Local teams – and talented local runners – all worked their way to the top during Saturday’s Section III cross country championships at Jamesville Beach Park.
The main story was that Marcellus, in the boys Class B race, and Westhill/Bishop Ludden, in the girls Class B race, won their respective team titles, advancing to this Saturday’s state championship meet at Vernon-Verona-Sherrill.
As far as the boys Mustangs were concerned, it was a rout. Marcellus, with four of the top 10 runners, finished with 32 points, well clear of runner-up East Syracuse-Minoa, who had 78 points. Westhill/Ludden had a sixth-place finish with 167 points.
Ryan Manahan, who has won races all season long, prevailed again in 16 minutes, 32.9 seconds, nearly 21 seconds better than Mexico’s James Gowins. Just behind them, Joe Fallon took third place in 17:09.7, while David Lilly, with his clocking of 17:31 flat, grabbed fifth place.
John Bell offered further reinforcement when he earned 10th place in 17:42.5, while Justin Garn took 13th place in 17:58.1 to close out the scoring grid. Alex Zamojski also ran well, getting to 21st place in 18:36.3. Casey Bunce, in 20th (18:35.9), and Vincenzo Carr, in 23rd place (18:44.1), led Westhill/Ludden’s efforts.
In the Class B girls event, Westhill/Ludden and Marcellus dueled at the top, but the former prevailed, with 38 points to the Mustangs’ 52, even though Rachel Garn won the individual title for Marcellus with a time of 19:21.5.
Right behind her, the Westhill/Ludden charge took place, as Betsy Black was second in 19:43.6, Emily Washburn was third (19:46.8) and Jessica Curry (20:07.1) hung back in fourth place. Erin Morrell was 10th, in 21:11.3, while Erin Christensen was 22nd in 22:14.3.
Despite the defeat, Garn and Molly McGuane, who was seventh in 20:38.3, clinched spots on the Section III All-Star side that will go to the state meet.
Mary Morocco, in ninth place (21:02.8), missed on the last qualifying position by a single second to Jamesville-DeWitt’s Rachel Fairbanks. Maggie Dunn was 20th (22:12.8) and Eliza Bell (22:13.4) just behind her in 21st place as Tori Stopen was 29th (22:36.8) and Dominique Weeks (22:42.8) was 32nd.
Up in Class A, where Fayetteville-Manlius dominated (as expected) on both ends, West Genesee’s Laura Leff prevented a total sweep by the girls Hornets of the top nine spots as she finished second, in 18:19.1, to F-M’s Jillian Fanning (18:01.2) and advanced to the state meet.
As a team, WG was third out of 12 Class A entrants, with 81 points, behind F-M and Cicero-North Syracuse. Lindsey Weaver was 15th, in 20:27.3, with Abby Kastick 18th in 21:03.7, while Alycia Andolina (21:38.9), Kelly Powell (21:41.3), Mary McGlynn (21:57.0), Amy Hannahan (22:02.0) and Nicole Paone (22:02.6) all cracked the top 40.
In the boys Class A meet, where WG finished fourth with 121 points, Martin Leff stood out, getting fourth place in 16:40.9 to join her younger sister in advancing to the state meet. Ethan Osborne was 21st, in 17:42.9, while Nate Conroy was 25th (17:48.6), ahead of Mike Lannon (18:05.7), Will Randall (18:12.7) and Luke Potash (18:14.7).
As Jordan-Elbridge finished fifth and Solvay seventh in the boys Class C race, the Bearcats’ Cody McCarthy earned the fifth and final individual berth in the state meet when he finished in a time of 17:05.8, just ahead of the Eagles’ Steve Slonosky, who was eighth in 17:21.7.
Also for Solvay, Matt Cregan was 20th, in 17:59.6, while Eric Goodrich was 32nd in 18:37.7. J-E’s Mitch Alpha was 29th in 18:15.9, just ahead of Jack Gugel (18:36.7) in 31st place. Alex Suslik was 42nd. On the girls side, J-E’s Phebe Alley was 36th in 22:10 flat and Solvay’s Ashlee Riggins was 40th in 22:27.9.
