Each of Chittenango’s cross country teams had a successful trip to Phoenix last Wednesday afternoon, earning a sweep for the Firebirds.
For the boys Bears, its hard-fought, 22-34 victory over Phoenix was the team’s 11th consecutive victory against an OHSL Freedom division opponent.
Chittenango had five runners in the top seven, even though Charlie Nunez, in a time of 17 minutes, 35 seconds, gave the Firebirds the individual victory.
Dmitriy Tarasevich led the pack of Bears in second place (17:48), 13 seconds behind Nunez, while Matt Benjamin finished third (18:23) and Andrew Maum claimed fourth place in 18:25, just behind Benjamin.
Brian Maum and Robert Woolridge also ran close together, with Maum in sixth place (18:44) and Woolridge seventh, in 18:46, to close out Chittenango’s scoring. Robert Doss also helped out with a 10th-place clocking of 19:04.
The girls meet between Chittenango and Phoenix was even more lopsided, with the Bears blasting the Firebirds 17-44.
For the second week in a row, Michelle Brandt dominated the individual field, as her time of 19:49 was more than two minutes clear of anyone else.
Brittany Reals led the chase pack, running to second place in 21:52. Lauren Anderson was third (22:02), while Jenny Maum (22:08) completed a Chittenango sweep of the top four spots.
Rachel Church, in seventh place (23:04), completed the Bears’ scoring, but Christine Stoddard (24:26) and Kristin Harosia (24:35) also cracked the top 10.
Every point will be crucial for the Bears this Wednesday when it visits Jamesville-DeWitt for a meet that also includes the Fulton Red Raiders.
