A history-making autumn for the Cazenovia girls cross country team already included a first Onondaga High School League Liberty division title – but the Lakers were far from finished.
Up against 12 other foes in Saturday’s Section III Class B championship meet at Vernon-Verona-Sherrill’s course (which will also host the 2011 state meet), Cazenovia did not stop until it had earned the first sectional title in the program’s history.
When the final totals were in, the Lakers had 51 points, well clear of second-place Marcellus (89 points), who edged out Skaneateles (93 points) for that runner-up spot.
Cazenovia’s top three runners – Hollie Marcelle, Rae Tobey and Jeannette Cudney – hung together behind the top two individuals, Homer’s Bori Toszer (who won in 19:44.8) and Marcellus’ Rachel Garn (20:38.6).
Marcelle would hit the line first, claiming third place in 21 minutes, 4.6 seconds. Tobey fought her way to fourth place in 21:08.1, while Cudney claimed fifth place in 21:09.6. So Marcelle, Tobey and Cudney finished within 5.2 seconds of each other.
Michelle Karker and Malone Gabor followed the same path, sticking together to insure the Lakers’ winning margin. Karker ran to 19th place in 22:02.3, and when Gabor hit the line in 20th place (22:07.8), Cazenovia had proud ownership of a sectional championship.
Margaret Wolsey was 27th, in 22:36.2, with Alex Dolbear 30th in 22:40.8. Together, these Cazenovia runners will head to Lakeside Park, in Pawling (southeast of Poughkeepsie, near the New York/Connecticut border), for next Saturday’s state Class B championship meet, which starts at 9:45 a.m.
Cazenovia’s boys cross country team finished 12th out of 13 teams in the boys sectional Class B meet with 318 points. But Pat Dermody earned his own trip to the state meet after finishing sixth in a time of 17:29.1.
Dermody was fourth among individuals outside the winning team from Marcellus. So he joins a group of Section III All-Stars that includes Aaron Tompkins (New Hartford), Conor McCarthy (Oneida), Josiah Durfee (Chittenango) and Nicholas Tyler (South Jefferson).
McCarthy was fourth, in 17:10.8, with Durfee fifth in 17:20.2 as his brother, John, claimed 20th place in 18:37.2. Overall, Chittenango was eighth in the team standings, with Oneida 10th and host VVS 11th.
In the girls sectional Class B meet behind Cazenovia, Oneida had a fifth-place total of 149 points, with Chittenango also eighth on this side and VVS 11th. The Indians’ Sara Rifendifer edged out the Bears’ Jordan Donnelly, 21:45.7 to 21:47.8, as they took 12th and 13th, respectively. Oneida’s Erin Durdan was 16th and the top Red Devils runner, Kerry Miley, claimed 18th place in 21:58 flat.
Hamilton’s star seventh-grader, Sage Hurta, nearly pulled out the individual Class D championship, crossing the finish line in 20:26.6, beaten only by Fabius-Pompey’s Erin McConnell (20:23.4), though Hurta did advance to the state meet. Austin Hirsch led the boys Emerald Knights (a combined team with Morrisville-Eaton) as he finished 14th in 18:17.1.