An important week for both of the Fayetteville-Manlius cross country teams began with the news that Nick Ryan is staying at home for the next four years.

The Hornets’ star senior announced a verbal commitment to attend Syracuse University for track, choosing the Orange over the likes of Wisconsin, Virginia and Michigan.

Then Ryan went out for Wednesday afternoon’s CNY Counties League meet against West Genesee and, with another well-timed victory, helped his state Class A no. 6-ranked Hornets withstand the challenge of the no. 17-ranked Wildcats 23-32.

Running together with teammate Bryce Millar, Ryan finished in 17 minutes, 37 seconds, beating Millar by two seconds as they both held off WG’s top runner, Jack Conroy, who was third in 17:42.

After the Wildcats’ Will Randall finished fourth in 17:57, F-M’s Riley Hughes worked his way to fifth place in 17:58, with Andrew Berger claiming sixth place in 18:01.

The tight running continued as WG’s Mike Lannon (18:02) and Jack Erhard (18:03) took the seventh and eighth spots. But F-M clinched another victory when Colin Fitzgibbons fit right behind them and gained ninth place in 18:04, just ahead of the Wildcats’ Kal Strickland (18:11).

Meanwhile, the girls meet was another showcase for F-M as it easily turned back West Genesee 15-49, as the Wildcats decided not to run its star junior, Laura Leff.

The Hornets swept the top six spots, paced by Jenna Farrell, who scored an impressive victory in 20 minutes, 25 seconds, nearly half a minute ahead of Colleen Englert, who was second in 20:52. Megan Menz claimed third place in 21:07.

Behind them, the trio of Alana Pearl, Annika Avery and Katie Brislin ran together, each finishing in 21:16, just ahead of WG’s top runner, Lindsey Weaver, who finished in 21:21. Mia Blatt was eighth, in 21:26, as Michelle Duffy (21:30) and Emma Noble (21:31) rounded out the top 10.

All of this leads to Saturday’s Manhattan Invitational, the first large-scale meet for the Hornets this season, where F-M will run in the most important race of the day, the Eastern States Invitational.