As he tore down the stretch Saturday at Norwood-Norfolk High School, Marcellus boys cross country runner Chris Stogsdill was determined to bring a state championship home.
When he reached the line, Stogsdill had beaten everyone — except Honeoye Falls-Lima sophomore Alex Deir, as the two dueled all the way through the Class B race at the state meet held near Massena in cold, clear conditions.
Stogsdill and Deir slowly separated themselves from East Aurora’s Scott Anderson and Westhill’s Andrew Corcoran as the 3.1-mile race wore on, and they raced each other through the last meters, too.
Deir would finish first in 16 minutes, 5.5 seconds. Stogsdill was right behind, in 16:06.2. Thus, by seven-tenths of a second, Stogsdill was denied the top spot. Among all the runners in the five state championship races, Stogsdill posted the 19th-best time of the day.
Meanwhile, in the girls state Class B race, Marcellus seniors Carrie Carlton and Ariel Briggs both had strong efforts and finished together.
Carlton ran to 17th place, in a clocking of 19:28.0, as Briggs earned 18th place in 19:30.1, just 2.1 seconds behind. Catherine Lusardi (East Aurora) earned the individual title in 18:27.8. Carlton was just inside the top 100 of all the runners on this day, Briggs just outside it.
Each of Westhill’s teams represented Section III and had solid showings in the respective Class B meets.
With Andrew Corcoran in major contention for the individual title, the boys Warriors finished sixth among 11 Class B teams, right in the middle of the pack with 152 points. Shoreham-Wading River (55 points) held off East Aurora (76 points) for the team crown.
Corcoran wasn’t far from the individual duel at the front between Stogsdill and Deir. Running strong in the cold conditions, Corcoran claimed fourth place in 16 minutes, 21.3 seconds, a mere 16.8 seconds off Deir’s winning mark.
Further back, Eric Moore, in 34th place (17:07.8), led the rest of the Warriors’ contingent. Vinny Savastano (17:51.3) and Kevin Zych (17:51.7) finished next to each other in the middle of the 132-runner field, while Adam Nicolais recorded a time of 18:10 flat. Josh Strough (18:27.2) and Dave Krawczyk (19:28.3) were further behind.
Over in the girls state Class B race, Westhill earned eighth place, with 188 points, as East Aurora (36 points) easily handled Honoeye Falls-Lima (75 points) and the rest of the field to finish on top.
Heather Clancy has the best individual race, as she took 37th place in a clocking of 20:05 flat. Right behind her, Crystal Whiteside gained 52nd place in 20:25.3.
Katie Powers ran to a time of 21:12.1, as Lissa DiPaola (21:36.1), Abbey Kresser (22:21.0), Holly Katko (22:49.3) and Abby Lee (23:12.8) all followed.
Back among the boys runners, Bishop Ludden/Bishop Grimes sophomore Nick Barletta had a terrific race, earning 11th place among Class B runners in a time of 16:31.8 as teammate Sean Curry took 22nd place in 16:44.3.
Jordan-Elbridge teammates Jeff Donohue and Cody Stanton competed in the Class C individual race. Donohue had a strong showing, as he ran to 22nd place in 17:05.3, while Stanton finished 41st in 17:30.5.
