One thing is certain – the more that the Liverpool girls cross country team runs against Fayetteville-Manlius, the better an idea it will have on what it will take to eventually reach the Hornets’ high perch of achievement.
Those two sides were competing against each other again Wednesday as part of the inaugural Salt City Athletic Conference championships at Baldwinsville, with the state Class A no. 3-ranked Warriors again finishing second to the top-ranked Hornets.
Still, sophomore Jenna Schulz had a terrific race, making her way to fourth place on the Durgee Junior High School course in 17 minutes, 59.8 seconds behind the F-M trio at the top, led by Phoebe White, who won in 17:24.6 over Claire Walters (17:35.8) and Sophie Ryan (17:49.2).
Junior Madison Neuner was sixth in 18:05.4, while senior Natalie Kurz battled her way to 10th place in 18:45.4. Freshman Syndey Carlson, finishing 19th in 19:26.9, was just ahead of sophomore Rosie Petrella (19:45.8) in 20th place.
Elsewhere, Windsor Ardner had a strong run, taking 32nd place in 20:15.9 as Isabella Brancato (20:28.7) beat out Emily Neuner (20:28.9) for 38th place.
Cicero-North Syracuse finished fifth in the 14-team SCAC field, with Mia Pestle taking 13th place in 19:10.2 to pace the Northstars.
Allison Newton got to 21st place in 19:50.4, while Annina Marullo was 24th in 19:57.3 and Sarah Davis (20:02.9) gained 25th place. Maria Marullo was 55th in 21:20 flat as Gigi Pascarella (21:43.4) and Abbee Norris (21:49.2) followed.
Meanwhile, in the boys SCAC championships, Liverpool finished third in the standings with 101 points, just ahead of C-NS (117 points) in fourth place as F-M won with 15 points and host Baldwinsville (58 points) was second.
The Hornets’ Geoff Rowles won the individual race in 15:43.6, part of a top-five F-M sweep. Liverpool got its best run from Nathan Reeves, who was 15th in 16:48.5, inches ahead of T.J. Praschunus (16:48.8) in 16th place.
Spencer Ruediger was 19th in 16:58.6, with Cullen McLaughlin earning 23rd place in 17:04.8. Nick Brancato, in 17:10 flat, and Carter Rodriguez, in 17:12.5, also finished within the top 30.
C-NS saw Nathan Poirier earn an eighth-place clocking of 16:25.9. Sam Barber was 20th in 17:00.4, while Brandon Martin was 27th in 17:08.8 and R.J. Davis (17:12.3) got 29th place. John Perperian was 33rd in 17:16.9 ahead of Michael McBride (17:31.8), Lucas Sharron (17:32.0) and Jason Hughes (17:34.8).
