Though the West Genesee cross country teams are full of runners with plenty of accomplishments that compare favorably with most local programs, they – and everyone else – are still trying to catch up to Fayetteville-Manlius.
This proved the case again when the Wildcats visited the Hornets last Wednesday afternoon and took defeat on both sides. WG was quite tough on the boys end, only taking a 21-34 loss, while the girls, even with Laura Leff, got overwhelmed by the three-time defending national champions in a 15-48 decision.
A tight and exciting race for boys individual honors developed as WG’s Billy Gabriel went for the top spot. And he almost pulled off as Gabriel finished in 15 minutes, 32 seconds, five seconds behind F-M’s Mark McGurrin (15:27).
The Hornets countered by owning the rest of the top five as Andrew Roache (15:33), Nick Ryan (15:36) and Andrew Veilleux (15:43) all trailed Gabriel. Martin Leff did earn sixth place in 15:53, with teammate Matt Byrnes seventh in 15:59. John DeLallo also ran well, taking ninth place in 16:10.
As for the girls race, the question was how Laura Leff would fare against the vast army of F-M standouts.
Leff finished in 17 minutes, 36 seconds, a strong effort – but still only good for sixth place. The Hornets swept the top five as Heather Martin won in 17:13, just ahead of Jillian Fanning (17:14) and Christie Rutledge (17:15), with Katie Sischo (17:29) and Courtney Chapman (17:31) close behind.
