North's Thielman follows the plan, advances to states
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Williamsville North's Mike Thielman took seventh in the Class AA race at Friday's Section VI Championships at East Aurora High School and qualified for Saturday's New York State Championships. Photo by Amy Krakowiak Purchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com

Mike Thielman qualified for Saturday's New York State Championships and he can thank a former two-time section champion for leading him on the right path.

The Williamsville North senior qualified for the state meet as the fifth individual runner in the Class AA race at Friday's Section VI Championships at East Aurora High School. Thielman ran a time of 17:21.2 and outran three runners in the last 300 meters to place seventh overall.

The winning team and the next five individuals not on the winning team qualify for states.

Thielman said a week before the race, he e-mailed 2005 North graduate Mike Dobmeier, who won sectional titles in 2004 and 2005, for tips on running the Elma Meadows course. Thielman and Dobmeier have been friends since Thielman was a freshman.

Dobmeier, who is a junior at the University of Michigan, e-mailed him back with a detailed description on how to win the course.

"He told me not to go out hard because the course has a lot of hills," said Thielman. "He said to make my move when I get to the bottom of hills so I don't exert a lot of energy. Basically, everything he told me worked in my favor. With a mile to go, I could see the leaders slowing down and I went for it like Mike told me."

It's the first time Thielman has qualified for the state meet and the sixth consecutive year North has sent a runner.

"I'm real happy to continue the streak," said Thielman. "I'm excited to see how I'll do."

"We're ecstatic for him," said North coach Greg Stang. "Mike is a great kid."

The state meet will be held at Norwood-Norfolk High School outside of Potsdam, N.Y.

Thielman's classmate, Geoff Hurley, was 16th in 17:40. Joe Seitz (18:41), Ryan Perry (18:58), Tom Calandra (19:34), Steve Willert (19:39) and Robert Golightly (19:41) also ran for North, which finished sixth overall.

The North girls were led by eighth-grader Rachel Dorogi, who finished 14th in 21:13. Dorogi finished ahead of a strong Clarence team and missed her chance of going to the state meet by 15 seconds.

"For not having run at all over the summer, she performed based on pure talent alone," said Stang. "She's a talented young lady."

Eighth-grader Sarah Loud was equally impressive, placing 18th in 21:24, only 25 seconds out of going to the state meet.

The girls finished seventh and had excellent performances from Natalie Worley (23:30), Michelle Bauman (23:45), Kim Berus (23:59), Amy Loud (24:52) and Kaila Raybuck (25:39).

Sweet Home

The Panthers' top finisher was senior Mike Bakowski, who was 21st in 18:09.

Junior Isaac Hagen was 23rd in 18:24. Junior Quincy Stumptner (19:33), junior Sean Sanders (19:57), and freshman Austin Bradt (22:37) also finished the race. Sweet Home placed seventh in Class A.

The girls were led by sophomore Katie Niblock, who finished tenth in 21:16. Junior Colleen Kozlowski was 17th in 22:01. Seniors Katie Gambles (25th, 22:26) and Elyse Cramer (31st, 22:41) and sophomore Laura DelSignore (23:27) also finished the race. Sweet Home finished sixth in Class A.

Williamsville East

Senior Andy McDonald led the Flames with a tenth place finish of 17:32. The East boys were ninth in Class A. The Lady Flames' top finisher was sophomore Caroline Steele, who was 22nd in 22:23. The East girls were tenth in Class A.

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com