CANTON-Running what head coach Don Howard described as an extremely intelligent race, Cooperstown senior Josh Edmonds placed third in the state 3,200 meter race during the New York State Championship meet at St. Lawrence University Friday night.

"Most of the field went out way too fast, but Josh is so disciplined and knowledgeable that he just stuck to his game plan," Howard said.

Competing in a pouring rain, Edmonds was well back in the field for most of the race, but made his move late, passing Dan Busby of New Paltz with about 100 meters remaining to take the lead among Division II competitors.

"I thought Josh had passed Busby and left him behind, but Busby had too much foot speed for Josh down the stretch and regained the lead with about 50 meters to go," Howard said.

Busby won the D-II crown and a state championship medal by 1.24 seconds. Edmonds finished with a personal best time of 9:13.87, breaking his own Center State Conference record set just a week before by five seconds. Edmonds was seeded sixth overall, but finished third.

"Our old school record before this year was 9:51," Howard said. "When do you think Josh's record will be broken? Not during my lifetime."

Edmonds will continue his running career at Division One Liberty University in the fall, where he will run both cross country and track.

"Josh has been a pleasure to watch and coach this season," Howard said. "There is a lot of hard work and sacrifice that goes into getting to the state meet. He's the best distance runner I've ever had here."

And that's saying something, considering Howard has been involved with the CCS boys track and field program for 42 years. He said pending the unexpected; he will be back for his 43rd season next spring.

"Next year is pretty much a definite, and after that I don't know," Howard said. "I'm just going to take it a year at a time at this point."

Cooperstown will return a number of talented athletes next season as they aim for their record sixth straight Center State Conference crown, including distance runner Stephen Scrafford, triple jumper Trevor Huntsman, pole vaulter Josh White and sprinter Greg Sorin to name a few.