When the Skaneateles cross country teams took on Marcellus Wednesday afternoon, more than a little extra spice was on hand.
That was especially true on the girls side, where the Lakers held off the Mustangs 25-30, just as the Skaneateles boys were taking a 23-32 defeat.
The source of all this was Maggie Dunn, who transferred from Marcellus to Skaneateles prior to this fall. Dunn is now one of the Lakers’ top runners, and against her former school she put together a fourth-place finish in 21 minutes, eight seconds.
Without Madeline Adams, the Lakers surrendered the top two spots to Marcellus teammates Molly McGuane (20:43.6) and Rachel Garn (20:43.9), but swept the next five positions for team honors.
Kaitlyn Neal led the Skaneateles push, finishing third in 20:47. After Dunn, Maria Schillace took fifth place, in 21:14, just ahead of Julia Wilcox (21:17) in sixth place and Morel Malcolm, who landed in seventh place in 21:23.
The boys meet saw Skaneateles improve its chance simply by not having to face the Mustangs’ star senior, Ryan Manahan, a state championship contender who had just posted the fastest time at the massive McQuaid Invitational in Rochester on Sept. 29.
Thus, Cooper Wyatt had a chance in the individual race and nearly won it, finishing in 17:41, just seven seconds behind the Mustangs’ Justin Garn (17:34).
Marcellus claimed four of the top six positions, though, stopped only by Wyatt and by Chris Neibuth, who was fifth in 18:16. Dan Sakal finished seventh, in 18:58, one second ahead of Ethan Johanns (18:59) in eighth as Patrick Biver finished 10th in 19:13.
