All the work done by the area’s top cross country teams and individuals would culminate at Monroe-Woodbury High School in Orange County, close by the Hudson River valley, for Saturday’s New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships.
Leading that charge, West Genesee’s trio of Carly Benson, Maria Matkoski and David Leff were both part of Section III teams that finished at the top of the standings.
Benson, in particular, had an outstanding race, the sophomore roaring to a time of 18 minutes, 11.8 seconds that put her in fourth place in the final standings.
Fayetteville-Manlius eighth-grade Claire Walters was a surprising state champion, edging Corning star Jessica Lawson by 0.3 seconds, 17:53.5 to Benson’s 17:53.8. Saratoga Springs’ Kelly Chmiel took third place in 18:09.5, with Benson just 2.3 seconds behind her.
F-M won its 10th straight state Class A title, and combined with the rest of the Section III runners, they got 189 points, well clear of runner-up Section II (275 points) as Matkoski finished in 21:09.9 to cap off an effort that included Baldwinsville’s Justus Holden-Betts (19:52.0), Rome Free Academy’s Marian Draper (20:06.8) and Liverpool’s Juliana Basla (21:03.6).
Earlier, in the boys state Class A race, Leff gave West Genesee an 11th-place finish in 16:18.6, and three of the runners in front of him were from new state champion Liverpool, including Ben Petrella, who won in a Monroe-Woodbury course-record time of 15:43.0 flat.
Jordan-Elbridge had just missed claiming the Section III Class C team title, but still had individual sectional champion Abby Gugel and Theresa Dristle part of a strong group of sectional All-Star runners at the state meet, joined by Clinton’s Gab Dewhurst and Eva Borton, plus Skaneateles runner Julia Willcox.
Gugel would do quite well, getting to 10th place in 19:37.2, but Rowles, whom Gugel beat in the sectional meet, rose to fifth place in 19:24.7, while Dristle had a superb showing of her own, making her way to 36th place in 20:36.5 as East Aurora’s Sophia Tasselmyer prevailed in 18:42.3.
Marcellus was part of the field in the boys Class C race, and finished fifth out of 10 teams with a total of 151 points as East Aurora, with 36 points, completed a clean sweep of the boys and girls team state championships.
Patrick McGuane had the best showing for the Mustangs, finishing 10th among team runners and 20th overall with a clocking of 17:04.3.
Ethan Mosure was 32nd in the team race (60th overall) in 18:00.8, with Mathew Strempel (18:11.4) edging out Michael Brown (18:11.8) for 65th place overall as they were 35th and 36th, respectively, in the team standings. Joe Riccardi was 38th in the team race in 18:13.3, ahead of Sean Raymond (18:46.0) and Andrew Marsh (19:04.0).
Meanwhile, in the girls Class B state race, Westhill-Bishop Ludden looked to climb up the standings against a strong field, but only could manage an eighth-place showing with 184 points, while John Jay-Cross River, with 55 points, edged Shoreham-Wading River (74 points) for the top spot.
Leading the Warriors, Genny Corcoran finished 10th among team runners and 20th overall with a time of 19:40.7. Alaina Kenny gained a 32nd-place team finish in 20:54.5, five spots ahead of Haylei Coolican (21:12.2), with Maura McAnaney (22:06.8) finishing ahead of Olivia Daigneau (22:41.2), Kendra MacCaull (23:03.6) and Annibel Coolican (25:08.2).
