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11-16-2006
Redskins second at state meet

By ERIC AHLQVIST

Editor

WARWICK_The injury bug and a small case of nerves cost the Cooperstown boys cross country team a chance for a second straight Section Three Class D title. Saturday.

The Redskins lost to Franklinville by 12 points, 65-77, to finish second at the 2006 state championship meet at Warewick Valley.

``For a bunch of different reasons, we didn’t pull off our best race of the season, ’’ said CCS cross country coach Jessie Ravage. ``A couple of guys were injured and collectively I think we were very nervous at the start of the race.’’

Senior captain Stephen Scrafford capped a tremendous career with a fourth place finish for Cooperstown. Scrafford’s time in the 3.1 mile race was 16 minutes, 32.4 seconds, over a minute better than his his second-place sectional finish last weekend.

Scrafford qualified for the state meet individually as a sophomore, and the last two seasons on the team level.

``This is the first year he’s been injury-free, and it really showed,’’ Ravage said. ``If he wants to continue his running career, he’s just at the beginning of his trajectory.’’

Franklinville had five runners finish in the top 50 to pull off the upset victory. Cooperstown came into the meet as the top ranked team in the state.

``As a coach, I think I prefer being the dark horse rather than the target,’’ Ravage said. ``Franklinville had a meet similar to what we had last year.’’

Ravage said she hopes her team realizes what a great accomplishment it is to finish second in the state.

``Since we won it last year expectations are higher, but we had a great season. ``Not only were we second in the state, but we won the Center State Championship for the first time since I’ve been here (13 seasons) and we won sectionals.’’

Ravage will say goodbye to nine runners from the boys team. Besides Scrafford, seniors Brian Reis, Jimmy Jennings, Richard Clancy and Will Tirrell are pivotal runners who will be lost to graduation. Reis was Cooperstown’s second finisher, placing 24th overall with a time of 17:43.4, while Jennings was third for Cooperstown with a time of 18:01.4, good for 35th overall.

Clancy was injured in gym class on Thursday, and was not at full strength for Saturday’s state meet, Ravage said. Tirrell suffered a rib injury during the week.

``We’re going to be a very young team next season,’’ Ravage said. ``I’m kind of looking forward to the rebuilding process.’’

Ravage will have freshman Ben Resnick and sophomore Trevor Huntsman to build around next season. Resnick finished third overall for CCS at the state meet, finishing 54th overall with a time of 18:26.5. Huntsman has battled a knee injury all season which will require knee surgery, but has a wealth of talent, according to Ravage.

Final Class D standings: 1. Franklinville, 65; 2. Cooperstown, 77; 3. Norwood-Norfolk, 85; 4. Oakfield-Alabama, 105; 5. North Warren, 112; 6. Marathon, ] 147; 7. Ticonderoga, 154; 8. Stony Brook, 159; 9. Keio, 232; 10. Chapel Field, 262.