One more bit of league work remained for the four area cross country teams that are part of the OHSL Liberty division.
Marcellus would clinch the boys regular-season title Wednesday with a sweep over Jordan-Elbridge (20-35) and Cazenovia (15-49), while the girls title went to Westhill/Bishop Ludden after it got past Skaneateles 22-33 and Hannibal 17-45.
For those boys Mustangs, Ryan Manahan won the individual race in 18:21, just ahead of J-E’s Steve Slonosky, who was second in 18:36.
Marcellus secured the next three spots, though, as Justin Garn (18:50) edged Joe Fallon (18:51) for third and David Lilly was fifth in 18:59. Alex Zamojski, in 19:43, slid between the Eagles’ Mitch Alpha (19:01) and Alex Suslik (19:51), while J-E’s Dylan Wittico was 10th in 20:11.
In the girls race, Marcellus lost to Cazenovia 24-33, but beat J-E 15-49, as Rachel Garn won the individual title in 21:29, but the Lakers took six of the next eight finishing spots. Mary Morocco (21:57) and Molly McGuane (22:02) were fifth and sixth, respectively. Eliza Bell was 10th in 23:04.
To clinch its league title, the Westhill/Bishop Ludden girls had to go to Hannibal, where it got past Skaneateles behind the 1-2 finish of Jessica Curry and Betsy Black. Curry won in 16:53, with Black second in 17:17.
Just after the Lakers’ Madeline Adams took third (17:33), Emily Washburn worked her way to fourth place in 17:41. Erin Morrell got to seventh place, in 18:32, and Erin Christensen clinched the victory by getting 10th place in 18:59.
Westhill/Ludden’s boys team beat Skaneateles 15-50, but lost to Hannibal 20-35. Those other Warriors grabbed four of the top five spots, with Casey Bunce the lone exception as he got third place in 15:44. Will Downs was sixth, in 16:09,and Peter Lynch was seventh (16:15) as Kyle Fitch (16:18) and Jon Moore (16:19) were close behind.
Solvay would sweep its three-way meet, beating CBA 26-33 and Homer 19-42.
The Bearcats’ Cody McCarthy was second, in 17:21, behind Brothers star Brendan Smith (16:49), while Matt Cregan and Matt Battaglia both crossed the line in 18:11. Nate Carr, in eighth place (18:23), led a pack that included Isaiah Lee (18:39) and Eric Goodrich (18:49).
In the girls race, the Bearcats’ Ashlee Riggins had the top individual time of 23:31. Christina Clemente followed, in 25:31, ahead of Alexa Polito and Rachel Campbell.
A busy Saturday of action saw Marcellus go south, to the Marathon Invitational, where the team finished fourth but Manahan won a thrilling boys varsity race, edging Lansing’s Cameron Bruce, 16:25.1 to 16:25.6. Fallon was 13th, in 17:15.6, while Bell was 21st (17:48.8) and Lilly (17:55.6) took 29th place.
Moving to the girls race at Marathon, Garn was facing Class A runners and held up, finishing ninth in 20:02.9 as the Mustangs took fourth in the team standings. McGuane rose to 15th place in 21:00.5, while Morocco claimed 31st place (21:23.2) and Eliza Bell (22:09.8) was 43rd.
Well to the north, at the Sandy Creek Invitational, Solvay went to the top spot in the boys team event by picking up 59 points, edging out South Jefferson (72 points) and 10 other squads.
McCarthy won a tight boys race over South Jefferson’s Nick Tyler, 16:26.15 to 16:25.68, with Cregan fifth in 17:12.85. Battaglia was 14th, in 17:45.68, as Nate Carr, in 21st (18:27.02), and Lee, in 22nd (18:27.83), helped the Bearcats win.
