Among the many cross country teams that ventured to the Bronx for Saturday’s Manhattan Invitational, West Genesee made the largest impression.
The Wildcats won the Varsity A division on the boys side with 59 points, edging out Lowell (62 points) for the title.
Steve Houghmaster, gaining speed as the autumn moves along, finished fourth among individuals in a time of 13:10.31. Billy Gabriel was seventh, in 13:19.63, while John DeLallo finshed 17th (13:44.01) and Martin Leff finished 19th (13:45.21).
Sam Reedy’s 21st-place time of 13:50.07 clinched the title as Matt Gonnella (24th, 14:04.75) and Ethan Wojcik (14:37.17) in 46th place.
WG’s girls were fifth in the Varsity E division with 150 points, but Laura Leff again put on a spectacular show. The eighth-grader dominated the race, as her time of 15:13.01 beat the field by more than 10 seconds.
Anna Leo finished 12th, in 16:06.64, while Alex Incaudo worked her way to 47th place in 17:06.48, leading a pack that included Amy Hannahan (17:12.90), Kristen Riley (17:15.95) and Abby Kastick (17:16.38) in the next six spots.
Both Jordan-Elbridge and Marcellus made their own impact in the Bronx, too.
Though it was sixth in the boys Varsity F race, the Eagles still saw Cody Stanton finish 13th in a time of 13:12.15 and Mike Marerro grab 14th place in 13:12.49. Steve Slonosky (14:21.43), Tom Poppe (14:32.12) and Mitch Alpha (14:45.95) also placed for J-E.
In the girls Varsity A race, Kim Foltz was 51st, in 17:27.74, as Phebe Alley (18:07.93), Jessica Salisbury (18:39.93), Abby Comstock (19:56.41), Emma Coomey (20:21.21), Rachel Betts (20:22.04) and Kerry Mack (21:38.22) followed.
Marcellus took third place in the boys Varsity B race at Manhattan with 134 points, as only Shenendehowa (77 points) and Midlothian (100 points) topped them.
Jesse Garn impressed with a fifth-place time of 13:01.96, with Tom Riccardi claiming 14th place in 13:30.59. Ryan Manahan was 31st (13:50.46) and Mike Quercia 34th (13:54.46), just ahead of Mike Fallon (14:16.02) and Nate Heath (14:21.78).
Over in the girls Varsity C race, Marcellus finished eighth in the team standings, but saw Rachel Garn take 28th place among individuals in a time of 16:01.28. Laura Quercia (16:38.50), Molly McGuane (17:06.43), Sarah Kelly (18:03.92) and Olivia Higgins (18:57.47) filled out the Mustangs’ field.
Bishop Ludden/Bishop Grimes saw Nick Barletta finish 10th in the boys Varsity A race in a time of 13:24.09, while Jessica Curry took 12th in the girls B race in 16:18.32, just ahead of Betsy Black (16:24.02) in 15th place and Melissa Buttner (16:28.78) in 22nd place.
