SECTION 4 CROSS COUNTRY: ND'S MEIER FINISHES SECOND AT SECTIONALS TO HEAD BACK TO STATES (9 PHOTOS) (November 5, 2026)
BY TIM TAYLORSouthern Tier Sports ReportCHENANGO FORKS — Elmira Notre Dame’s Gavin Meier made the most of his final cross country appearance at Chenango Valley State Park, running to a second-place showing at the Section IV Class D championships here Thursday.
Finishing as the runner-up locked him in as the top individual qualifier for next Saturday’s state meet.
Delhi/South Kortright standout Jaden Lewis set a blistering pace right off the starting gun and led end-to-end with a time of 17:18.1 to lead his team to the title. Meier was the only other competitor to break 18 minutes, clocking 17:54.2.
“It got out really, really fast,” Meier said. “I think we all kind of saw that coming, but yeah, I was in about 10th spot for a while and just moved my way up, just fought throughout the whole race.
“I knew a lot of their times coming into it, and I knew a lot of them. I think they kind of got in over their head a little bit so I knew that they were kind of going to have to run out of gas eventually, so I was just patient with it, and I caught them at the halfway point, one mile to go.”
Meier enjoys the fact he is returning to the state meet.
“I love it,” he said. “It's my third year back. Really happy to be back in the state championship, and I think this is a great way to end it.
He has set a big a goal for his final state meet appearance
“Of course, we want to go for the state medal,” he said.
Also competing for the Crusaders in the largest field of the day were Burke Hilgindorf (55th, 21:55), Robert Sharp (63rd, 22:28.9), Johnny Piet (100th, 25:58.7) and Sergio Condo (107th, 29:19.4).
Notre Dame had a pair of competitors in the girls meet.
Bella Clarke placed 10th with a time of 22:12.8 and Kaylin Moore was 64th in 28:59.2. The pair have several more opportunities to become state qualifiers as they are a freshman and 8th-grader, respectively.
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PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.
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