Beavers look for 3-peat

BEAVER FALLS — A 15th state title in a span of 26 years.

That's the goal for the two-time defending Class D champion Beaver River boys at Saturday's state cross country meet at SUNY Plattsburgh.

For Beaver River senior Gabe Shepherd it'd be an ideal way to cap his high school cross country career.

"Ever since we started running on modified the whole dream was to win states," Shepherd said. "When I was on modified, our varsity team wasn't winning at the time, so it seemed like something way off. Now that we're there, it's like a dream come true that we get to compete at this level. But a 15th state title? That'd be crazy."

Shepherd is running as the No. 5 man on the team, and his performance Saturday is as crucial to the Beavers as that of front-runner Matt Cheney.

Teammates Logan Kempney, Ryan Scanlon and Josh Purcell typically run second through fourth, respectively.

"There's definitely equal pressure and responsibility on all of us," Shepherd said. "Because every guy that's in front of us to pass, that's one more point for the team that we need to get."

And every point will matter in this race as the outcome cannot be easily predicted.

"It's actually pretty unique this season," first-year Beaver River coach Will Gelling said. "There are four teams that have a legitimate shot at winning."

Barker, which finished second last year, is slightly favored over Beaver River, according to rankings on tullyrunners.com.

"Their strength is that they're really tightly-packed together," Gelling noted. "So my top three guys need to beat their No. 1 guy, and my 4 and 5 guys need to beat their fifth guy. If we can do that, then we'll win."

That's assuming the Beavers can also squeak past Plattsburgh Seton Catholic and Port Jefferson, which also have a realistic shot at the title.

Seton Catholic will be running on its home course, and its fastest runner, defending Class D individual champ Mike Champagne, is favored along with Cooperstown's Caleb Edmonds, to win the race.

"There's only so much of running that is physical, and the rest is mental," Gelling said. "And I think this race, especially because it's a four-team race, it's going to come down to the mental aspect, how prepared you are for it."

Cheney has a shot of placing among the top five finishers, and Kempney and Scanlon could realistically finish in the top 10. However, the team finish tends to be the top priority.

"I think if you ask every single one of them individually what their goals were, it would be team goals," Gelling said.

The Class D boys are scheduled to run at 9 a.m., the first race of the day.

"I'm extremely happy about that," Gelling said. "I'm glad we can just get up in the morning, don't have all day to think about it, just get up, eat your breakfast and get your game face on and go do it."

"Plus the course will probably be less torn up, less muddy when we get to it, if it is muddy that day," Shepherd said. "It will get pretty torn up by the end of the day with all the runners."

A few of the other area competitors who are expected to place well include: Matt Pierce of Canton in Class B boys; Aimee Beaudette and Sophie Goobic of Canton in Class C girls; Jon Eng of Norwood-Norfolk in Class D boys; and Victoria Campanian of South Lewis, Emily Cotey and Hannah Seguin of Norwood-Norfolk, and Karlee Duffer of Beaver River in Class D girls.