Friday Follies
A History by Sandy Morley
During the 1990 season, we had an "off" week-end at the very end of September between the Guilderland Invitational and McQuaid. Not wanting our "troops" to get off the routine of the two day a week competition, Coach Morley approached Coaches Drake and Wagner with the concept of an intersquad race to simulate a race day within the team.
On Friday, September 28th, 1990 the first "Friday's Follies" took place at Tawasentha Park after school. Although no formal team scores and groups are noted in the 1990 booklet, the concept was in place and has continued to"evolve" over the years. The team was divided into co-ed groups spreading the skill abilities throughout the teams. Runners were instructed that they were to choose a theme and create costumes to support that team name. In the early years there were a number of races with 1-2 teams in each.
As the years passed the structure of this refined itself so that there was a "review of the costumes" early during the practice complete with pictures to record the event. Next runners took off the extra's to warm-up for what the coaches expected to be a hard work-out on our home course. All runners took the line together, identified by cards pinned to their backs so that other team members would be aware of their competition. (ala the Dynamic Duo) Scoring was initially done by aggregate times to determine the team winners.
Awards, always a favorite, ranged from a bag of apples, to candy, blow pops, games, or anything that the coaches could find cheap to satisfy the hunger and/or playfulness of the team members!
It is not surprising that the first "Follies" did not get formally recorded in 1990. That happened to be one of the most stellar years of the program when both the boys and girls swept the Suburban Council Championships . The boys qualified the next week for the State Meet along with two individuals from the girls squad. Both teams made appearances at the Federation Meet on November 17th with the girls placing 3rd and the boys grabbing the 11th place slot.
In 1991 the "Follies" took place on October 4th; again an "off" week-end. The records show 6 teams and 43 runners participating and Jim Wallace taking the race in 13:34 (old course). First girl to finish was Dawn O'Connell in 17:05. Coach Drake made an appearance as an "unattached" runner, placing 14th in 15:34. The XC Cross Dressers comprised of Dawn O'Connell, Tara DeCosmo, Jim Wallace, Mike Kavanaugh, Dan Gestwick, and Adam Andres represented this squad.
In following years, the "Follies" have been moved to Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays, but they remain a constant favorite event of the season. Who can forget Jeff Brooks as the Little Mermaid and Andy Rickert as Prince Eric!! Themes are limited only by our runners imaginations!
More to come!