WEST POINT – As the age-old adage reminds us, “The cream rises to the top.” 

When it comes to track and field, and its fall forerunner cross-country, that cream is personified by the Tri-Valley Bears boys team under the inspiring mentorship of Coach Chip Furman and his able assistant Tyler Eckhoff, who in the fall is abetted by his wife Skylar Musa.

In the seemingly never-ending revitalized glory of Tri-Valley track and field, the boys, who this past fall garnered their second consecutive state championship, won the Section IX ‘B’ indoor championship, a daunting task considering the number and relative size of many of the teams competing. It was only the second time in school history that the Bears emerged champions. They did it against a field of 20 schools including usual heavy hitters New Paltz, Rondout Valley, Marlboro and James I. O’Neill to mention just a few. Add to this, six consecutive boys spring track Section IX titles and you have what now constitutes, a three-season golden trifecta. 

Not since the days of the inspiring coaching of Joe and Missy Iatauro have we seen such unbridled greatness. But going into this indoor championship meet, Tri-Valley coaches Furman and Eckhoff had concerns as the section had reduced the number of potential entrants from each school in any event from three to two. For the Bears, whose depth is certainly an asset especially in the distance races, that meant a possible loss of points. As it turns out, it didn’t matter. They got great performances from Adam Furman who won the 1000, 600 and 1600, Van Furman who captured the 3200 and ran a leg in the second place finish of the 4x400 and third in the 1600, Craig Costa who was third in the 1000, second in the 3200 and ran a leg in the 4x800 relay.

Other contributors included Dayne Wall, Noah Edwards, Jacob Lucak Armaan Butler and Kristoff, Dylan Poley, Thomas Houghtaling, Logan Weyant, Vincent Mingo, Colin Monell, Noah Jucha, and Guanzon. 

By meet’s end, the Bears had bested second-place New Paltz by 11 and a half points. Fallsburg finished 10th, Sullivan West was 12th, Homestead was tied for 16th. In the girls meet, Fallsburg finished eighth, Tri-Valley was ninth, SW was 11th, Homestead 13th, Eldred 18th and Liberty 19. T-V’s Anna Furman won the 3200. SW’s Gracyn Halloran finished second and edged T-V’s Amelia Mickelson in the 1000. Mickelson came back to edge Halloran in the 1500 where she finished fourth, Halloran was fifth and Furman 6. 

Fallsburg’s Gisella King was second in the 55 hurdles and third in the high jump.  Hyaden-Marie Herrera was third in the triple jump. Eldred’s Lindsay Zgrodek took third in the shot put. 

Monticello competed in the ‘A’ championships the day after the ‘B’s. The Panthers were overshadowed by the larger schools in a year where the Panthers saw so many of its talented athletes exit this past June. Senior Taina DeJesus was second in the 55 hurdles and six in the 600. Enrique Gonzalez was sixth in the 300. The Panthers 4x200 relay was sixth. 

Section IX ‘B’ Championships

Boys team scores and key: 1. Tri-Valley (TV) 91.5 points; 2. New Paltz (NP) 80; 3. Rondout Valley (R) 68.5; 4. Marlboro (Marl) 53; 5. James I. O’Neill (JIO) 48; 6. Port Jervis (PtJ) 45; 7. Our Lady of Lourdes (OLL) 36; 8. Millbrook (Mill) 20; 9. Pine Plains (PP) 18; 10. Fallsburg (Fall) 16.5; 11. John S. Burke Catholic (JSB) 6; 12. Sullivan West (SW) 4; 13. Red Hook (RH) 3; 14. Highland (High) 2.5; 15. Ellenville (Ell) 2; 16. (tie) Onteora (Ont) and Homestead 1; 17. (tie) Chester (Ches), Eldred (Eld), Liberty (Lib), Spackenkill (Spac) 0

55-meters: 1; 5. Nazir Lopez (Fall) 6.99; 6. Edwin Morales (Fall) 7.05. 55 hurdles: 5. Hunter Doty (Fall) 9.87. 600: 1. Adam Furman (TV) 1:24.82; 2. Dayne Wall (TV) 1:29.24. 1,000: 1. Adam Furman (TV) 2:40.29; 3. Craig Costa (TV) 2:45.75. 1,600: 1. Adam Furman (TV) 4:28.44; 3. Van Furman (TV) 4:48.09.

3,200: 1. Van Furman (TV) 9:56.16; 2. Craig Costa (TV) 10:16.04; 6. Bryce Shannon (Homestead)10:37.90. 800 relay: 5. Fallsburg 1:44.49 (Nazir Lopez, Hunter Doty, Yoshua Seraphin, Edwin Morales; 6. Tri-Valley 1:44.97 (Jacob Lucak, Colin Monell, Noah Jucha, Dylan Poley.

1,600 relay: 1. Fallsburg 3:55.22; (Isiash Hershewsky, Luke Oefelein, Nazir Lopez, Jefferson Banegas Gallo); 3. Tri-Valley 3:58.28 (Dayne Wall, Logan Weyant, Noah Edwards, Vincent Mingo. 3,200 relay: 2. Tri-Valley 9:03.86 (Craig Costa, Van Furman, Vincent Mingo, Thomas Houghtaling.

High jump: 5. Hunter Ebeling (SW) 5-2; 6. Noah Edwards (TV) 5-2. Long jump: 6. Jacob Lucak (TV) 17-7.5. Weight throw: 3. Armaan Butler (TV) 48-8.5. Pole vault: 5. Robert Davidson (SW) 7-0; 6. Kristoff Guanzon (TV) 7-0.

Girls team scores and key: 1. Rondout Valley (RV) 102 points; 2. New Paltz (NP) 73; 3. Our Lady of Lourdes (OLL) 53; 4. Red Hook (RH) 36; 5. Marlboro (Marl) 35; 6. Onteora (Ont) 34; 7. Ellenville (Ell) 30; 8. Fallsburg (Fall) 29; 9. Tri-Valley (TV) 27; 10. Chester (Ches) 20; 11. Sullivan West (SW) 17; 12. James I. O’Neill (JIO) 16; 13. Homestead 10; 14. (tie) John S. Burke Catholic (JSB), Port Jervis (PtJ), Pine Plains (PP) 8; 17. Highland (High) 7; 18. Eldred (Eld) 6; 19. Liberty (Lib) 5; 20. Millbrook (Mill), Spackenkill (Spac) 0

55 hurdles: 6. Katelynn Smith (SW) 10.91. 300: 2. Gisella King (Fall) 43.16; 5. Gabriela Almonte (Homestead) 45.78. 1,000: 2. Gracyn Halloran (SW) 3:20.81; 3. Amelia Mickelson (TV) 3:20.83.

1,500: 4. Amelia Mickelson (TV) 5:25.36; 5. Gracyn Halloran (SW) 5:30.82; 6. Anna Furman (TV) 5:36.83. 1,500 racewalk: 5. Izabel Grund (SW) 9:59.73. 3,000: 1. Anna Furman (TV) 11:46.97. 1,600 relay: 3. Tri-Valley 5:00.33 (Amelia Mickelson, Anna Furman, Emily Hornbeck, Kaylee Poppo. 6. Liberty 5:02.15 (Sheyla Anguisaca, Audrey Krum, Madeline Kelly, Sydania Foster. High jump: 3. Gisella King (Fall) 4-6. Triple jump: 3. Hyaden-Marie Herrera (Falls) 28-01.75. Shot put: 3. Lindsay Zgrodek (Eld) 31-6; 4. 

Pole vault: 4. Keely Schock (SW) 6-6.

Section 9 Class A championships

Boys team scores and key: 1. Monroe-Woodbury (MW) 131 points; 2. Kingston (King) 49; 3. Middletown (Mid) and Goshen (Gosh) 46; 5. Cornwall (Cor) 40; 6. Pine Bush (PB) 38; 7. Newburgh Free Academy (NFA) 32; 8. Valley Central (VC) 28; 9. Minisink Valley (MV) 22; 10. Warwick (War) 19; 11. Beacon (Bea) 16; 12. F.D. Roosevelt (FDR) 12; 13. Washingtonville (Wash) 8; 14. Wallkill (Wall) 7; 15. Monticello (Mont) 3

300: Enrique Gonzalez (Mont) 37.55. 800 relay: 6. Monticello 1:38.18

Girls team scores and key: 1. Cornwall (Cor) 133 points; 2. Pine Bush (PB) 82; 3. Monroe-Woodbury (MW) 73.5; 4. Warwick (War) 70; 5. Minisink Valley (MV) 44.5; 6. Kingston (King) 36; 7. Valley Central (VC) 31; 8. F.D. Roosevelt (FDR) 15; 9. Washingtonville (Wash) 11; 10. Monticello (Mont) and Goshen (Gosh) 9; 12. Wallkill (Wall) 5; 13. Newburgh Free Academy (NFA) and Middletown (Mid) 4

55 hurdles: 2. Taina DeJesus (Mont) 8.88.600: 6. Taina DeJesus (Mont) 1:43.88