If a cross country team wants to work its way into a new season, it might as well do so having fun – and winning doesn’t hurt, either.
Baldwinsville’s boys and girls runners did just that during Saturday’s Jordan-Elbridge Kamikaze Challenge, sweeping the team titles with its superior depth.
Instead of a typical 3.1-mile course, the runners at J-E faced a 4,000-meter layout that was rife with hay bales to jump over and steep hills to climb.
Despite this, B’ville showed up and dominated the boys meet, topping 10 other teams with 43 points, while Auburn (103 points) lagged back in a distant second, edging out Westhill/Bishop Ludden and Hannibal for that runner-up spot.
Arden Kellner led the Bees, recording a fourth-place time of 13 minutes, 44 seconds, not far from the winning 13:13 that Auburn’s Jordan Middleton posted.
But the help for Kellner was plentiful, starting with Austin Bolton, who finished sixth in 13:44. Cameron Morrissey (13:51) gained eighth place, with Michael Boyce (14:06) sliding into 11th place.
Denis Keegan (14:15) and Colin Spaulding (14:17) were 14th and 15th, respectively, with Dan Conlan (14:21) and Andrew Carter (14:23) also getting top-20 finishes. Kenneth Stehle needed 14:41 to claim 25th place.
The girls meet was even more lopsided. By sweeping four of the top five spots, B’ville ended up with a scant 23 points, leaving Hannibal (81 points), Westhill/Ludden (86 points) and the rest of the field far behind.
Even as J-E’s Abby Gugel pulled away for the girls individual title in 15:22, the Bees chased her, and Maizy Ludden led the way, emerging as a star with her second-place finish in 15:48.
Melissa Lathrop, in a time of 15:55, made her way to third place. Kelly Hull was fourth, edging out teammate Elizabeth Fawwaz, though both finished in 16:37.
Mia Bolton’s run led to a ninth-place time of 17:30 that helped clinch team honors, while Emily McComb made her way to 11th place in 17:41. Claire McMahon was 14th in 17:55, two spots ahead of Natalie Farnett (17:58), with Nadine Dickter 19th in 18:25 and Makayla Spicer (18:31) in 24th place.
