BY BRIAN FEESSouthern Tier Sports Report
QUEENSBURY — After winning a one-on-one foot race to the finish Corning junior Christopher Lawson is now a NYSPHSAA cross country state champion.
Lawson finished in 15:07.5, edging Liverpool’s Brady Petrella to win the Class A title. Corning finished fourth as a team with a score of 102, with Brightonw inning at 75.
“Very proud,” Corning coach, and Chris’s dad, Ray Lawson said. “Christopher went in knowing he was in the top five and had a chance to win. Really proud of the way he raced, kept himself in there. Saw him just after the mile in a pack of about 10. After two miles in a pack of five guys. I was out on the course watching other runners and kind of had to wait for five minutes after the race ended to find out he won. I guess he had a really good battle the last half mile.
“Really proud of him. Excited he was in it and had an opportunity to race for a state championships. You want to give yourself a chance, and he did.”
Lawson becomes the third Hawks runner to win a state title. One of the previous two winners just happens to be Lawson’s older sister Jessica Lawson.
“Five years ago yesterday was Jack Gregorski,” Lawson said. “And, Jess had several track championships, but her cross country one came on that same course.”
For Ray Lawson it was special to watch his son win the title.
“Over the years I think I got better at wearing the hat of dad and coach,” Ray Lawson said. “I was excited to watch him. I’ve been fortunate enough since 2013 I’ve always had at least one of my own children on the team. I’ve been blessed for sure, and don’t take that for granted.”
For Christopher Lawson a state title has been something he’s dreamed about, especially growing up watching his sister winning a championship.
“It feels great, I’m so excited,” he said. “I have always been thinking about it. I’ve always been thinking about it and excited to have this opportunity. It’s’ so awesome.”
Being in a one-on-one race to the finish was something fun for Lawson.
“It’s fun, I was definitely super scared, he was making me hurt,” Lawson said. “That was a brutal finish.”
And, that finish led to a really fast time for the junior.
“Running that time was super exciting,” Lawson said. “I really am happy with that. Faster than pre-states, everything went perfect, like I dreamed it would go.”
Lawson had a third-place finish at pre-states this year, and won the McQuaid Invite, and those two races gave him a lot of confidence going into states this year.
“For sure, that gave me the confidence,” Lawson said. “I knew I could run with these guys and be one of the best in states. Those two races were big factors in my confidence.”
Lawson had his sister Jess, along with her husband and son, there cheering him on Saturday. Now, he joins his sister in elite company as state champions.
“That is so cool, I’m really happy to join her,” Lawson said.
Graham Wightman was 37th for the Hawks in 16:14.5 and Ashtyn Stark finished 42nd in 16:17.2. Elijah Sonner was 51st in 16:29 and Andrew Wilkerson was 75th in 16:53.7. Andrew Miller was 82nd in 17:01.7 and Connor Harrington was 105th in 17:43.4.
“We didn’t come in (to the year) ranked even top 20 in Class A,” Ray Lawson said of the team. “We knew we got better on track and confident we could move up those rankings. I think we came in ranked fifth, we took a chance and we were in third part of the race and ended up fourth. We are losing two seniors, Graham Wightman and Ashtyn Stark, but we have four sophomores on this team.”
With so many new faces this year, Christopher Lawson was happy with the way the team came back this year.
“We were really happy with how we returned this year,” he said. “We wanted to do better, we have a lot of sophomores in our top 10. Everyone is returning, besides our two and three (runners).”
And, now that Christopher has won a state individual title, he’d love to be able to get a team title next year.
“So badly we want to be team state champs so much,” he said. “We will work toward that, have a good track season and come back next year. I think it (taking fourth this year) gives us a good shot. It will give us some confidence. I think we will return well.”
Winning states just chances some things for Lawson.
“It’s so different,” he said. “I’m super excited. I never felt this way after a meet. McQuaid was close, but this is so much more exciting.”
Now the junior is ready for track and hoping to carry over his cross country success.
“I am pumped for track,” he said. “Excited for my season, I won’t put limits on myself. I think this changes the expectations and goals for track season.”
As a junior Christopher Lawson would love to repeat as state champion next year.
“That would be really cool if I could,” Christopher Lawson said.
Elmira’s Gianni Page was 59th in the Class A race in 16:42.5 and James Lovell finished 96th in 17:23.7.
In the girls’ Class A race Bella Martinec was 70th in 19:55.1. Elmira’s Addie Fenton was 75th in 20:11.2 and Madelyn Wise of Elmira was 85th in 20:31.7. Hazel Fuchs of Corning was 88th in 20:43.2 and the Hawks’ Kateland Dininny was 93rd in 21:01.2.
Ithaca’s Tsadia Bercuvitz was third in the race in 17:39.
Like the boys team, where all but two runners return next year, all three of the Corning girls return next year, as they are a pair of sophomores and a freshman.
“They all had good experience,” Ray Lawson said. “They see other teams on the podium and you keep it in mind and you want to do that next year. We had three underclassmen girls who will be back. Kateland Dininny has been battling through an injury, but ran well enough to race at the state qualifier meet to get here and ran a tough race here. First year runners Bella Martinec and Hazel Fuchs had good first showings at the state meet. Across the board I’m pleased with the effort tonight.”
In the boys’ Class D race Notre Dame’s Gavin Meier capped his career with his best finish at states, taking 35th in 17:17.1.
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