Section IV XC Championships — Race-Day Narrative

On a cool November afternoon at Chenango Valley State Park, Section IV crowned its 2025 cross country champions with tight team battles, breakout wins, and a pair of emphatic “best-of-the-day” performances. MileSplit United States

Headline performances of the day

• Fastest boy (merge): Trent Thibault (Lansing), 16:14.9 — the senior set the tone early and never looked back to top the overall boys merge. MileSplit United States

• Fastest girl (merge): Tsadia Bercuvitz (Ithaca), 18:16.7 — the junior separated decisively and anchored a dominant Little Red front. MileSplit United States

Division-by-division recap

Class A

• Boys: Corning executed classic pack running (2–3–5–10–11) to defeat Ithaca 31–46. Nicholas Kowal (Horseheads) grabbed the individual title in 16:29, with Corning shoring up the scoreboard behind him. MileSplit United States

• Girls: Ithaca rolled to the team crown behind Tsadia Bercuvitz’s 18:16.7 win; the Little Red placed four in the top seven to pull away from Corning and Horseheads. MileSplit United States

Class B

• Boys: Vestal was ruthless up front—its first five finished in the top six team places for 20 points—while Javan Belokur (Owego FA) earned the individual win in 17:03.6. MileSplit United States

• Girls: A nail-biter: Vestal 29, Owego FA 30. Hellen Zhang (Vestal) claimed the individual title in 20:15.3 and the Golden Bears’ depth made the single-point difference. MileSplit United States

Class C

• Boys: Chenango Valley used balance and mid-pack surges to secure the team title (49). At the front, Trent Thibault (Lansing) delivered the race of the day in 16:14.9 to win the individual crown. MileSplit United States

• Girls: Chenango Forks captured the team championship (37), led by Clara Little’s composed individual win in 21:24.4. MileSplit United States

Class D

• Boys: Andrew Edsall (Marathon) claimed the individual title in 16:53.1. Based on the official team-place (TmPl) scoring in the raw results, Delhi–South Kortright edged Southern Cayuga for the team crown, 58–64 (inference from TmPl sum: DSK 2+7+13+16+20=58; SC 3+4+9+21+27=64). MileSplit United States

• Girls: Delhi–South Kortright took the team title with 49, while Kali Buttacavoli (Deposit-Hancock, 8th grade) sprinted to the individual win in 20:49.2. MileSplit United States

Season threads that made today pop

• Ithaca girls’ big-meet seasoning: Bercuvitz & Co. have been battle-tested—Tsadia placed 3rd in Girls Easterns at Manhattan (2.5mi, 14:17), and the Ithaca pack ran deep there too. Today’s dominance fit that trend. MileSplit United States

• Vestal boys’ momentum: The Golden Bears were already razor-sharp at STACs, where they finished right behind Corning; their sectional steamroll (20 pts) showed that pack cohesion at its peak. tullyrunners.com

• Thibault’s rise: Lansing’s senior starred on bigger stages this fall (e.g., Manhattan Invite, Easterns section), and he translated that speed to a full 5k today for the overall fastest mark. MileSplit United States

• Buttacavoli’s breakout: The Deposit-Hancock eighth-grader has been trending up (e.g., 22:43 at the Pete Matzke Invite in late September), and she capped it with a sectional title. (She was a standout in modified last fall as well.) MileSplit United States+1