VERONA – When Kate Putman won the Section III Class A individual girls cross country championship on Nov. 5, her excitement over this accomplishment was tempered a bit by not seeing her Cicero-North Syracuse teammates also finish on top.
Now, in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association meet a week later on that same Vernon-Verona-Sherrill course, Putman sought to repeat her victory against a field full of champions, joined by her sister, Gabby.
Having defeated 2021 state champion Izzie Sullivan at the sectional meet, Putman would face a different outcome, shaped in part by the quality of the field but also due to the conditions.
Instead of warm, dry weather that was present at the sectional meet, it was cooler, and the VVS course had wet and muddy spots from rains right before the race.
Battling through it all, Kate Putman finished in 18 minutes, 52.4 seconds, slightly off the 18:46.9 she ran to win the sectional race, but leaving her in eighth place overall.
It was Zariel Macchia, a sophomore at William Floyd High School on Long Island, winning the NYSPHSAA title in 18:02.6, the fastest time of the afternoon, well clear of the 18:18.4 from Frontier’s Lillie Bogdan.
And Putman would trail Sullivan, who made her way to fourth place in 18:28.5, more than half a minute better than her 19:02.1 from the sectional race and tops among Section III runners.
As for Gabby Putman, she would finish 53rd in a clocking of 20:36.7, while among the sectional All-Stars Auburn freshman Kyleen Brady was 15th in 19:19.1 and Brady’s teammate, Mary Alice Pineau, was 24th in 19:45.2 as Rome Free Academy’s Marlo Townsend (20:22.1) was 47th.
