For the second time in the post-season, the Westhill-Bishop Ludden girls cross country team easily turned back the challenges of the two Laker powers, Cazenovia and Skaneateles – only this time, that meant a victory in the Section III Class C championship meet.
Amid cold, windy conditions Saturday at Vernon-Verona-Sherrill, the Warriors won a sectional title for the fourth year in a row, using its superior depth to pick up 46 points, easily clear of Cazenovia (87 points) and Skaneateles (112 points) in the second and third spots.
Junior Genny Corcoran led the way for Westhill-Ludden, grabbing second place in 19 minutes, 38.5 seconds, her time only topped by Skaneateles’ Kaitlyn Neal, who won in 19:30.5.
Alaina Kenny was next, getting to fifth place in 20:01.3. Maddie Nowicki made her way to seventh place in 20:13.5, while Annibel Coolican, by finishing 15th in 21:54.6, and Mary Kate Washburn, who was 22nd in 22:34 flat, clinched the sectional title.
More depth was provided by Ciara Hoyne, who made it to 37th place in 23:30.9, just ahead of teammate Meghan Evans (23:44.9) in 39th place and Genevieve Schwarz, who was 41st in 23:55.1.
Trying for a sectional sweep, Westhill-Ludden’s boys didn’t quite achieve it, but did take third place with 111 points behind Adirondack (48 points) and Holland Patent (66 points) as Jordan-Elbridge, with 127 points, earned fourth place.
Westhill-Ludden’s Garnet Remillard is heading to the state meet, having finished seventh in 17 minutes, 50 seconds, but fifth among runners outside Adirondack, so he joins Jason McFarland (Hannibal), Dominic Morganti (CBA), Kevin Ridings (Cazenovia) and Bryce Zayachek (Holland Patent) in that sectional All-Star group.
Dan Demauro finished 17th, in a time of 18:37.2, while Liam Rodgers was 20th in 18:40.3. Bryan King (19:16.0) and Cain Ballard (19:22.4) were 36th and 38th, respectively.
J-E’s Nathan Hollis led his side with a 14th-place time of 18:25.5, with Austin Milton 22nd in 18:42 flat. Ethan Kinney (18:48.7) was 25th and Jared Alpha (19:01.9) got to 29th place. Hunter Brunelle earned 46th place in 19:39.6.
As Westhill-Ludden’s girls, no. 3 in the state Class C rankings behind East Aurora and Bronxville, gets ready to head to SUNY-Canton for Saturday’s New York State Public High School Athletic Association championship meet, it won’t go there alone among local runners.
Jordan-Elbridge’s Abby Gugel is on the sectional All-Star team from Class C, this after taking fourth place in 19:50.4. She joins Neal, Clara Rowles (Cazenovia), Rachel Barbagos (Canastota) and Meghann Tanner (Adirondack) on the squad.
As a team, the Eagles were sixth in girls Class C with 148 points. Theresa Dristle finished 18th, in 22:16.6, with Mary Dristle getting to 23rd place in 22:35.6. Maggie Dejohn made her way to 54th place in 24:45.7, with Emelia Abar (26:52.4) rounding out the scoring column. Solvay’s Jordyn Willsey led her side with a 36th-place finish in 23:30 flat.
Marcellus contended for the sectional Class B boys title at VVS, and finished third, with 115 points, not far from the battle at the top, where Carthage, with 72 points, held off Whitesboro (79 points) for first place.
But Patrick McGuane is headed to the state meet, this after finishing fifth in 17 minutes, 15.7 seconds, and joining a sectional All-Star team that includes Patrick Dye (Jamesville-DeWitt), Jake Zedack (Mexico), Nick Bandel (Central Valley) and Matt Young (East Syracuse-Minoa).
Alex Stopen, just missing out on advancing, still made it to 10th place in 17:47.2. Ethan Mosure took 31st place, in 18:38.6, while Andrew Marsh made it to 33rd place in 18:46.8. Steve Larison (18:54.9), Joe Riccardi (18:57.8) and Tom Dailey (19:02.0) each had top-40 efforts.
In the girls Class B sectional meet, where Marcellus finished eighth out of 14 teams, Tori Stopen had the best effort, getting to 38th place in a time of 23:17.1. Crystal Silliman was 41st, in 23:32.8, with Emily Townsend (23:38.7) and Schuyler Stuart (23:39.1) finishing together in the top 50, too. Dominique Weeks (24:14.2) was close behind.
