place, Malley DeSanto in 22nd place and Julie Balsam in 54th place.
The team finished in third-place overall.
Saturday’s Varsity 5K race pitted the Warwick runners against 44 teams made up of 409 girls from across the country. Race day was warm and sunny on the Les Bolstad Golf Course at University of Minnesota, but the pace was fast as the front runner from Shakopee took off from the pack.
Following close on her heels was Warwick freshman Megan Reilly, who finished in fifth place overall in her second best race time of 18:39.
Senior Katie Fitzgerald finished 27th and freshman Agnes Eigo came in 43rd. Rounding out the Warwick top seven for a sixth place overall finish were Hanna Cavanagh, Austen Marroquin, Emily Jados and Morgan Mendrzycki.
The Warwick Girls Purple Wave is currently ranked sixth in New York State. Next for the runners will be the Manhattan Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 13.