Here is a list of the 7th and 8th-grade girls who have run on the Fayetteville-Manlius Varsity cross country team since 2004 with respective grade (list based on results of varsity races):
2016 - none
2015 - Claire Walters (8th), Phoebe White (8th, not on NXN team)
2014 - none
2013 - Sophie Ryan (8th)
2012 - none
2011 - Jenna Farrell (8th)
2010 - none
2009 - Maggie Malone (8th, not on NXN team)
2008 - none
2007 - none
2006 - Courtney Chapman (8th grade)
2005 - Mackenzie Carter (8th grade)
2004 - none
I could not find any 7th-grade FM girls in the results of any varsity results, or on the FM rosters provided to the local Syracuse newspaper.
Here is a list of the FM girls on the 2016 NXN team ... The list includes their grade this year and the grades they started running for the FM Junior High and Varsity teams:
Claire Walters FR - Varsity (8th)
Phoebe White FR - Varsity (8th)
Sophie Ryan JR - Jr High (7th), Varsity (8th)
Palmer Madsen JR - Jr High (8th), Varsity (9th)
Rebecca Walters JR - Varsity (10th)
Reilly Madsen SR - Jr High (8th), Varsity (9th)
Alex Villalba JR - Jr High (7th,8th), Varsity (9th)
The NXN Awards Presentation made it seem like they all started in 8th grade, but some were running Junior High in 7th grade and Rebecca Walters did not start running until 10th grade ... Phoebe White did start running varsity track as a 7th-grader.
E-mail inquiries to me wonder what "access to 7th and 8th-graders" in New York actually means ... It depends upon the school and the league in NY which can enforce their own rules ... There are a few schools in NY that do not allow 7th and 8th-graders to compete on the varsity teams ... NY State gives them permission to allow 7th and 8th-grade participation, but they opt not to.
Many small schools (like Tully) have only one coach for both the varsity and junior high teams, so they commonly practice together due to supervisory necessities (although workouts are different) ... So it is total access to 7th and 8th-graders for some.
Most schools (especially the larger schools) have multiple coaches and completely separate coaches and practices for varsity and junior high teams ... As noted before, some leagues have rules that prohibit varsity and junior high teams from practicing together ... That was the case for FM's league some years back, but I have no idea if that is the current situation.
So "access" for some in NY is limited ... FM has different coaches and different practices for their junior high and varsity teams ... That does not mean Bill Aris has no access to the junior high team ... He can consult and make suggestions to the JH coaches and go to their practices and meets ... Unless there is a rule I don't know about, he can directly coach those JH kids ... BUT I think he spends his time with the varsity, coaching the varsity kids more individually than most people realize ... He told he about several instances in the past.