Taking a large step toward OHSL Colonial National division honors, the Cicero-North Syracuse cross country teams defended its home course at Northern Pines with a big sweep of Baldwinsville last Wednesday afternoon.
Running in wind and cold rain, the girls Northstars rolled to an 18-38 victory, while the CNS boys fought past the Bees 23-34.
On the girls side, CNS got the top three spots. Katie Duerr led the way, winning individual honors in 19 minutes, 27 seconds to edge past Alicia Finger (19:28) by one second as Taylor Wendler finished third, in 19:36.
Lindsay Raulli led the next Northstar wave, finishing fifth in 20:16. Lauren Slocum got eighth place (20:30) and Ashley Messur was 10th, in 20:32.
While the boys race was much closer, CNS pulled through with its depth to overcome the fact that B’ville’s Brian Lang won the individual race in 16:18.
Nathan MacNabb earned second place, in 16:25, while Ben Ludovici took third place in 16:29, but it was the next group of Northstars that put the Bees away.
Kevin Cusworth, Kyle Fritz and Andy Neumeister stuck together and finished close to each other, with Cusworth in fifth place (17:20) and Fritz and Neumeister sixth and seventh, respectively, both recording times of 17:21. Aaron Reardon was 10th, in 17:46.
CNS would then pay a visit to Baldwinsville for its invitational meet on Saturday, returning with big rewards.
On the boys end, the Northstars would come out on top in the large-school standings, beating 16 other teams with 74 points. Ithaca was second, with 91 points.
Ludovici finished fourth among individuals on the Durgee course, leading CNS with a time of 15:56.02.
MacNabb got eighth place, in 16:26.49, while Neumeister earned 17th place (16:56.27) and Cusworth was 19th, in 17:01.74. Fritz, in 26th place with a clocking of 17:12.99, clinched the Northstar victory.
In the girls large-school division at B’ville, CNS nearly got the title, but had to settle for third place, with 86 points. Defending national champion Hilton won (36 points), with Greenwich (46 points) in second place.
Among individuals, Duerr, in eighth place (19:22.55), and Wendler, in ninth place (19:23.40), both cracked the top 10 in this strong field.
Finger found herself in 17th place, in 19:32.21, while Raulli finished 21st (19:48.87) and Slocum was 31st with her time of 20:15.21.
