Though the Liverpool boys cross country team, as a whole unit, could not make it to last Saturday’s New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class A championship meet at SUNY-Canton, Ben Petrella went there – and nearly brought home a state title of his own.
Petrella, a junior, was part of a quartet of Warriors competing on Section III’s pair of All-Star teams, with Dylan McCarthy and Connor Buck also part of the boys race and Abby McNamara competing in the state Class A girls race.
As the race got underway, Petrella made a point of going after Fayetteville-Manlius senior Bryce Millar, who had edged him in the Nov. 1 sectional meet at Vernon-Verona-Sherrill.
For 5,000 meters, tromping through plenty of mud and fighting temperatures in the 30s, Petrella maintained a strong pace, eventually passing everyone and focusing in on trying to catch Millar.
But it didn’t quite happen. At the finish line, Petrella posted 15 minutes, 35.6 seconds, the second-fastest time of the entire boys state meet, but Millar still prevailed in 15:30.3, helping F-M win yet another state Class A team title as his teammate, Kyle Barber, finished third in 15:38.5.
Not wanting to be left out, McCarthy also made his way into the top 10, the senior going 16:01.4 to edge out Syossett’s Tyler Italiano (16:04 flat) for that 10th-place position. To cap it off, Buck, also a senior, earned a 17th-place finish in a clocking of 16:12.2.
In between McCarthy and Buck, West Genesee’s Will Randall ran well, too, making his way to 16th place in 16:12.2, while Utica Proctor’s Zackaria Adam finished 21st in 16:16.4.
Two hours earlier, in the girls state Class A race, McNamara capped off her senior season with a 63rd-place finish, posting 19 minutes, 57.4 seconds.
Arlington’s Bella Burda won the individual race in 17:49.7, with West Genesee’s Carly Benson fifth in 18:18 flat. As for the other Section III All-Stars, Benson’s teammate, Grace Craig, was 53rd in 19:40.4, ahead of McNamara, Rome Free Academy’s Marian Draper (19:57.0) and Baldwinsville’s Maizy Ludden, who finished in 20:19.5.
