North races well at Franklinville invite

Williamsville North's varsity girls and boys cross country teams ran exceptionally well at the 18th Franklinville Classic on Saturday, said North coach Greg Stang.

The North varsity girls team took ninth place with 287 points in a field of 22 large school teams.

The Lady Spartans were led by eighth grader Rachel Dorogi's impressive time of 21:27 for the 5,000-meter race and finished in 37th place.

Junior co-captain Kim Berus ran her best race in a time of 22:01, finishing 47th. Eighth grader Sarah Loud ran her first race of the year in an equally impressive time of 22:18 and finished 52nd overall in the field of 154 runners.

Sophomore Natalie Worley ran her best time of 22:51 and finished 68th. Senior Michele Bauman, in only her second cross country race, completed the team scoring in 23:46, finishing 88th overall.

Other Lady Spartan girls who ran outstanding times were junior Amy Loud (23:55), senior co-captain Kaila Raybuck (24:28), sophomore Jessica Leising (25:13), senior Dawn Hu (25:15), sophomore Shelby Gray (26:31), and sophomore Stephanie Kranz (26:48).

The North girls are ranked tenth among Western New York large schools. It's the first time they've been ranked in the top ten in 21 years.

North's varsity boys team finished tenth in the field of 21 large school teams, totaling 232 points, just 10 points behind eighth place Starpoint.

Senior co-captain Geoff Hurley finished 24th in 17:24 and junior co-captain Mike Thielman also ran impressively, finishing 28th in 17:28.

Junior Joe Seitz was 54th in 18:27 and sophomore Ryan Perry was 56th in 18:30. Sophomore Tom Calandra finished the team scoring in 78th place in 19:25. Junior Steve Willert, in only his second race, ran a good time of 19:28. Sophomore Robert Golightly also ran well with a 19:54.

North's JV athletes also competed well. Outstanding times were run by sophomore Nate Chertack (21:05), freshman Carl Copeland (21:20), John Boser (22:16), Matt Helm (22:39), Charles Jordan (23:29), Rich Rockwell (23:30), Don Seitz (24:25) and Brad Weinstein (26:49).

The North boys and girls opened their seasons on Sept. 8 at the Byron- Bergen Invitational.

The boys team totaled 192 points and finished in sixth place. The Spartans were led by Hurley, who placed 12th (17:36). Thielman (20th, 17:50), Perry (40th, 19:01), Joe Seitz (47th, 19:11) and Golightly (73rd, 20:55) rounded out North's top five finishers. Other Spartan performances included Calandra (21:33), Willert (21:44), Chertack (22:47), Pat Steadman (20:52), Copeland (22:56), Helm (22:19), Jordan (24:10), Don Seitz (24:07), and Rockwell (25:05).

The Lady Spartans finished ninth and were led by Berus in 23:33. Bauman (23:48), Worley (23:55), Dorogi (24:09), Amy Loud (25:58), Raybuck (26:30), Hu (27:27), Leising (27:54), and Kranz (29:58) also ran.