Armed with lots of talent and ready to romp in the rain, the Cicero-North Syracuse track and field teams ventured to Fayetteville-Manlius on Wednesday afternoon in an effort to go to the top of the CNY Counties League.

And while the girls Northstars proved quite successful on lots of fronts, it could not quite catch the defending Section III Class AA champion Hornets, who prevailed by a score of 74-67.

Sasha Pulaski, emerging as one of the top sprinters in the local ranks, tore to a time of 12.5 seconds in the 100-meter dash, second-best in Section III this spring. She also won the 200-meter dash in 26.4 seconds. Hannah Szumloz roared to a victory in the 100-meter hurdles in 16.3 seconds, with Elahnis Lewis first in the 400 hurdles in 1:13.5.

C-NS also won four of five field events, including the long jump, where Javielle Fanizzi went 15 feet 11 inches. Destiny Monica was first in the shot put, throwing it 33’9 ½”, with Shannon Hanmer first in the discus (78’10 ½”) and Nicole Herringshaw clearing 5’2” in the high jump.

Where F-M won this meet was in a sweep of the relays, the Hornets taking the 4×100 in 53 seconds flat, the 4×400 in 4:22.2 and the 4×800 in 10:06.3. It also won every race from 400 to 3,000 meters, as stars Annika Avery took the 800 (2:24.40) and Alana Pearl claimed the 1,500 in 5:03.8.

The boys meet between C-NS and F-M also was competitive, also saw the Northstars win every field event except the triple jump – and also get beat, this time by a 77-59 margin.

Joe Castaldo swept the throws, going 119’11” in the discus and 47’11” in the shot put. Morgan Austen had a top long jump of 18’11”, while Joe Antonello cleared 5’6” in the high jump and Connor Osborne topped 11’6” in the pole vault.

But the Hornets won every individual race except the 110 high hurdles, where Austen prevailed in 15.1 seconds. Kyle Barber led F-M’s efforts, finishing with three victories in the 400 sprint (53.4 seconds), triple jump (38’11”) and 400 hurdles, where he tore to first place in 56 seconds flat.

Fresh off this effort, the C-NS went east on Friday and won the 61st annual New Hartford Invitational, picking up 95 points to cast aside 20 challengers, including Rome Free Academy, who finished second with 60 points.

Austen edged Girardi, 15.51 seconds to 15.54, in a tight 110 high hurdles final as C-NS snared a 1-2 finish and 18 points. Girardi got his own victory in the 400 hurdles, going 57.38 seconds to top Oneida’s Rory McCarthy (58.86 seconds) as Austen (1:00.22) snared fifth place, the same spot where he finished in the long jump.

Nate Hilt, Jeremy Rivera, Matt Kilian and Andrew Bearkland won the 1,600 sprint medley relay in 3:50.22, more than five seconds ahead of New Hartford (3:55.40) and the field. C-NS also won the distance medley relay in 11:20 flat, with Clinton (11:37.49) taking second place.

Castaldo threw the discus 137’1” to finish second behind another RFA standout, Robert Adler (150’6”). It was the same in the shot put, with Castaldo heaving it 49’2” and Alder (54’1) relegating him to the second spot.

Girardi, in 52.25 seconds, was runner-up to RFA’s Justin Houle (52.09 seconds) in the 400 sprint, while Connor Osborne cleared 11’6” to finish third in the pole vault. C-NS also got a second-place finish in the 4×800 relay in 8:25.57, just behind New Hartford, who won in 8:23.12. The Northstars took fourth (3:49.80) in the 4×400 and sixth in the 4×200.

The C-NS girls, meanwhile, would finish third in Saturday’s Copper City Classic, held at RFA Stadium, picking up 58 points as Bethlehem won with 86 points and the host Black Knights (82 points) were right behind in second place.

Fanizzi won the long jump, going 16’6 ½” to edge Remsen’s Alycia Atwell-Chwazik (16’5 ½”) by one inch as Olivia King finished sixth (14’5”). Also, Fanizzi, with a triple jump of 34’8”, took third place, with Szumloz (33’3”) in fifth place.

Cheyanna Colin, in 17.21 seconds, beat out Szumolz (17.30 seconds) for third place in the 100 hurdles. Herringshaw earned 2,204 points for fourth place in the pentathlon, though she won the high jump portion by clearing 4’11”. Monica was fifth in the shot put.

Fanizzi, King, Pulaski and Taylor McLaughlin took third in the 4×100 relay in 52.97 seconds, this after Jilliann Norris finished third in the 1,500 in 5:07.60 and added a fifth in the 800. C-NS took fourth in the 1,600 sprint medley (4:57.75) and 4×800 relay (11:31.1), adding a sixth in the 4×400.