Sub-freezing temperatures, determined opposition, the pressure of maintaining a dynastic aura built over nearly two decades of sustained excellence – so many factors could have derailed the Fayetteville-Manlius cross country teams.
Yet no one was able to catch either group of Hornets Saturday morning at SUNY-Plattsburgh as, once again, F-M swept to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships.
In particular, the F-M girls were determined to reclaim the crown it surrendered by a single point to Saratoga Springs in 2018 at Wayne. Now the two long-time powers were expected to duel again, and did so.
All race long, the Hornets and Blue Streaks were close in the standings, but at the end F-M had 34 points to Saratoga’s 40, with three of the top five team runners and enough support to withstand the Blue Streaks’ depth.
Again leading the Hornets, Claire Walters finished in 16 minutes, 1.8 seconds, trailing only the 15:36.5 from North Rockland’s Katelyn Tuohy, the nation’s top-ranked runner.
Phoebe White got third place among team runners, and fifth overall, in 16:24 flat, followed closely by Hannah Kaercher, who was fifth in the team race and ninth overall in 16:50.3.
Grace Kaercher had a ninth-place team finish (14th overall) in 17:03.2, but it was Debbie Lucchetti clinching the state championship as the F-M sophomore was 15th in the team race and 28th overall in 17:43.6. Amelia Amack finished in 18:35.3, while Ani Sydorowych posted a time of 18:40.8.
The morning began with the boys state Class A race. Even with all the snow that had fallen during the week, the Plattsburgh course was clear and fast as the runners went off with the thermometer still in the teens and wind chills in the single digits.
F-M, sitting atop the state rankings all season, expected a big challenge from Section II representative Shenendehowa, and repelled it, the Hornets getting 42 points to the Plainsmen’s 62 to retain its state title.
As always, F-M’s top trio of Peyton Geehrer, Sam Otis and Geoff Howles led the way. Geehrer, in 14 minutes, 35.5 seconds, was tops among team runners and second only to Warwick Valley’s Behailu Bekele-Arcuri (14:32.7) in the individual race.
Then it was Otis making his way to third place overall in 14:39.5, four seconds behind Geehrer, while Howles gained fifth place in 14:50.5. They were third and fourth, respectively, among team runners.
Though Shen had all five of its best runners within the top 20 of the team standings, it could not overcome F-M’s big early lead. That was because James Peden finished 16th in those team standings in 15:24.3.
Jack Altimonda, by finishing 19th in the team race in 15:27 flat, clinched team honors, just ahead of Daniel Patrick, who finished in 15:34.1. Ben Perry crossed the finish line in 16:04.0.
Christian Brothers Academy was part of the Class C state meet, having won its first Section III title since 1982, and the Brothers parlayed that into a second-place finish with 89 points, trailing only the 28 points from winning Saranac Lake.
Riley Nash led CBA, going 15:46.9 to finish 12th among team runners and 25th overall. Michael McMahon was 16th among team runners in 15:53 flat, with Joel Gaffney 17th in 16:00.6 and Zach Medicis getting 18th place in 16:02.6.
Cooper Groat took 26th place among team runners in 16:28.4, with Kyle Gaffney (17:39.3) and Christian Balistreri (18:11.2) following. Together, these seven CBA runners also helped Section III take team honors as Skaneateles’ Caleb Bender won the individual state title in 14:41.6.
Then, in the girls state Class B race, CBA senior Olivia Morganti roared to third place in 17:02.2, just one-tenth of a second behind second-place Mady Moroney (Pearl River) in 17:02.1 as Mount Sinai’s Sarah Connelly won in 16:47.1. Lea Kyle finished 56th in 19:00.9.
Earlier, in the Class B state race, East Syracuse Minoa junior Nick Berg had a strong showing.
Berg, who signed his letter of intent to attend Le Moyne College earlier in the week, in a time of 15:06.3, got to seventh place, less than a minute behind the winning 14:26.1 from Pittsford Mendon’s Sam Lawler.
The Class B sectional champions from Jamesville-DeWitt took ninth place out of 11, its best individual effort provided by Ahviere Reese, who finished 47th in the team standings in a clocking of 16:47.7.
Sam Smith, in 16:55.9, was three places behind Reese in the team standings, with Tyler Aitken posting 17:05.9. Ashton Corona finished in 17:17.3, two spots ahead of Jacob Cottet’s 17:20.7, with Collin Rivercomb posting 17:44.6 and Nate Rindfuss finishing in 17:59 flat.
