As a result of its full body of work during the fall, the Baldwinsville boys cross country team earned an invitation to run in Saturday’s state Federation championship meet, held again at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls.
And no one else took more advantage of this chance than senior Alec Peinkofer, who beat most of the 254 other runners in the field on his way to a third-place finish.
Staying right with the leaders throughout the race in cold, clear conditions, Peinkofer hit the finish line in 16 minutes, 8.6 seconds, just 1.7 seconds behind the runner-up, Chaminade’s Thomas Slattery. Arlington’s Sebastion Manson won the Federation race in 16:00.7, a mere 7.9 seconds ahead of Peinkofer.
In all, 28 teams entered on the boys side, and the Bees finished right in the middle, in 14th place, with a total of 375 points.
Aside from Peinkofer, senior Andy Fleming had B’ville’s top individual performance, making his way to 69th place in 17:04.8. Fleming beat out, by 10 spots, junior Jack Martin, who was 79th in 17:11.5.
Further back, junior Josh Perez finished in 18:01.8, while senior Antonio Martinez had a time of 18:22.9 and senior Casey McAllister finished in 18:30.7. Senior Steve Petrelli crossed the line in 18:46.2.
Liverpool, the other Section III team in the field, was sixth as Saratoga Springs, with 116 points, prevailed again, just as it did over Fayetteville-Manlius at the state meet at Elma Meadows a week earlier.
