The Bucs wrapped up an undefeated dual meet season with a victory over their rivals in front of a raucous home crowd in Blairstown, New Jersey. Despite water on the course from the previous two days’ heavy rain, Peddie’s Alex Drake, the individual victor in the race, finished in a fine 21:40. Blair’s pack, however, was too much for the Falcons to overcome. With Marty Dericks '22 in second, Jessica Wilm '21 and Corrine Wilm '21 separated by less than a second in third and fourth, and Abby Morris '20 in fifth, Blair held a commanding lead.
Peddie’s Bhanu Cheepurupalli and Emily Yang in sixth and seventh narrowed the gap, but Elise Sigety '20 closed the deal when she finished eighth as Blair's final varsity scorer. Captains Caeley Tierney '19 and Genevieve Koffman '19 both displaced Peddie’s fifth girl to make the final score 22-35 in favor of the home team. In fact, Blair’s Kendra Payne '20 and Lucy Clayton '21 were the next two girls across the line, as if providing insurance had either Caeley or Genevieve faltered during the race.
Thirteen of Blair’s fourteen runners competed today - Cam Bentley '20, Elizabeth Montfort '20, Cleary Waldo '19 and Ilyssa Gibson '22 would have outpointed Peddie’s JV had score been kept - and the fact that just one girl was lost due to injury is testament to the team’s careful season-long training. For the third year in a row the Bucs contributed a valuable point in the Kelley-Potter Cup competition, allowing Blair to escape with a tie in 2018.