CENTRAL NEW YORK – Jake Woolbert and Eddie Comeau led the way as the Cazenovia boys cross country team remained undefeated Wednesday afternoon, turning back the challenge of Jordan-Elbridge.
No one got close to Woolbert as he covered the Lakers’ home course in 17 minutes, 27 seconds. Even more important was Comeau, in 18:14, holding off Eagles standout Peyton Bates (18:22) for second place.
Though J-E’s Connor Boylan was fourth, Cazenovia swept the next five spots for the 21-40 win. Garret Lounsbury, fifth place in 18:58, led that group, with Kooper Wilmot fifth in 19:01. Henri Mongeau (19:29), Will Galton (19:32) and Nolan Campagna (19:33) ran as a group.
A big week for each of the Chittenango cross country teams would conclude Friday with several top sides, including Cazenovia, on hand for the annual Chittenango Bears Twilight Invitational.
Both individual races went to Fayetteville-Manlius runners – Nolan McGinn on the boys side in 15:46.7, Izzie Sullivan on the girls side in 18:54.8 – as Sullivan and the Hornets took home the team title, too, with Cicero-North Syracuse on top of the boys standings.
Individually, Cazenovia’s boys had Woolbert make his way to seventh place in 17:32.7, with Comeau (18:43.3) also in the top 30. Wilmot, in 19:27.6, beat out the 19:31.3 from Lounsbury as Mongeau (19:45.1) rounded out the scoring column.
Dan Mahle led the Bears, his 18:46.6 two spots ahead of the 18:49 flat from Ethan Lavier, as Chittenango was ninth overall, three spots behind Cazenovia.
However, the girls race had the Bears, with 121 points, edge C-NS (122) for third behind F-M and West Genesee, with each of Chittenango’s top five runners in close proximity.
Natalie DiGennaro finished 19th in 21:20.5, with Laura Powers 20th in 21:40.6. Sophia DiGennaro finished in 21:47.4 as Ani McCarthy, in 22:06.6, was just ahead of Ava McLean’s 22:42.6.
Two days earlier, the Bears had a head-to-head race with Westhill 20-41, prevailing on the girls side while the boys lost, 21-34, to the Warriors.
Chittenango’s girls swept every spot behind the winning 22:05 from Westhill’s Stella Napolitano, with Mariah Stewart a close second in the individual race in 22:10, just five seconds behind Napolitano.
Natalie DiGennaro took third in 22:23, with Powers fourth in 22:28 and Sophia DiGennaro fifth in 22:33. McCarthy, sixth in 22:38, rounded out the scoring column as McLean (22:49) and Emily Judd (23:01) also had top-10 finishes.
In the boys race, Mahle’s time of 19:19 was beaten by three Westhill runners, led by Drew O’Reilly, whose 17:04 was more than a minute ahead of the field. Lavier got fifth place in 19:30, with Manu Tipa sixth in 19:41. Gavin Roach (20:23) and Bryce Edwards (20:34) also had top-10 finishes.
