OBSERVER Staff Report

LONG ISLAND — Five members of the Fredonia Hillbillies cross country team made the trip down to Long Island to race on one of the state’s most challenging courses on Saturday in preparation for the state qualifier meet later this fall. Fredonia stars Emily Brown and Diego Rey each finished in the top 10 of the meet.

Rey, the only male runner to make the trip, finished 9th with a time of 17:31. Emily Brown finished 8th for Fredonia in a time of 20 minutes flat. Savannah Lashbrook (22:04), Anna Buchanan (22:38) and Ashlyn Ambrose (22:39) rounded out Fredonia’s runners on Saturday.

“All five of the kids ran incredible,” said Fredonia coach Carol Zirkle. “It’s a very challenging course. It was great preparation. … A great confidence builder moving forward.”

Zirkle mentioned that the top runner in the nation competed in the race and broke a course record on Saturday, which Zirkle called, “A great experience to witness.”

Fredonia is in action next on Tuesday.