Once more, the Liverpool girls cross country team finds itself in elite territory, climbing to no. 5 in the latest edition of the state Class A rankings.
And once more, the Warriors still find itself chasing no. 1-ranked Fayetteville-Manlius, who claimed their first-place SCAC Metro division showdown last Wednesday at Baldwinsville, though Liverpool did sweep the Bees 15-50 to claim a split.
Though the team scores between Liverpool and F-M were not as close as their 2018 showdowns in various locations, the individual race was tight, Jenna Schulz going 17 minutes, 38 seconds on the Durgee Junior High School course to pull closer to Hornets star Claire Walters, who still won in 17:28.
F-M then swept the rest of the top five with Phoebe White (18:00), Grace Kaercher (18:28) and Hannah Kaercher (18:42) before Sydney Carlson finished in 19:29, edging out the Hornets’ Deborah Lucchetti (19:31). Gabby McCarthy made her way to 10th place in 20:21.
In the boys meet, Liverpool lost 19-41, to F-M, with Carter Rodriguez leading the Warriors as his time of 16:11 put him in fourth place behind the Hornets’ Geoff Howles, Peyton Geehrer (both finished in 15:43), and Sam Otis (15:57). Jake McGowan finished fifth in 16:32.
Now both of Liverpool’s teams would head to the massive McQuaid Invitational in Rochester last Saturday, where they were both top contenders in the Varsity AAA (Large Schools) divisions.
Schulz would make a strong bid for the individual championship in her AAA race, speeding through the Genesee Valley Park in 17:03.1, beating everyone except Beavercreek (Ohio) runner Savannah Roark, who was victorious in 16:56.3.
Team-wise, the girls Warriors were fourth with 119 points behind Shenendehowa, Beavercreek and Niskayuna, with Carlson pulling out a top-10 finish as she got a clocking of 18:21.2.
McCarthy was next, her 34th-place time of 19:34.2 just ahead of Eva Woodworth (19:36.5) in 35th place. Bella Brancato finished 38th in 19:42.2 as Addyson Graham (20:05.1) and Kaleigh Buck (20:08.4) also posted top-50 team finishes.
Meanwhile, the Liverpool boys saw McGowan nearly claim the AAA race, speeding to a time of 15:28.7 that beat all but two runners as Frontier’s Josh Puron (15:21.1) edged Guilderland’s Sean O’Brien (15:21.6) for the victory.
Overall, the Warriors took eighth place out of 18 teams with 260 points, three behind Baldwinsville (257) for tops among the local sides as Guilderland won with 66 points.
Rodriguez finished 32nd among team runners in 16:07.4, while Ethan Glashauser was 64th in 16:50.2. Ryan Fennelly, in 17:11.7, was one spot ahead of Chris Lewis (17:13.5) as Charlie Praschunus finished in 17:26.8 and Ryan Hagan posted 18:04.5.
Meanwhile, Cicero-North Syracuse traveled to Utica’s Proctor Park for the 77th annual E.J. Herrmann Invitational and nearly swept the girls and boys Large School division titles in that meet.
The girls Northstars did finish in front with 35 points to runner-up Bethlehem’s 55 points as Kate Putman finished third in 19:33.8, one of eight C-NS runners within the top 21 overall.
Allison Newton, in 20:08.8, was fourth, with Marissa Navarra getting seventh place in 20:29.1 and Gabby Putman eighth in 20:32.6. Hannah Reichard (20:54.5) beat out Morgan Kingdeski (20:55.8) for 13th place, just ahead of Abbee Norris (21:25.4) and Marissa Doty, who posted 21:45.7.
In the boys Large School race, C-NS, with 41 points, was held off by Suffern (38 points) for that top spot, with the Mounties posting a pair of top-four finishes to hang on.
Still, the Northstars had five of the top 12, with Matt LeClair fifth in 17:18.7 as R.J. Davis took sixth place in 17;32.9. Josh Koeppe was eighth in 17:35.9, Evan Romano was 10th in 17:44.1 and Zach Bergman got 12th place in 17:57.7.
