Topping, or equaling, the state Class A championship it earned in 2015 is something the Liverpool boys cross country team knows will prove difficult.
The Warriors would start the next chapter last week, culminating in an appearance at the Chittenango Invitational on the same course that will host the Section III championships in early November.
As it turned out, Liverpool and Cicero-North Syracuse were both in Race 1 on the boys and girls sides. In each instance, the Warriors finished ahead of the Northstars, though other sides would claim team honors.
Liverpool’s boys team had 63 points to C-NS’s 84, but they both trailed Baldwinsville, who won with 46 points. And this happened despite Ty Brownlow winning the individual race in 16 minutes, 1.4 seconds, with Stephen Schulz close behind as he finished second in16:06.7.
But after Josh Hickmott’s sixth-place finish in 17:00.7, seven B’ville runners crossed the line before the next Warriors competitor did, making up the difference. Still, Cullen McLaughlin got to 21st place in 17:53.2, with Justin Blowers (18:25.6) beating out T.J. Praschunus (18:39.4) for 33rd place and Gaganjot Sekhon 37th in 18:53.7.
Meanwhile, C-NS saw Nathan Poirier make his way to fifth place in 17:00.5. Brandon Martin was 11th, in 17:21.6, while John Perperian got 20th place in 17:52.5. David Ware (18:01.2), Sam Barber (18:08.9), Eric Bowen (18:15.0) and Jason Hughes (18:21.9) each posted top-30 finishes.
Moving to the girls Varsity Race 1 at Chittenango, Liverpool barely missed the top spot, getting 50 points, just behind West Genesee’s winning total of 47 points. C-NS, with 111 points, had to settle for fifth place.
For the Warriors, Jenna Schulz was fifth in 19:53.4 and Vanessa Eberhard sixth in 19:54.9, but two WG runners finished ahead of them as Emily Young was second (19:28.4) and Mia Mitchell (19:37.9) was third, creating a lead Liverpool could not quite overcome.
Madison Neuner also ran well for Liverpool, claiming eighth place in 20:09.3. Windsor Ardner got 13th place in 20:56.5, with Natalie Kurz 18th in 21:20.1. Mallory Woytowicz (23:01.0) and Isabella Brancato (23:04.6) were further back.
C-NS had Annina Marullo, in 20:26.5, take 10th place, one spot ahead of Sarah Davis (20:44.2) in 11th place. Megan Trubia was 25th in 21:51.6, two spots ahead of Hailee Kolakowski (21:55.9), while Mia Pestle (22;35.3), Gigi Pascarella (22:44.9) and Headen Wilson (23:10.4) followed.
All this followed a season-opening CNY Counties League meet between Liverpool and Baldwinsville that saw the Warriors require a top-three sweep on the boys side to win, 29-30. It was more lopsided in the girls meet, Liverpool handling the Bees 18-37.
Of the top six girls finishers, five were Liverpool runners. Schultz won in 19:55, the lone sub-20-minute time as Vanessa Eberhard, in 20:02, beat out B’ville’s Justus Holden-Betts (20:10) for the runner-up spot.
Then, to clinch the title, three more Liverpool runners followed each other. Maddie Neuner finished fourth, edging out teammate Windsor Ardner, though both finished in 20:50. Natalie Kurz was sixth in 21:37.
The closer boys race produced a sweep from those runners back from last year’s state championship squad. Brownlow, in 16:28, beat out Stephen Schulz, who was second in 16:32. Their efforts, along with a third-place run from Josh Hickmott in 16:53, negated the fact that B’ville swept the rest of the top 10 – something that didn’t repeat itself at Chittenango three days later.
On that same day, C-NS swept Syracuse East. The boys Northstars won by a 15-50 margin, seeing Bowen, in a time of 18:43, beat out a pack that included Sharron (18:49), Michael McBride (18:50) and Jason Hughes (18:51).
Calvin Garnes, who finished fifth in 19:17, led another C-NS pack that included Martin and Allen Garnes, who both posted 19:21. Ware and Perperian both had times of 19:22 and Poirier finished in 19:23.
The 15-50 win on the girls side included Davis winning the race in 22:22, three seconds ahead of Anina Marullo, while Pascarella was third in 23;38. Wilson, in fifth place (23:53), led a group that included Maria Marullo (23:55), Kolakowski, Trubia (each finished in 24:25), Iris Piagentini (24:48) and Lilly Carr (24:56).
