Jordan-Elbridge was happy that it was running on its home course. Westhill-Biishop Ludden was happy that its deep pool of talent was in prime form. And both programs were happier once the Onondaga High School League Liberty division championship races were complete on an overcast Wednesday afternoon in October.
By a single point, the boys Eagles finished on top, 51 points to the Warriors’ 52, while in the girls race Westhill-Ludden, with four of the top eight finishers, managed to topple state Class C no. 3-ranked Skaneateles, 37 points to the Lakers’ 63, with J-E (136 points) settling for fifth place.
The boys race would evolve in a seesaw manner, with Westhill/Ludden taking the early lead before J-E rallied with its top five runners, every one of them chasing Hannibal’s Jason McFarland, who won the OHSL Liberty race in 17 minutes, 17.1 seconds, well clear of CBA’s Dominic Morganti (17:44.5) in second place.
Garnet Remillard garnered for Westhill-Ludden a third-place finish in 17:56.8, while teammate Dan Demauro made his way to fifth place in 18:16.9. Each of them was ahead of J-E’s best runner, Austin Milton, who finished eighth in 18:45.8.
Right behind Milton was the Warriors’ Liam Rodgers, in ninth place (18:46.1), but the rest of the Eagles’ point-earners closely followed, led by Hunter Brunelle, who would take 10th place in 18:49.8.
Nathan Hollis gave J-E an 11th-place finish in 18:57.3. Tyler Jackson earned 13th place, in 19:10 flat. Ethan Kinney, who finished 14th in 19:11.3, crossed the finish line two spots ahead of Westhill-Ludden’s fourth runner, Bryan King (19:15.4), who was 16th.
When the Warriors’ Cain Ballard (19:39.8) and Luke Sekowski (19;44.0) could only finish 25th and 27th, respectively, J-E had held on, also seeing Jared Alpha finish 33rd in 20:00.2, ahead of a group of Eagles that included Brett Siddle (20:16.2), Ryan Chiaramonte (20:16.8), Hugh Schader (20:22.0) and Brendan Bourque (20:30.1).
Moving to the boys OHSL Liberty race, all eyes were on the individual stars present, including Class C’s top two-ranked Class C runners, Sknaeateles junior Kaitlyn Neal and Cazenovia eighth-grader Clara Rowles, with J-E’s Abby Gugel also among the contenders.
Neal would win the race in 19 minutes, 41.4 seconds, but it was Westhill-Ludden’s Genny Corcoran who gave a hint at her team’s dominance ahead, claiming second place in 19:51.9 to beat out Gugel, who was third in 19:57.9, and Rowles, who was fourth in 20:17 flat.
Then the Warriors applied the decisive blow thanks to the trio behind Corcoran. Alaina Kenny, just a freshman, got to fifth place in 20:42.5, while Maddie Nowicki, like Rowles an eighth-grader, earned sixth place in 20:48.3 and Annibel Coolican (21:32.2) claimed seventh place, all of them clear of Skaneateles’ next two runners, Julia Willcox (21:45.8) and Liz Dwyer (22:08.0), who were ninth and 11th, respectively.
It was Mary Kate Washburn, finishing 17th in 23:09.4, that helped Westhill-Ludden clinch the title. Genevieve Schwarz (23:33.3), Molly Clark (23:47.1), Maura McAnaney (24:02.9), Meghan Evans (24:07.4) and Clara Hoyne (24:11.6) had their own top-30 finishes.
As for the J-E runners behind Gugel, Theresa Dristle fared best, getting to 15th place in 22:46.4. Maggie DeJohn, in 39th place (26:12.9), was ahead of Emelia Abar (27:43.8) and Jenny Hartwell (30:34.6).
Solvay’s Jordyn Willsey had a 28th-place finish in 24:14.9, by far the best for her side, while in the boys race the Bearcats saw Colton Francemone rise to 18th place in 19:22.3 as Sam Kippen finished 30th in 19:56.9.
They all move on now to next Saturday’s Section III championships at Vernon-Verona-Sherrill. The top teams in each of the four classes, along with the top five individuals in each race outside of those winning teams, advance to the Nov. 8 state meet at SUNY-Canton.
