Up in St. Lawrence County, at SUNY-Canton on Saturday morning, they settled the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class A cross country championships – and like so many times before, Fayetteville-Manlius ruled across the board.
First the girls Hornets, and then the boys Hornets, would claim their respective state team titles with relative ease, setting the stage for regional competition in two weeks and, ultimately, a trip to Oregon in December for the Nike Cross Nationals.
It was a rout on the girls side. F-M, with its deep, versatile lineup that placed five runners in the top six and saw the younger stars lead the veterans, picked up 20 points, well clear of Saratoga Springs (Section II), who finished second with 85 points.
Behind Arlington’s Bella Burda, who won the individual race in 17:49.7, and Corning’s Jessica Lawson, who was second in 17:59.3, F-M freshman Sophia Ryan made her way to third place in 18 minutes, 4.1 seconds, second among team competitors.
Junior Samantha Levy got to eighth place in 18:30.5, part of a patck where senior Jenna Farrell was ninth in 18:34.7 and fellow senior Annika Avery took 10th place in 18:35.4. Together, Levy, Farrell and Avery were the third, fourth and fifth-place team runners.
Another senior, Olivia Ryan, closed out F-M’s string, recording a seventh-place team time of 18:42.7 and claiming 12th place overall. Further back, senior Jessica Howe was 21st among team runners, and 41st overall, in 19:23.8, while sophomore Reilly Madsen had a time of 19:38.2 that put her in 28th place on the team side and 51st overall.
Two hours later, F-M’s boys cross country hit the SUNY-Canton course for its own state Class A meet, and like the girls, these Hornets would leave everyone far behind.
With a total of 24 points, including the top three finishers on the team side, the Hornets easily turned back the challengers, led by Shenendehowa (Section II), who was second with 100 points, and Warwick Valley, who was third with 110 points.
Top-ranked in the state all season, senior Bryce Millar, who is headed to Indiana University, was not about to let anyone beat him here, either, including Liverpool’s Ben Petrella, who led the Section III All-Stars, and his own teammate, senior Kyle Barber.
Millar would cover the 3.1 miles in 15 minutes, 30.3 seconds, holding off Petrella, who finished in 15:35.6, to earn the individual state championship, while Barber settled for third place in 15:38.5.
When senior Adam Hunt crossed the finish line in 15:54.5 to finish eighth overall, he completed a 1-2-3 Hornets sweep of the top individual spots among the team runners.
Though he was a bit off the pace, junior Peter Ryan still finished sixth among team runners and 14th overall in 16:04.4. It was sophomore Joe Walters, finishing 12th on the team side (27th overall) in 16:31.9, that clinched the team title, two spots ahead of senior Riley Hughes, who finished in 16:37 flat. Senior Jon Abbott, finishing 42nd in the team race (80th overall) in 17:27.7, rounded it out.
Meanwhile, the Jamesville-DeWitt girls cross country team recorded a seventh-place finish in the Class B state meet, with 191 points, as Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake won with 57 points.
East Syracuse-Minoa’s Natalie Marra finished seventh among individuals in 18:56.5, well clear of Red Rams sophomore Hannah Butler, who led her side with a 37th-place finish (15th on the team side in a clocking of 19:49.5.
Senior Samantha Jaffe was 34th (72nd overall) in 20:52.3, while senior Rachel Fairbanks was 40th (80th overall) in exactly 21 minutes. Freshman Megan Brown followed with a time of 21:19.9 as sophomore Alexandra Street (22:23.8), junior Kim Walsh (22:36.4) and freshman Ayla Erwin (22:44.7) followed.
CBA sophomore Dominic Morganti finished ninth in the boys state Class C race in 16:40.5, topping Hannibal’s Jason McFarland (16:44.2), who was first in the Section III event. J-D sophomore Patrick Dye got to 13th place in the boys Class B race in 16:31.2, not far from Carthage’s Noah Affolder, who won in 15:48.8. ESM’s Matt Young impressed, too, with a 28th-place finish in 16:56 flat.
All of this was part of a glorious day for Section III runners. F-M’s teams won, as did Tully’s girls in Class D and Beaver River’s boys in its Class D race, to go with individual titles from Millar, Affolder and Hamilton’s Sage Hurta (18:52.8) in girls Class D, plus a slew of top-10 finishes.
Now F-M turns its attention to the Nike Cross National New York-New England Regional, set for Nov. 29 at Bowdoin Park in Wappingers Falls, the last step before the trip to Oregon.
