Summer series races top local scene

If there was any doubt that summer was upon us, all of those thoughts were erased with the start of the Kingston and New Paltz Summer Cross Country Series.

Both races kicked off their five-race series with sizable fields as area trail runners battled heat, humidity and rainstorms to get from start to finish.

The Kingston series got it all going on July 5 with its opening run at Twin Lakes Resort in Hurley.

If you missed this race, good news, because the finale is back at Twin Lakes in a few weeks, so you’ve got a second chance.

I’ve been told the final distance of this race was about 3.3 miles and there were definitely some speedy finishes.

Jayson Hines led the way, finishing first overall in 16:15, almost a minute ahead of runner-up Declan Dwyer-McNulty, who crossed in 17:11.

Ethan Husted was third in 17:14, while John Nolis finished fourth in 17:29 and John Prizzi took fifth in 18:10.

Terry McCann got up for sixth in 18:14, with Justin MacDougall seventh in 18:26 and Bradley Hack eighth in 18:40.

Ryan McCann placed ninth in 19:32 and David Hanson rounded out the top 10 in 19:37.

Rachel Meyers led the way for the ladies, placing 18th overall in 21:01.

Runner-up Clara Flores was 13 places later in 23:32, while Margaux Seche was third in 25:21 and Veronica Wolfe was fourth in 25:48.

Fifth place went to Jennifer Johnson in 25:58, Lia MacDougall was sixth in 26:16 and Rebecca MacDougall was seventh in 26:38.

Ilana Numssen (26:47), Kathleen Laux (26:49) and Veronika d’Aragona (27:18) completed the top 10 for the female division.

Other top finishes came from Ryan Kleitz (19:50), Hunter Hapeman (19:55), Adam Beach (20:03), Max Gruner (20:20), Tom deHaan (20:28), Owen McCann (21:04) and Chace Snyder.

Joseph Nuzzo won the kids mile run in 5:17 and Edward Nuzzo took the kids half mile in 2:29.

Race No. 2 was this past Wednesday at the Hurley Rail Trail and this coming Wednesday, the series heads to the trails at John A. Coleman High.

Meanwhile, over 200 finishers headlined the New Paltz series opener that began this past Monday with the 3-mile Patterson’s Pellet run at Minnewaska State Park.

Galo Vasquez was the race winner in 16:17, handily ahead of runner-up Barrett Celecki in 17:15.

Stephen Smith grabbed third in 17:45, then Luke Della Pietra was fourth in 17:58 and Sean Lyons took fifth in 18:05.

Liam Higgins ran sixth in 18:13, with Louis Greco seventh in 18:14 and John Nolis eighth in 18:20.

Rounding out the top 10 were James McCowan in 18:36 and Nanuk McBride in 18:41.

Caroline Timm won the women’s race and placed 13th overall in 19:12.

Second place went to Marisa Strange in 20:03, third to Catherine Herne in 20:56 and fourth to Jennifer Callan in 22:14.

The rest of the top 10 included Eileen Shea (22:50), Isabelle Serrano (23:16), Heather Hazzard (23:32), Catherine Ferreri (23:45), Melinda Mirto (24:02) and Natalie Cartwright (24:11).

Some of the other fast finishers were Riley Brutvan (18:55), Ian Detweiler (19:03), Mike Slinskey (19:13), Terry McCann (19:20), Tim Kosteczko (19:43), Logan Linares (22:04), Chris Gallo (22:09), Wyatt Pileggi (22:13), Donald Thurston (22:26), Jason Taylor (23:18) Nathan Briggs (23:51) and Steve Schindler (24:05).

The series is back in action on Monday at Minnewaska State Park with the 4-mile Blueberry Run.

Please send all race results and information to runerichrun@gmail.com. Follow Eric Houghtaling on Twitter at http:// twitter.com/runerichrun