BREWERTON – Not waiting too long, the cross country teams at Cicero-North Syracuse and Liverpool would go head-to-head for their annual league showdown Wednesday at Oneida Shores County Park.
Wet and muddy conditions did not deter the two rivals, who would each emerge with a victory.
The state Class A no. 4-ranked girls Northstars would win its race 24-33 over the no. 13-ranked Warriors, largely on the strength of its top trio of Marissa Navarra, Kate Putman and Gabby Putman, who would run together and each finish in 20 minutes, 21.1 seconds, with Navarra earning the individual victory.
Kaleigh Buck, who was fourth in 21:16.3, and Meghan Moyer, who took fifth in 21:28.7, paced Liverpool and beat out C-NS’s Kate Capone (21:42.3) in sixth place.
And Liverpool swept the rest of the top 10, with Eva Woodworth going 21:52.1 ahead of Addyson Graham’s 22:00.1 as Taylor Page posted 22:06.4 and Addison Ziegler finished in 22:09.6. Kara Nash (22:34.9) was just outside the top 10.
It wasn’t until Ava Fisher crossed the line in 22:39.8 that C-NS was able to secure its point total, with teammates Allison Moran (23:18.2) and Erin Slusser (23:31.9) behind Fisher.
The boys race had a different outcome as Liverpool, who stood at no. 16 in the state Class A rankings, had a 1-2 individual finish and grouped together in another crucial spot to defeat C-NS 24-31.
Ryan Hagan’s exceptional senior season continued as he tore to victory in 17:24.4, while half a minute behind him Gavin Kenna made his way to second place in 17:55.1.
Leading the Northstars’ efforts, Ashton Murdock got third place in 18:21.9, with Gavin McAllister close behind in fourth place (18:27.4) as he beat out Nate Connors, who was fifth in 18:28.1.
Needing more, the Warriors got it when Jacob Makhlouf, finishing sixth in 18:38.6, led a trio with Austin Ziegler seventh in 18:43.7 and J.T. Goss clinching Liverpool’s victory when he got eighth place in 18:56 flat.
C-NS had James McConnell, ninth in 19:08.5, beating out Jake Roman (19:13.2) and Evan Nobles (19:17.6), with the Warriors’ Colin Gridley, in 19:29.7, one second ahead of teammate Andrew Corrigan’s 19:30.7.
Now C-NS and Liverpool would go next door to compete Saturday in the Large School division of the 69th annual Baldwinsville Invitational.
And in the girls race, the Northstars won it, emerging from a tie-breaker with Pittsford Sutherland after both sides finished with 51 points. Liverpool finished fifth.
Kate Putman won the individual race in 18:28.9, nearly half a minute ahead of the field, with Gabby Putman third in 19:06.1 as Navarra got seventh place in 19:57.1. The Warriors had Buck take 15th place in 21:06.8.
Even as Cameron Sisk got 18th place in 21:25.1 and Capone was 22nd in 21:44.2, Pittsford had five top-16 finishers. Fisher was the difference-maker, as she finished 24th in 22:10.1, one spot ahead of Pittsford’s sixth runner in 25th place.
C-NS finished ninth and Liverpool 12th in the boys Large School event, with Murdock the top runner on either side as he took 29th place in 17:53.9.
