Newark Valley and Edison have been the dominant teams in Interscholastic Athletic Conference cross country for years and that trend continued at Tuesday’s IAC Division I Championships at Tomasso’s Golf Course.
Newark Valley, as expected, ran away with the girls team title with just 24 points. Edison, beaten by Waverly during the season, was second with 57 points, followed by Waverly with 81 points and Watkins Glen with 120 points. Candor, Tioga Central and Spencer-Van Etten weren’t able to field complete squads.
Newark Valley’s Erin Cawley simply ran away from the field, leading by 25 seconds just one mile into the 3.1-mile course. At the end, her time of 18:44 easily bested second-place Sarah Palmer of Edison, who rolled in with a time of 19:29.
Waverly, depleated by injuries over the last couple of weeks, was led by Serena Emms, who finished 10th with a time of 22:09 and Courtney Ward, in 11th with a time of 22:10. Also scoring for Waverly were Liz Gorman, 19th with a time of 23:17, Kelly Lyon, 20th with a time of 23:38 and Rachel Correll, 21st with a time of 23:31.
“The girls ran pretty well,” said Waverly coach Trevor Huckle. “We knew we weren’t going to beat Newark Valley, but we were hoping for second.”
Newark Valley’s Jenna Coup and Katie Weeks finished third and fourth with Watkins Glen’s Somer Pettet rounding out the top five. The second five included Newark Valley’s Jesssica Johnson in sixth and Emily Gac in eighth. Aubrie Russell of Candor split those two in seventh, with Edison’s Sam Sauer ninth and Waverly’s Emms rounding out the top 10.
Tioga Central’s two runners, Liz Rhodes and Megan Gilbert, finshed 34th and 40th, respectively, with times of 27:20 and 32:00.
Thursday, Waverly will take part in the Tom Koons Valley Meet with Athens and Sayre on Sayre’s home course at the Satterly Creek Environmental Center adjacent to the Litchfield Elementary School. The junior high meet will begin  at 4:15 with the boys and girls varsity races to follow.
Tioga Central’s next action will come Saturday, Oct. 25 at Marathon in the Interscholastic Athletic Conference Championships.