As if a no. 14 state Class C ranking was enough, the Skaneateles boys cross country team now is the proud owner of a victory in a large-scale meet.
That came in last Saturday’s 67th annual Baldwinsville Invitational, where in the Small School division the Lakers, earning 163 points, beat a field of 34 challengers as Marcus Whitman was second with 185 points and Hannibal (260 points) was third.
Sophomore Caleb Bender covered the Durgee Junior High School course in 16 minutes, 12 seconds, finishing fourth among individuals, but third in the team standings as Homer’s Teddy Mercer won in 15:50 flat.
Chris Burgher got to 21st place in the team event in 16:57.2, with Matt Persampieri getting 37th place in 17:13 flat. Connor Gell was 47th in 17:24.3 and Will Girzadas clinched the title when he finished 55th in 17:41.3. Will Swarts (19:13.8) was just ahead of Josh Reed (19:18.4) at the line.
Georgia McSwain helped the Skaneateles girls to an eighth-place finish in its Small School race at B’ville, finishing 11th in 19:25.6. Sarah Tallerico was 33rd in the team event in 20:39.9, three spots ahead of Elyse Osmun (20:45.5) as Hope Cross-Jaya (21:58.6) and Ellie McSwain (22:22.3) trailed them and Lillian Yengo posted 22:48.1.
Both of the Skaneateles sides would find success in their respective races at Jordan-Elbridge last Wednesday afternoon. The girls Lakers, bouncing back from a defeat to Marcellus the week before, prevailed 25-30, while the boys Lakers held off the Eagles 24-31.
In the girls race, it was Georgia McSwain taking the individual title for Skaneateles, her time of 20:14 more than a minute ahead of J-E’s Hannah Fitcher (21:38) in second place.
After Vasianna Klock took third place for the Eagles, the Lakers had Tallerico get fourth place in 21:57 and Cross-Jaya finish fifth in 21:59. Skaneateles clinched it when Ellie McSwain finished seventh in 23:$9 and Yengo was eighth in 24:02.
Bender was the top individual runner for the Skaneateles boys, his time of 16:21 more than half a minute ahead of the 16:57 posted by J-E’s runner-up, Sean Dristle.
Then Persampieri finished third in 17:14 and Burgher got fourth place in 17:25, beating out the Eagles’ Kenney Williams (17:36) and Derek Quigley (17:42) for those spots. To hang on to its lead, the Lakers needed Girzadas to gain seventh place in 17:48 and Gell to finish ninth in 18:07.
Skaneateles goes to the Sean Googin Sports Complex to run against its fellow Lakers from Cazenovia Wednesday before a longer road trip to the large McQuaid Invitational in Rochester on Saturday morning.
