Amber Shibley of Mayfield High School and Jaime Julia of Amsterdam High School were selected as winners of the Fulmont Roadrunners Club's 2002 Cross-Country Runner of the Year Awards honoring the year's top male and female cross-country runners in Fulton and Montgomery County high schools.
For their achievements, the two athletes received specially engraved walnut plaques and were invited to compete, at no charge, in the club's 2003 Winter Wimp foot race in Hagaman. The plaques were presented there.
Mayfield's Amber Shibley, a senior, competes in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), where she won all but one of the dual meets in which she ran this year. She also was first in the Galway Invitational small schools race, second in the Fort Plain Invitational small schools race, and second at the WAC Championships at SUNY Cobleskill, finishing that race in 19:03, her personal best time for the 5K (3.1-mile) distance.
At the Section II Championships, contested at the Saratoga Spa State Park 5K course, Shibley finished seventh in the Class D race, earning an invitation to the State Championships at Sunken Meadows Park in Long Island, N.Y. There, she finished 16th in the Class D race. She was named a Western Athletic Conference All Star, a Section II All Star, and was MVP of her Mayfield High cross-country team.
Jaime Julia
Competing in the Big 10 Conference, Amsterdam High senior Jaime Julia was undefeated in his dual meets this year and was first at the Fonda, Cobleskill, and Troy Invitationals and at the Big 10 Championships. He went on to finish third in the Section II Class A Championships at Saratoga Springs, 15th at the New York State Class A Championships at Sunken Meadows Park, and 50th at the New York State Federation Meet at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls.
Julia holds course records at all but one of the schools in the Big 10, adding three new records in 2002. His personal best at the 5K distance is 15:27, an Amsterdam High record. This is Julia's third Fulmont Roadrunners Club Runner of the Year Award, and he was again named a Big 10 and Section II First Team All Star.
Outstanding XC Runner Awards
In addition to the overall winners, the Fulmont Roadrunners select the top male and female cross-country runners in each of the eight Fulton and Montgomery County high schools that field cross-country teams. Winners of these Outstanding Cross-Country Runner Awards for 2002 were Jenna Krong and Julia of Amsterdam High, Lindsey Rappleyea and Steve Lyons of Broadalbin-Perth High, and Katie Button and Justin Douglas of Canajoharie High.
Other winners of these awards were Kayla Fox and Chuck Florence of Fonda-Fultonville High, Jessica King and Brendan Petty of Fort Plain Central, Rebecca Ellis and John Kenworthy of Gloversville High, Kelsey Baird and Eric Pollack of Johnstown High, and Shibley and Jim Hojohn of Mayfield High.
The Fulmont Roadrunners initiated the annual high school cross-country awards program several years ago as part of its efforts to encourage and reward young runners in Fulton and Montgomery Counties. Club member Darryl Ferguson chaired this year's program. The club also awards scholarships each year to outstanding high school seniors in the area who compete in varsity running programs and are going on to college.