Even with all the wins it could attain elsewhere, each of the Cicero-North Syracuse cross country teams knew that any long-term success in the local Class A ranks meant going through Fayetteville-Manlius.
The Northstars met up with the Hornets last Wednesday afternoon, and ran quite well – but F-M’s depth and overall quality proved too much to keep up with as it lost 15-48 on the boys side and 15-50 on the boys side.
In the girls race, Sarah Davis finished in 20:45, but that only put her in ninth place. F-M, winners of nine of the last 10 Nike Cross Nationals championships, swept the top eight spots as Sophia Ryan, in a time of 19:48, held off Claire Walters (19:50) and Palmer Madsen (19:54) for individual honors.
C-NS did a little better in the boys race, at least putting Nathan Poirier into seventh place in a time of 17:57.1, inches ahead of Sam Barber, who was eighth in 17:57.6 as Brandon Martin finished 10th in 18:01.
F-M still claimed each of the top six finishing spots, led by Patrick Perry, who won in 16:31, well clear of Max Perry ( 16:52) in second place. Ben Otis (16:55), Matt Tripp (16:58), Jack Boltman (16:59) and Garrett Boltman (17:00) closely followed for the Hornets.
On the other end of the spectrum, Liverpool swept its CNY Counties League meets against Syracuse East by equal 15-50 margins.
Maddie Neuner led the girls Warriors, finishing in a time of 19:15, well clear of Jenna Schulz, who was second in 20 minutes flat. Liverpool had a top-six sweep as Vanessa Eberhard was third in 20:31 and Natalie Kurz (20:57) was fourth, ahead of Isabella Brancato (22:39) and Rosie Petrella (23:26). Sarah Sedlock was ninth in 24:25.
The boys race would feature Emil Videman, who ran up front for Liverpool and won in 17:19, five seconds ahead of Ty Brownlow (17:24) in second place as Josh Hickmott, in 17;37, claimed third place.
Justin Bowers and Steve Schulz each posted times of 17:44 to round out the top five, and the Warriors didn’t stop there. Cullen McLaughlin was sixth, in 18:01, with Nate Reeves seventh in 18:09 as Eli Barbour (18:22), Dawson Newbern and Ben Zinger (18:27) completed a top-10 Liverpool sweep.
Then Liverpool would venture to Chenango Valley, site of the state championship meet in mid-November, for the McDaniel-Baxter Invitational, where the boys would finish eighth overall in a field of more than 90 teams, largely because Brownlow and Steve Schulz were among the day’s best individuals.
In a time of 15 minutes, 52.1 seconds, Brownlow beat everyone except Corning’s Kevin Moshier, who posted 15:41.6, while Schulz got third place for the day with a clocking of 15:55.3 and Hickmott was 31st in 16:33.4.
Both of the Liverpool sides won their respective divisions, the boys notching 58 point to edge Somers (60 points) as Brownlow and Schulz went 1-2 and Hickmott was 6th, while Emil Videman was 21st in 17:28.6 and Bowers finished in 17:48.3 for 28th place. Gaganjot Sekhon (17:49.9) and Nate Reeves (18:03.8) were close behind.
Liverpool’s girls team had 69 points to pull away from Honeoye Falls-Lima (114 points) for the top spot in its race and was eighth overall on the day,
Jenna Schulz, in a time of 19:12.6, edged out Neuner (19:13.2) for second place among individuals behind Cazenovia’s Clara Rowles, who won in 19:07.9. Eberhard got to eighth place in 19:55.3 as Kurz was 20th in 21:00.1 and Brancato (22:07.3) was 36th to clinch the victory. Mallory Woytowicz (22:45.3) and Rosie Petrella (22:47.3) followed.
C-NS would make the short trip to the 65th annual Baldwinsville Invitational on Saturday afternoon, where it finished fourth in the girls Large School division won by the host Bees over West Genesee and sixth in the boys Large School race claimed by Burnt Hills-Ballston-Lake.
Annina Marullo led the girls Northstars as she ran to fourth place in a clocking of 18:08.4. Sarah Davis was 14th, in 19:11.1, with Mia Pestle 17th in 19:17.6. Megan Trubia, who was 28th in 20:05.1, beat out Hailee Kolakowski (20:06.5) for that spot, with Gigi Pascarella (20:20.3) and Headan Wilson (20:28.4) close behind.
Meanwhile, in the boys race, C-NS saw Poirier earn 10th place in the team standings with a time of 15:37.7. Eric Bowen was 29th, in 16:25.8, two spots ahead of Jason Hughes (16:28.0) as Allen Garnes was 34th in 16;35.8 and David Ware got 36th place in 16:39.7, followed closely by Lucas Sharron (16:41.8).
