There are times when it is difficult to crack a smile after a high school cross country race.
Pain can set in before a runner reaches the finish line. The sight of an athlete laying down in the grass after a three-mile race is common.
But there was Brad Grimm, a sophomore at Pittsford Sutherland, on his feet and smiling as he drank a bottle of water after completing the Bob Bradley Premier Race for boys during the McQuaid Invitational.
While Grimm appreciated the water, it was his performance that put the smile on his face. This sport will test you.
"I'm very proud," said Grimm, who did not win, but placed fourth against some of the best runners in the state after moving around the course in Genesee Valley Park in 14 minutes, 51.9 seconds. Corning
junior Christopher Lawson won the race in 14:37.3.
Grimm's finish in the elite race was very respectable, if not outstanding.
Last season was Grimm's first with the Sutherland Knights, and he came in 21st during a normal McQuaid varsity division race. He ran the same course in 16:33.1. The year before, Grimm was on his feet in a different sport.
"In seventh and eighth grade I did soccer," Grimm said. "In ninth grade, I didn't want to do soccer anymore. I didn't want to do anything, but my mom (and others) convinced me to do cross country.
"I said, 'Alright, I'll do it for fun, on the JV (junior varsity). My first race I did really well. Then I knew. I ran a 17:25 (at Northampton Park in the towns of Ogden and Sweden), which I thought was really good for my first race, so did my coach and team."
Grimm was the point man or leader of Sutherland's fourth-place finish in the race's team standings. The Knights, with 165 points, finished behind only East Aurora of Section VI (107 points), Saratoga Springs of Section II (151), then Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake of Section II (159).
These schools are found at or near the top of state rankings, and people notice when you have one of those names on your uniform jersey and warm-up jacket.
Penfield senior Sean Metzler also has reasons to smile, given the start of his cross country season. Metzler has four first-place finishes in his bank, including two invitationals. He was the winner of the large schools boys race Sept. 26 at the John Izzo Cross Country Classic inside Letchworth State Park, the annual site of the Section V Championships.
"I didn't think I would win those races coming into the season," Metzler said after he came in 22nd place in the Bob Bradley race. "I knew what I wanted to accomplish, (but after success) I just stuck to my routine and coaching, to the process.
"Grinding, but excited to see what could happen."
There was the potential of a 15-minute or even sub-15-minute race for Metzler, given the speed of the runners in the Bob Bradley boys race. He finished in 15:19.2, behind Pittsford Mendon junior Omer Ahmed (14th, 15:05.3), Pittsford Mendon senior Ryan Mehan (16th, 15:12.4) and Sutherland junior Zine Kantari (17th, 15:14.1).
"I thought it was possible, but that's the gist of the McQuaid," Metzler said. "There's probably places I could've made up time. I wasn't really sure (in this race, against this competition) where those places would've been."
This was Metzler's fourth McQuaid Invitational. Metzler said he was about 13 years old when he came to run at the meet for the first time.
"It was just huge," Metzler remembered. "It was the cross country meet on the east coast, and that was cool.
"I was just excited, but I really didn't know what would happen."
Irene Sesnie, a senior at Honeoye Falls-Lima, ran at the McQuaid Invitational for the sixth time, the fourth as a varsity runner.
"I started in the seventh grade," Sesnie said. "I remember my first season. I was super nervous to join, I guess the sport in general, but I fell in love with the girls.
"My first race was Mendon Ponds, which is where I live, and I got first-place. It really made me feel good, it was the first time winning in a sport. I remember being very surprised about how big (the McQuaid meet) was. I'm kind of an emotional person, so it made me feel overwhelmed and happy."
Sesnie also was all smiles after her first-place finish in a varsity race for medium-sized schools. Digging in and leaning forward to take on the hills on the course, Sesnie came in after 18:00.4, about four seconds ahead of the runner-up.
"It's just really great to be a part of something that's this big," Sesnie said. "Everyone is so happy for each other, no matter how anyone does.
"It's just a day full of smiles."
More Section V varsity highlights
Desmond Hill, a junior at Marcus Whitman, was in contention to run the fastest varsity time among boys at the meet after running away to a first-place finish in a small schools race.
This time, there was no one remotely close enough to cut off or bump Hill down the final results. Last year at the McQuaid Invitational, a runner from Section VI received a push from Hill for performing one of those maneuvers.
"It's a good stepping stone for the season and it gets me used to bigger meets like sectionals and states," Hill said after he finished his race in 15:20.3. "We see state competition that we normally don't see at smaller meets.
"It's good to see different competition at this time of the season, so we can check in and see where we're at."
- * Olivia Burry (Wayne junior): sixth place girls small schools, 18:47.4, won by Honeoye Falls-Lima's Irene Sesnie.
- * Maya Churchman (Arkport/Canaseraga freshman): 10th place girls small schools race, 18:59.4
- * Fairport: Winner of large schools team points race, 93. Lakewood (Ohio) was runner-up with 130.
- * Emma Geary (Avon freshman): eighth place girls small schools, 18:50.2, in a second small schools race won by Clymer/Sherman/Panama's Savannah Whitney.
- * Zachary Hartz (Pembroke): eighth place boys small schools, 15:52.5, won by Marcus Whitman's Desmond Hill.
- * Mallory Howe (Pittsford Sutherland senior): fourth place Bob Bradley Premier girls race, 17:11.2
- * Elijah Jamison (Bishop Kearney/Chesterton/Archangel junior): eighth place in a second boys small schools race, 16:08.7, won by Jackson Martin (Northeast Bradford - Pennsylvania).
- * Amir Johnson (Rochester City School District United senior): eighth place boys large schools race, 15:30.6
- * Cameron LaSpino (Gates Chili sophomore): seventh place boys large schools race, 15:43.6,
- * Charlotte Painter (Addison freshman): sixth place girls small schools, 18:33.2, in a second small schools race won by Clymer/Sherman/Panama's Whitney.
- * Evan Phillips (Byron-Bergen junior): third place boys small schools race, 15:37.8, won by Marcus Whitman's Hill.
- * Patrick Rinefierd (Fairport senior): sixth place boys large schools race, 15:41.9,
- * Grace Ross (Canandaigua senior): fourth place girls medium race, 18:27.7, won by Sesnie.
- * Tobin Ruder (Fairport junior): ninth place boys large schools race, 15:51.9
- * Thomas Steele (McQuaid senior): second place boys large schools race, 15:30.6, Rory Grande (Erie) won in 15:12.5.
- * Kevin Weese (Irondequoit sophomore): 10th placeboys large schools race, 15:52.1
James Johnson, who grew up in the city of Rochester, has worked as a full-time journalist covering high school sports for the Democrat and Chronicle since 1996. His career began as an intern during the summer of 1990, before the start of his senior year at Edison in the Rochester City School District. He has become a two-time winner of the Rochester Press-Radio Club's Sports Media Excellence Award. Follow him @jjDandC on X (Twitter) and Instagram. Please contact him at JAMESJ@Gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Smiles all around as Section V stars deliver at McQuaid Invitational
