It was quite the birthday present for Brady Danyluk.

Just several weeks after Newburgh Free Academy’s Devin Batelic set a new record for the 2.92-mile Chadwick Lake Park cross-country course, Danyluk did him one better. He set a new course record, winning the race in 15:57 and leading the Goldbacks to a 22-33 win over the Valley Central Vikings on October 17.

“It feels really good,” Danyluk said. “All the hard work is paying off, and I’m seeing a lot of the team’s times dropping and I see my time drop is very good.”

The previous record was held by teammate Devin Batelic, who in 2022 became the first Newburgh runner to reach the New York State Public High School Athletic Association championship meet in several seasons. Batelic did not run in the meet.

That being the last home meet, Batelic won’t have an opportunity to set a new mark until next season.

“Me and him are really good training partners and we push each other every day to work harder,” Danyluk said. “Just beating him in this course record felt really good, but I know he’ll be wanting to beat it next year.”

Behind Danyluk’s win, Joey Santo was third, and Kiernan Judson, Robert Rios and Joe Gaito took fifth through seventh to win the race for the Goldbacks.

Newburgh’s Natalia Sweat won the girls’ race with a time of 19:59, 18 seconds ahead of her teammate Mary Jane Politi, as they led Newburgh to a 22-23 win over the Vikings.

“It felt great,” Sweat said. “I really tried hard, and it was my last race. It was pretty fun.”

She also said the weather was perfect, as the skies were overcast with a temperature of about 60 degrees.

Perfect for a last meet.

Laura Griffin and Sydney Remenar took third and fourth for the Vikings. Alexandra Swink and Isabella Blanco were fifth and sixth for the Goldbacks with Julia Coyle taking eighth to round out the scoring.

“It was nice crossing the line,” Sweat said. “Just reflecting and looking at all my teammates crossing really just made me happy.”

The boys’ team finished the season with a 4-1 record, with their only loss coming to the Monroe-Woodbury Crusaders for second place in the Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association Division I. The girls’ team finished 3-2.

They’ll compete on Saturday at the OCIAA championship meet at Sanfordville Elementary School in Warwick.

“I feel really confident,” Danyluk said. “There’s a lot of work still to be done, but with some hard work, we could keep on dropping those times.”

Boys
Newburgh 22, Valley Central 33
1. Brady Danyluk (NFA) - 15:57; 2. Caleb Sahlstrom (VC) - 16:00; 3. Joey Santo (NFA) - 17:23; 4. Vance Palmer (VC) - 17:25; 5. Kiernan Judson (NFA) - 17:39; 6. Robert Rios (NFA) - 17:47; 7. Joe Gaito (NFA) - 17:48; 8. Ashton Ewald (VC) - 17:52; 9. Isaiah Tejada (VC) - 17:52; 10. Jack Dudzik (VC) - 18:16; 11. Anthony Delgado (NFA) - 18:17; 12. Miles Davis (NFA) - 18:21; 13. Bryce Profiro (NFA) - 18:56; 14. Jadin O’Neill (NFA) - 19:04; 15. Sebastian Burgarelli (NFA) - 19:04; 16. Jimmie Kimbrough (NFA) - 19:17; 18. Benji Bermudez (NFA) - 19:18; 20. Joey Lopez (NFA) - 19:39; 21. Oren Miller (NFA) - 19:40; 23. Logan Conn (NFA) - 19:50; 34. Jeremy Torres (NFA) - 20:39; 36. Copper Schmidt (NFA) - 20:47; 38. Alexander Martinez (NFA) - 20:50; 41. James Corbett (NFA) - 21:10; 46. Declan Welling (NFA) - 21:39; 47. Roman D’Alfonso (NFA) - 22:16; 48. Henry Goings-Perrot (NFA) - 23:43; 50. Landen Profiro (NFA) - 24:24; 51. Tyler Graham (NFA) - 28:26.

Girls

Newburgh 22, Valley Central 33
1. Natalia Sweat (NFA) - 19:59; 2. Mary Jane Politi (NFA) - 20:17; 3. Laura Griffin (VC) - 20:45; 4. Sydney Remenar (VC) - 20:56; 5. Alexandra Swink (NFA) - 21:52; 6. Isabella Blanco (NFA) - 22:07; 7. Emily Frank (VC) - 22:34; 8. Julia Coyle (NFA) - 23:15; 9. Isabella Cruz (VC) - 23:28; 10. Grace Burns (VC) - 23:29; 11. Emma Smith (NFA) - 23:42; 13. Jaslene Cheatham (NFA) - 24:39; 14. Mia Davis (NFA) - 24:39; 16. Garbrielle Robles (NFA) - 24:59; 17. Evangely Torres (NFA) - 25:11.