One funny part of the Baldwinsville girls cross country team’s narrow victory over West Genesee in the Large School division of the Sept. 24 B’ville Invitational was that these two sides would meet, head-to-head, just four days later.
With the setting switched to Camillus, and with Justus Holden-Betts out of the lineup, the Bees could not prevent the Wildcats from some payback in a 19-40 defeat, though the B’ville boys continued to roll, routing West Genesee 20-43 at that same meet.
The absence of Holden-Betts, the individual champion at the B’ville Invitational race, allowed WG to sweep the top three spots ahead of Sarah Klein, who finished fourth in exactly 19 minutes. The Wildcats’ Carly Benson won in 18:01, with Emily Young (18:38) edging Mia Mitchell (18:39) for second place.
Anna Demer ran well, too, getting to sixth place in 19:37, while Elizabeth Fawwaz got seventh place in 20:03. However, Hannah Craybas, fifth in 19:30, and Liz Morey, eighth in 20:06, helped the Wildcats hang on.
Moving to the boys race, no one on B”ville’s deep roster could keep up with WG’s David Leff, who like Holden-Betts had won the individual Large School race at the invitational and, on this day, roared to a time of 15:39 to prevail again.
But once the Bees’ Evan Biedermann crossed the line in 16:03 and Andrew Olds finished third in 16:18, the swarm arrived. Joe Licameli, Cameron Morrissey and Austin Bolton all finished in 16:39, with Adam Davis seventh in 16:40 and Connor McManus getting eighth place in 16:45.
B’ville would join many other Section III teams who ventured to Genesee Valley Park in Rochester on Saturday for the 52nd annual McQuaid Invitational, and Holden-Betts would nearly add to her win total.
In the girls unseeded Varsity AA-2 race, Holden-Betts finished in 17 minutes, 53.1 seconds, putting her in second place, trailing only Irondequoit’s Madeline Sherrard, who won in 17:28.1, exactly 25 seconds ahead of Holden-Betts.
Overall, the girls Bees finished sixth in the 49-team field. Klein would get to 14th place in 19:06 flat, while Fawwaz finished 40th in 19:52 flat. Nadine Dickter (20:59.1), Sarah Rodman (21:30.3), Demer (21:38.6) and Mia Bolton (21:45.9) followed.
The B’ville boys team was put into the top race, Varsity AAA, and got to eighth place in the 17-team field, led by Morrissey, who in the individual race got to 28th place in a clocking of 15:51.8.
Ben Timmons got to 36th place in exactly 16 minutes, while Olds (16:11.9) holding off Davis (16:12.0) for 47th place and Licamelli 57th in 16:20.4, ahead of Evan Vannatta (16:22.9) and Garrett Vannatta (16:24.7).
B’ville has another large-scale meet this weekend as it goes to VanCortlandt Park in the Bronx for the annual Manhattan Invitational, again with many other Section III sides making the same trip to take part in various races.
