When the Onondaga High School League’s 10 Liberty division cross country teams gathered together Wednesday at Jordan-Elbridge, Westhill/Bishop Ludden went to the top of both the boys and girls divisions.
As that was going on, the turmoil-filled Marcellus Mustangs produced both individual champions – Rachel Garn on the girls side, Patrick McGuane on the boys side.
It was a close OHSL Liberty girls meet, where Westhill/Ludden, no. 16 in the state Class B rankings, knocked off Skaneateles, the state’s no. 2-ranked Class C side, with 44 points to the Lakers’ 54.
The individual race turned into a classic, with Garn dueling with Skaneateles sophomore Kaitlyn Neal. They nearly hit the finish line together, but Garn, in a time of 20 minutes, 7.3 seconds, edged Neal (20:07.5) by two-tenths of a second.
Then Westhill/Ludden brought forth its championship effort, as Genny Corcoran took third place in 20:11.5, with Annibel Coolican seventh in 21:02.7 and Erin Morrell taking ninth place in 21:13.8.
Emily Washburn got to 12th place in 21:33.7, and the Warriors clinched the league title when Mary Kate Washburn gained 17th place in 21:51.7, just ahead of Caroline Coates (22:03.9) in 19th place. By contrast, Skaneateles had just three other runners (Madeline Adams, Julia Willcox and Liz Dwyer) in the top 20.
As for Marcellus, who finished fourth with 117 points, Eliza Bell made her way to 20th place in 22:04.2. Dominique Weeks was 28th, in 23:11.6, ahead of Schuyler Stuart (24:15.4) and Emily Townsend (24:21.5) among the Mustangs’ runners. Brianna Szczech (24:37.9) was 44th.
Host Jordan-Elbridge was sixth in the eight-team field, but Abby Gugel had a strong individual showing, taking fifth place in 20:51.3. Further back, Marissa Malvaso had a 31st-place clocking of 23:32.6, just ahead of Eagles teammates Miranda Malvaso (23:59.2) and Emily Kuehnle (24:12.7), with Lauren Hubbs getting to 45th place in 24:43.2.
Moving to the boys OHSL Liberty meet, it was a bit more lopsided. Westhill/Ludden had 36 points, easily taking the title as J-E, with 85 points, managed to get second place and Marcellus (113 points) made its way to fourth place.
McGuane also had an easier time than Garn claiming the individual championship, enduring the cold, wet conditions on the tough J-E course to finish in 17 minutes, 48.3 seconds, the only competitor to go under the 18-minute mark.
Right behind, Liam Rodgers gave Westhill/Ludden a second-place finish in 18:01.1, and then the Warriors really took over. Josh Owens got sixth place, in 18:29.2, with Garnet Remillard in seventh place (18:33.3) and Kyle Fitch taking eighth place in 18:39.7.
Alec Walsh was 13th in 18:51 flat to finish the scoring column, with Vincenzo Carr 19th in 19:11.2. Bryan King (19:32.6), Brian Celeste (19:36.9), and Cain Ballard (19:38.1) also recorded top-30 finishes.
Nathan Hollis led J-E’s runner-up team performance, covering his home course in 18:27.7 to finish fifth among individuals behind McGuane, Rodgers, Ben Slate (Hannibal) and Dominic Morganti (CBA).
Eighth-grader Hunter Brunelle was 14th, in 18:52 flat, for the Eagles, with Nick Parkolap getting to 17th place in 19:01, exactly nine seconds behind. Dylan Whittico (19:36.4) and Jacob Patterson (19:36.7) were 24th and 25th, respectively, just in front of Austin Milton (19:51.4) and Alex Parkolap (19:55.3).
Other than McGuane, just one Marcellus runner, Alex Zamojski, reached the top 20, sliding into 20th place in 19:20.2. Steve Larison was 22nd, in 19:30.5, while Kevin Pierce was 35th in 20:05.9, just ahead of Matt Strempel (20:14.0), Tom Dailey (20:30.7), Andrew Marsh (20:32.7) and Sean Kocher (20:46.2).
Solvay did not field a full girls team, but Ashlee Riggins still ran to 40th place in 24:29.7. As for the boys Bearcats, Eric Goodrich had the best showing, getting to 16th place in 19:00.3 as Nate Carr (20:13.5) took 38th place.
All attention now shifts to the Section III championships, which take place on Nov. 2 at Jamesville Beach Park and will determine berths in the Nov. 9 state meet at Queensbury.
