Of all its regular-season meets, the Fayetteville-Manlius boys cross country team looked forward the most to encountering Liverpool.
This was because it was the Warriors that knocked off the Hornets in last fall’s Section III Class A championships, moving on to take the state team title. Every returning F-M runner remembered that pain and waited to get a small bit of revenge.
It arrived in the form of last Tuesday’s head-to-head meet, where Patrick Perry led the way, but it was the Hornets’ depth that rescued a dramatic 27-30 victory over the Warriors.
On his home course, Perry sped to victory in 15 minutes, 47 seconds, getting away from Liverpool’s trio of top runners, who did take the next three spots as Ty Brownlow finished second in 16:17, half a minute behind Perry, while Josh Hickmott was third (16:18) and Stevie Schulz fourth in 16:19.
Just behind them, though, was F-M’s Garrett Brenna, who rose to fifth place in 16:20 to commence the Hornets’ comeback. Ben Otis made it to sixth place in 16:23, with Matt Tripp seventh in 16:30.
When Jack Boltman made it to eighth place in 16:40, F-M clinched the victory, regardless of what Liverpool could do, though the Hornets’ Max Perry made it to ninth place in 16:48 ahead of the Warriors’ Cullen McLaughlin (17:02) in 10th place.
Meanwhile, F-M’s girls cross country team, still atop the state rankings and just three days removed from its Eastern States title at the Oct. 8 Manhattan Invitational, ran again and pummeled a very good state no. 14-ranked Liverpool side 15-48 by sweeping the top six finishing spots.
Claire Walters roared to victory in 17 minutes, 28 seconds, comfortably ahead of Sophia Ryan, who was second in 17:38 as they were well clear of Palmer Madsen, who gained third place in 17:59.
Phoebe White led the next group, taking fourth place in 18:23 ahead of Rebecca Walters (18:28) as Reilly Madsen finished sixth in 18:46. Then Liverpool’s top two runners, Vanessa Eberhard (19:14) and Madison Neuner (19:29), finished before Alexis Villalba got ninth place in 19:54 and Keita Paden (20:02) finished 10th.
Two days later, Jamesville-DeWitt hosted Fulton and Cortland, and the girls Red Rams, who are no. 4 in the state Class B rankings, ripped the Red Raiders 15-50 while also taking out the Purple Tigers 18-45.
Hannah Butler, in a time of 20:26, won and pulled away from runner-up Becca Vinciguerra (20:54), and after Cortland’s Lauren Phetteplace finished third in 21:19, J-D swept the rest of the top 10 spots.
Abby Palin, who in 21:33 held off Lily Dougherty (21:37) for fourth place, led that charge, with Amelia Gilbert sixth in 21:55 and Jessica Spina (22:03) in seventh place. Alisa Salbert, in 22:04, was one second behind Spina in eighth place, but comfortably ahead of Abigail Leavitt (22:28) at the line.
In the boys race, J-D, without Patrick Dye in the lineup, beat Cortland 25-35, but fell to Fulton 24-33. Red Raiders and Purple Tigers runners swept the top five before the Rams’ Luke Hobika took sixth place in 18:19, one second ahead of Kaleel Boykins’ 18:20. Nick Mannion (18:32) and Fidel Martinez (18:33) were ninth and 10th, respectively, as Fulton’s Ken Deloff, in a time of 17:08, won the race by nearly a minute over teammate Isaac Crandall (18:01).
Christian Brothers Academy has seen its girls team rise to no. 3 in the state Class C rankings, a spot it continued to defend last Wednesday during a 17-41 win over Altmar-Parish-Williamstown that clinched the OHSL Liberty National division regular-season title.
Cory Knox ran away from the field, prevailing in 19:06, with Lea Kyle taking second place in 19:41. Bri Pucci earned third place in 20:28 as Lucy Person, who was fifth in 21:10, led a group that included Deja Jones (21:21) in sixth place and Claire Bargabos, who was eighth in 23:22.
It was Senior Day, and CBA’s boys won, 17-46, over APW led by one of those seniors, Dominic Morganti, who posted a top time of 16:32 as Riley Nash (16:58) held off Will Bianchi (17:04) for second place. Zach Medicis was fifth in 18:04, followed closely by teammates Duncan Brickner (18:24), Adam Kantor (18:34) and Zach Kinnally (18:36).
Bishop Grimes and Manlius-Pebble Hill ran in a four-team meet with Faith Heritage and Blessed Virgin Mary last Tuesday, with Chris Larson winning again for the Cobras, just as he did on Oct. 7 at the Cato-Meridian Invitational, where in 17:41 he topped Cato’s Logan Carcinelli (18:01) by 20 seconds.
Here, Larson needed 17:32 to hold off Blessed Virgin Mary’s Chris McDonough (17:37) by just five seconds. No other Cobras runner cracked the top 10 as, for the Trojans, Dan Braverman went 20:11 to finish seventh.
In the girls race, Grimes’ Sara Hopkins won in a time of 22:26, which beat the Trojans’ duo of Rachel Elman (23:02) and Carli Abron (23:17). Grimes had Nell DeChick finish fourth in 24:58, while Alicia Kelly was fifth in 25:07. The Trojans’ Angelina Shenandoah was eighth in 26:59.
