As they do each fall on Columbus Day weekend, the Baldwinsville cross country teams made a stop in the Big Apple – or more precisely, Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, annual site of the Manhattan Invitational.
On the 2.5-mile course (shorter than the usual 3.1 miles they run at each large meet), the girls Bees were part of the Varsity A division, where Justus-Holden Betts nearly beat the entire field.
In a time of 15 minutes, 16.8 seconds, Holden-Betts grabbed second place, well clear of Niskayuna’s Abigail Spiers (15:30.2) in third place, but behind Voorhees runner Lauren Wagner, who won the race in 15:06.9.
B’ville also managed to finish second out of 20 teams in Varsity A with 134 points, edging out Midlothian (135 points) for that spot as Niskayuna, with 48 points, easily claimed the top spot.
Sarah Klein made her way to 21st place in 16:17 flat, beating out Elizabeth Fawwaz, who was 22nd in 16:22.1. Anna Demer got to 31st place in 16:44.5, with Leah Carpenter (17:28.1) beating out Natalie Farnett (17:28.5) as Lindsey Slavik finished in 18:03.1.
On the boys side, Baldwinsville was part of the featured race of the day, the Eastern States Invitational, where 33 teams took part and the Bees finished 19th, with 465 points. Fayetteville-Manlius was third behind two New Jersey sides, Christian Brothers and Princeton, with Liverpool in 10th place.
Individually, Cameron Morrissey had the Bees’ best effort, making his way to 63rd place in a clocking of 13:29.2. Adam Davis, in 13:41.2, beat out Evan Vannatta (13:41.9) for 90th place, just ahead of Austin Bolton (13:45.9), with Joe Licameli (15:53.3) less than a second ahead of Garrett Vannatta (15:53.9) as Ben Timmons posted 15:58.1.