Tompkins County cross country runners shine in 2024

The cross country season has come to a close, and there were a myriad of standout runners throughout Tompkins County during the postseason.

Ithaca was once again the cream of the crop at the conference, section, and state level. At the STAC championships, both the boys and girls teams came out on top. At the Section IV Class A championships, the boys team captured its second straight title while the girls team finished in second place. The boys team went on to place fifth at states and also finished in fifth at federations.

In terms of the individual runners, Tsadia Bercuvitz continued her stellar career as only a sophomore. She won at both STACs and sectionals, but it was at states where she had arguably her most impressive performance of the season. Bercuvitz finished in second place with a time of 17 minutes and 32.4 seconds, just under eight seconds behind the champion. She also finished in 15th place at states. Bercuvitz looked back at all she has achieved so far with the Little Red.

“I just feel so lucky for the team and the people and the community I’ve been gifted,” Bercuvitz said. “I try not to really think about places. I just try to think about the experiences I’m getting along the way because [at] the next meet, who knows what place you’re gonna get? Who knows what time you’re going to get? But [it’s] the experience, [it’s] kind of like the finish line doesn’t really matter. It’s just a fun way to get to meet new people and get to really test your own abilities.”

Bercuvitz also dived into how she has grown as a runner to make this season her most successful one.

“I’ve been focusing on getting stronger and really working on muscle,” Bercuvitz said. “When I was younger, we were trying to keep my mileage low because it’s safer that way to not feel like you don’t get injured, so I’ve been increasing my mileage and working more on strength. I think that’s really improved.”

On the boys team, Riley Hubisz took home the gold at both STACs and sectionals. He also finished in 13th place at states, which was the highest finish out of the Section IV runners in the boys race.

At federations, it was his teammate Noah Hilker who stole the show. The senior finished in 20th place, which was also the highest placement for a Section IV runner in the boys race. While cross country can largely be perceived as an individual sport, Hilker alludes to the relationships he has with his teammates to demonstrate the consistent success Ithaca High has had in the sport.

“We’re all just best friends,” Hilker said. “I think we really just flow with the season. No matter what happens, we just lift each other up. We also coach each other too. We have our coaches out there giving us the main plan, but we’re all out there helping each other like, ‘Hey, you’re doing great, man. Just keep going.’ I know we each have different levels of training, but we each play a part in that. It really comes down to our synergy, I’d say.”

That level of dominance was also on display at Lansing. At IACs, the girls team took home the gold and the boys team placed third. At sectionals, the girls team came just shy of the Class C title by just three points while the boys team finished sixth.

Individually, Kathleen Sullivan had a senior season to remember. She won both the IAC and Section IV title and earned the Sportsmanship award for Section IV’s New York State Class C girls. Like Hilker, Sullivan knows the importance of team chemistry to help out both herself and the program as a whole.

“It’s nice to just have such a close-knit team,” Sullivan said. “They don’t put any pressure on me and I don’t put any pressure on them. It’s like we all have an equal role. We’re all so important to the wins that we take, honestly. It’s just really nice that they’re there to support me and I’m there to support them.”

On the boys team, Trent Thibault was once again the standout runner. The junior won at both IACs and sectionals and then finished in fifth place at states.

As for the other Tompkins County teams, Trumansburg continues to impress. The boys and girls teams each finished in second place at IACs and both finished runner-up in the Section IV Class D championships to Delhi-South Kortright. At Groton, Ross Bush had a strong campaign with a third-place finish at IACs and a runner-up finish at sectionals, leading the boys team to place fourth in the latter race. And at Dryden, Jade Brockner and Eliot Couch led their respective teams with top-20 finishes at IACs and sectionals.