Baldwinsville girls cross country sophomore Justus Holden-Betts may have seen 31 runners finish ahead of her during Saturday’s New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class A championship race at Chenango Valley State Park.
However, Holden-Betts’ contributions were important to help Section III win the team championship by a wide margin, as with 224 points it was well clear of Section II (319 points) and the other sectional teams.
Getting her first chance to run in the state meet, Holden-Betts finished in 19 minutes, 3.3 seconds, a terrific time at Chenango Valley, less than two minutes behind the winner, Saratoga Springs’ Kesley Chmiel, who set the course record winning the state title in 17:17.5.
Among the other Section III All-Stars, Liverpool freshman Jenna Schulz made her way to 10th place in 18:19.2. West Genesee junior Emily Young was 36th in 19:13.1, four spots behind Holden-Betts.
Schulz’s Warriors teammate, sophomore Madison Neuner, was 39th in 19:17.6 and Young’s West Genesee teammate, freshman Mia Mitchell, gained 64th place in 19:49.6.
Both the Section III girls and boys teams won their respective state meets over other sections, with the Fayetteville-Manlius girls side claiming an 11th consecutive state Class A title and Liverpool’s Ty Brownlow winning the boys individual state race, with teammate Stephen Schulz in fourth place.
