Each of West Genesee’s cross country teams made the trek to Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx for last Saturday’s Manhattan Invitational, where David Leff managed a third-place finish in the boys Varsity F division.

In a time of 12 minutes, 54.6 seconds on Van Cortlandt Park’s 2.5-mile course (shorter than the usual 3.1-mile distances run at other meets), Leff only trailed Ridgewood’s Billy Byrne, who won in 12;31.2, and Brighton’s Paul Dellinger, who got second place in 12:47.6.

WG finished ninth out of 26 teams in boys Varsity F, with Sean Byrnes 36^th in the team standings in a time of 13:58.5. Ryan Dunning was 69^th in 14:31 flat, followed by Patrick Trivison (14:42.7), Paul Stannard (14:49.7), Sean O’Brien (15:08.5) and Jack Richards (15:13.3).

Meanwhile, the WG girls were part of the big race of the day, the Eastern States Invitational, where Fayetteville-Manlius prevailed on the team side and the Wildcats were 12^th out of 20 teams with 279 points.

Carly Benson had a terrific run, gaining 17^th place in 15:15.3. Emily Young was 39^th in 15:50.4, just ahead of Mia Mitchell (15:51.6) in 41^st place.  Liz Baker, in a time of 16:26.4, was just ahead of Hannah Craybas (16:43.8), Liz Morey (16:46.4) and Amanda Lowther (17:57.3).

In the Varsity D girls division, Westhill-Bishop Ludden finished sixth out of 25 sides with 174 points, with Liz Kessler setting the pace for the Warriors, taking  18^th place in a clocking of 15:53.4 as Haylei Coolican was 22^nd in 16:13.4. \

Behind Kessler and Coolican, Alaina Kenny was 38^th in 16:53.7 and Kylie Nowicki was 44^th in 17:00.4, followed by Maura McAnaney in 52^nd place in 17:08.1, ahead of Kendra McCaull (17:56.3) and Meghan Evans (18:09.8).

In the boys Varsity B race, Westhill-Ludden finished 16^th out of 27 teams, led by Dan Washburn, who was 73^rd in a time of 14:36.4. Brendan Rewakowski was 84^th in 14:47.3, while Jake Suddaby finished in 15:01 flat. Cade Van Ornam (15:14.3), Jack Mannion (15:24.7) and Jacob Fricano (15:27.6) closely followed as Jack Savage posted 16:29 flat.

Jordan-Elbridge was in the boys Varsity G division, where it finished 15^th. Hunter Brunelle led the Eagles, finishing 61^st in 14:22.8, with Evan Brunelle, in 14:41.8, just ahead of Hugh Schader (14:44.0), followed by Ethan Kinney (14:50.2), Matt Sheldon (14:51.7), Sean Dristle (15:00.1) and Logan Kinney (15:56.6).

Up in the girls varsity C division, J-E’s Mary Elizabeth Dristle got a 37^th-place finish in 17:07.9. Madison Daly was 54^th in 17:29 flat, with Olivia Minkheim, in 18:18.2, leading a group that included Abby Skotinski (18:34.2), Delaney Dunham (19:22.8), Lindsay Jackson (20:17.3) and Megan Jackson (21:48.7).