During the weekend of Nov. 16-17, athletes from West Genesee and other local schools took part in a pair of state championship events, achieving a fair amount of success.
Laura Leff, who has spent the fall working her way back from injuries that sidelined her last spring, had a strong showing at the state Federation cross country championships at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls.
Leff, a junior, finished best among Section III runners. She took sixth place in a time of 18 minutes, 38.5 seconds, less than a minute behind the champion, Arlington’s Bella Burda, who prevailed in 18:38.5.
Jordan-Elbridge freshman Abby Gugel, who was second in the state Class C race on Nov. 10, earned 42nd place in this 255-runner field in 19:33.2. Solvay’s Matt Cregan also beat most of the field in the boys Federation race, where he got 62nd place in a clocking of 17:02.7.
Meanwhile, members of WG’s girls swim team found themselves at Ithaca College, battling for top honors at the state championship meet.
They did best in the 400 freestyle relay, where the Wildcats’ quartet of Becca Kanoza, Brianna Smith, Kaitlin Dunning and Olivia Castro posted a time of 3:41.72, which put them in 16th place. Clarence won in a state-record time of 3:28.72.
Individually, Castro made her way to 17th place in the 100 freestyle in 53.57 seconds, where Niskayuna’ Kina Zhou won with another state record (50.13 seconds). Castro also had a 25th-place time of 1:57.37 in the 200 freestyle, where Zhou also prevailed in 1:48.30.
