Alumni XC Run Thrives at Rockland Lake

By Jamie Kempton

Construction at Bear Mountain necessitates first location change in 42-year history

The Bill Markiewicz Memorial Rockland County Alumni Cross Country Run is nothing if not a creature of habit. For its first 41 years, you could set your watch to its noontime start the Saturday after Thanksgiving at Bear Mountain State Park, a jewel of the Palisades Interstate Park system. Discounting the pandemic year of 2020, runners reliably toured Bear Mountain’s multi-hued landscape every autumn since 1983 for a renewal of a harrier pilgrimage practically stitched into their DNA. For cross country runners in the lower Hudson Valley, Bear Mountain had been their ancestral home.

Until this year, that is. Bear Mountain has commissioned a two-year project to construct a new picnic area, playground and bathrooms directly in the path of major portions of the cross country course. Thus, Alumni Run organizers shifted gears and relocated the race to Rockland Lake State Park for a flat 3-mile circuit of the lake’s inner loop paved path, with a new 10 a.m. start time. OK, it’s not really cross country, and Bear Mountain-style hills were nowhere to be found. But a tradition had to be upheld, and so the Alumni brigade shuffled off to Rockland Lake on Saturday, November 29 to add a new chapter to the race’s storied history.

Co-sponsored by the Rockland Road Runners, the race is the only county-wide alumni athletic event in Rockland, accepting participants of post-high school age from any secondary school home or abroad.

Title No. 9 for Monroe-Woodbury

On a sunny mid-30-degree day made colder by the brisk breezes off the lake, Monroe-Woodbury of Orange County placed four runners among the top 11 finishers to claim its ninth men’s team crown with 46 points. The Crusaders moved into a tie with Clarkstown North for the most men’s team championships. Pearl River edged Warwick Valley on a sixth-runner tiebreaker for second place. Both teams scored 78 points through the regulation five scoring places per team. But Pearl River’s sixth man, Brendan Fennell, finished 26th, one place ahead of Warwick’s sixth man, Stephen Thorp, thus securing the runner-up spot for the Pirates.

Catherwood, Chalfin Seize Individual Crowns

For the second year in a row, Collin Catherwood, Monroe-Woodbury class of 2023, outclassed the field. He circumnavigated the clockwise loop of the lake in 15 minutes 24 seconds for an 80-yard victory margin over Corey Calajoe, Pearl River class of 2004, who clocked 15:40. Calajoe won the race in 2021, 2022 and 2023 and has been runner-up the past two years.

Catherwood is a junior competing for the University of Massachusetts in track and cross country. He won the recent 28-school New England cross country championships to lead the Minutemen to a second-place finish, and has been their No. 1 runner all season. He also placed fifth in the MAC championships and had three individual meet victories to his credit.

At Monroe-Woodbury, Catherwood was a key cog on the Crusaders’ New York State Federation cross country championship team in 2022 (the first of three straight Fed titles for the school) and ran on national championship 4-mile relays indoor and outdoors. Catherwood’s younger brother, Gavin, from the class of 2025, solidified Monroe-Woodbury’s scoring punch at the Alumni Run with a third-place finish in 16:24.

Madison Chalfin, Clarkstown South class of 2022, captured the women’s division and finished 28th overall in 19:22. Chalfin was an All-County pole vaulter for the Vikings who ranks in the top two among all female vaulters in Rockland, both indoors and out. She also set the Rockland County record in diving in the fall swimming season.

At the University of Connecticut, Chalfin competed for the Huskies’ track team the past three years and earned two pole-vault medals in Big East Conference meets. After deciding to graduate early from UConn, she has retained athletic eligibility and will enroll in January at St. Thomas Aquinas College, where she will perform in running events and the pole vault.

Mackey Donovan, Tappan Zee class of 2022, came across the finish line eight seconds behind Chalfin to take second in 19:30. For the first time in recent memory, no women’s squads had the minimum five scorers to post a team score.

Monroe-Woodbury came away with its 15th consecutive team participation title and record 22nd overall. The Crusaders had 13 participants in this category, which combines male and female entrants. Pearl River and Tappan Zee tied for second with 12 participants, followed by Albertus Magnus with 10.

Markiewicz Award to McNiff, Albertus Magnus Organizer & Booster

The Bill Markiewicz Award has been presented annually at the Alumni Run since 1991 to a significant contributor to the sport of cross country in Rockland County. This year’s recipient was John McNiff, Albertus Magnus class of 1975. McNiff has been the Albertus Falcons’ greatest ambassador for cross country and track & field for many years. He has maintained an informative digital newsletter for the school’s booster club in those sports, the Falcon Spike Shoe Club. The recipients on his distribution list are kept apprised not only of the current Falcons’ performances but also of historical achievements, anniversaries and other noteworthy events.

One such event was the 50th anniversary of the Albertus “Long Red Line’s” second consecutive New York State Intersectional championship in 1975. McNiff, a member of the 1974 state title team, organized a reunion celebration of the ’75 team after the Alumni Run. McNiff orchestrated the travel of the team’s coach, Dick Weis, and his son Ray from Oklahoma to take part in the celebration. Coach Weis, who is 87 and in frail health, was gratified to reconnect with his athletes and other Albertus runners and ex-runners. Weis had a highly successful 25-year coaching career at Oklahoma State fronted by several top-five finishes at the NCAA Division I cross country championships.

Bill Markiewicz was a 1967 Albertus Magnus graduate and beloved former Clarkstown North coach (1978-89) who succumbed to cancer in 1991. After his passing, the Bill Markiewicz Award was introduced to honor longtime, dedicated contributors to Rockland cross country. He was the award’s inaugural recipient. His widow, Janet, has presented the award to the winner each year and did so again this year.

29 High Schools Represented, International Entries, and Family Participation

This year’s field of 104 entrants included participants representing 29 high schools from five states along with a pair of international entries hailing from the United Kingdom – Rockland Road Runners club president Bill Carpenter and fellow RRR club member Mark Young of South Wales. The oldest participant was Bob Hermesch, a 1968 graduate of Hendrick Hudson High School in Montrose, Westchester County. The Collins family of Suffern earned the family participation title with four members – mom Helene and sons Kyle, Dustin and Wesley. Two other families had three entrants: Kim, Andy and Madison Chalfin, all Clarkstown South alums; and Flannan, Liam and Brendan Hehir, all Tappan Zee graduates.

Past Rockland County scholastic champions who competed in this year’s race included a pair of three-time titlists from Pearl River, Brendan Fennell, class of 2003 and Mike Hickey, class of 2009; Mike Rogan, Clarkstown North class of 1985; and Luke Gavigan, Tappan Zee class of 2015.

Past Alumni Run winners who participated included Calajoe; Gavigan; Kyle Collins, Suffern class of 2012, the 2014 winner; Brian Crowley, Albertus Magnus class of 1982, the 1990 champ who finished a strong sixth this year in 17:03; and Suzanne La Burt, Monroe-Woodbury class of 1981, a four-time titleholder who placed fourth this year.

Larry Beckerle, Albertus Magnus class of 1973, completed his 42nd Alumni Run. He is the only individual to have participated in every edition of the event.