Frederick Buckholtz leads St. Anthony's to cross country title
St. Anthony's Frederick Buckholtz finishes second in a time of 12:45.5 at the Boy's Varsity CHSAA Inter sectional championships at Van Cortlandt Park in Bronx, New York on November 14, 2015. Credit: Patrick E. McCarthy
Coming down the stretch at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, St. Anthony's Frederick Buckholtz was thinking about what he had seen on the hills behind him.
There, the runners he was up against -- mainly from title contender Xavier -- had traversed the hills of the 2.5 mile course without much of a problem. If St. Anthony's was going to pull off its second CHSAA intersectional title in as many years, he had to use the wind to push him on a cold day.
"I kept that in mind when I was going down the straightaway knowing that they were going to be right behind me," Buckholtz said.
It paid off as Buckholtz finished second overall at 12:45.5 with a strong kick, right ahead of Christian Raslowsky of Xavier and then Buckholtz's two teammates, Ryan Dearie (12:53.7) and Ryan Kutch (12:55.7), in fourth and fifth. St. Anthony's took the title with 42 points over Xavier's 54.
It was St. Anthony's fourth and fifth runners that got the most praise from the top finishers. Christopher Langer finished 11th at 13:15 ahead of two Xavier runners, and freshman Matthew Payamps finished at 13:35.2 for a 40-second personal best after being called up to varsity for the race.
"They definitely stepped up big," Dearie said.
In the girls race, Kellenberg's Deirdre Lewin finished at 16:00.4 for fourth overall and the top Long Island result.
"This season I've wanted to place really well in all of my meets," Lewin said. "Last year, I think I finished 10th or 11th. Just to come in this high was so exciting."
St. Anthony's came in second with 70 points behind Notre Dame's 56 in the team scoring, and Kellenberg finished third with 84. Lewin said Kellenberg is coming off the high of winning the Long Island CHSAA title last week, and it led to a good performance all around.
"All of our team training is really paying off and we're so, so close as a team so this has just been great for us," Lewin said.
St. Anthony's runners, who were bolstered by two top-10 finishers with Jennifer Furman at No. 8 and Gianna Mincone at No. 10, said a commitment to running with teammates worked in their favor.
"We also wrote stuff on our hands to 'Stay with her,'" Mincone said, showing the message written with a Sharpie. "As in the general 'her' we'd be racing [against].
"It kind of motivates you."
