Just by themselves, the top runners on the Fayetteville-Manlius girls cross country are not overwhelming.
Put together, though, the Hornets can beat just about anyone — and most of the time, it’s a convincing, one-sided effort, even in the biggest of settings.
F-M continued its rampage at last Saturday’s New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class AA championship meet, contested this year at Norwood-Norfolk High School, located near Massena and the Canadian border in the northern portion of the state.
Up against its long-time state rival, Saratoga Springs, the Hornets were again a lethal force, winning the state title with 23 points as Saratoga (71 points) had to settle for the runner-up spot.
When the results of the five races were combined, F-M was even further out in front, with 35 points, as Saratoga (151 points) again took the runner-up spot.
Each of the Hornets’ seven competitors finished in the top 20 in the Class A race and inside the top 50 of the overall standings.
Freshman Courtney Chapman led a pack of four F-M competitors to the finish line as she finished in third place in 17 minutes, 55.4 seconds.
Right behind her, sophomore Mackenzie Carter was fourth, in 18:06 flat, inches ahead of Section III individual champion Hannah Luber as the sophomore finished fifth in 18:06.6 Fellow sophomore Molly Malone was sixth in 18:08.2.
Meanwhile, Jocelyn Richards, the lone senior in the group, finished 11th in 18:26.8, as sophomore Kristen Buchan finished 15th in 18:34.5. Rounding out the order, junior Kathryn Buchcan finished 20th in 18:52.2.
About the only thing F-M didn’t claim were the individual honors that Saratoga’s Hannah Davidson snapped up as she covered the 3.1-mile Norwood-Norfolk course in 17:46.2.
Over in the Class AA boys meet, Alex Hatz gave the Hornets a high finish as he took 27th place in a clocking of 16:27.1. Among Section III runners, only Liverpool’s Ethan Hickey (sixth, 16:03.6) fared better. Hatz’s F-M teammate, Andrew Sargrad, was 54th in 16:46.9.
F-M’s girls now move on to Saturday’s State Federation championships at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls, where it is favored again.
Among other local entries at the state meet, East Syracuse-Minoa’s Jeff Sweeney and CBA’s Jack Kelley both finished in the top 10 in their respective races.
Sweeney, a senior, and his ESM team was part of the state Class A race, where the Spartans finished seventh among a field of nine with 158 points. Queensbury (34 points) repeated as state champions.
For his part, Sweeney stayed close to the leaders throughout the event and, in a field of 109 runners, took fifth place in 16 minutes, 1.5 seconds. Kyle Merber (Half Hollow Hills West) won the individual title in 15:45.1.
ESM junior Nick Sadlocha also had a terrific state meet, as he ran to 15th place in the Class A event in a clocking of 16:32.9.
Further down the list, Nate LaPierre finished 87th, in 18:09 flat. Pete Ferstler (18:21.2), Craig Andrianos (18:33.6), Matt Lyons (18:45.1) and Andrew Frost (18:47.2) followed LaPierre to the line.
As for Kelley, he was on his own, without CBA teammates to rely on, yet still managed to beat most of the Class C state field. The senior registered a time of 16:40.8, which put him in eighth place, less than a minute behind the winning mark of 15:54.8 posted by Pawling’s Colby DelPene.
Kelley was part of a strong Section III contingent that included Chris Burke (Tully, third), Robbie Argentine (Canastota, fifth), Ethan Lennox (Tully, 11th), Aaron Walker (Canastota, 13th), Ohure Sam (Tully, 17th), Nate Weber (Tully, 19th) and Jeff Donohue (Jordan-Elbridge, 22nd).
Elsewhere, Jamesville-DeWitt freshman Daniel Frank concluded a strong freshman campaign by running to 47th place in the Class A event in a time of 17:13.3.
Among Class A girls runners, ESM’s Meghan Visser narrowly beat out her neighbor and fellow sophomore, J-D’s Eileen Cody. Visser finished 40th, in a time of 19:59.6, while Cody got 42nd place in 20:02.5, less than three seconds behind.
