What has turned into a routine for the cross country girls from Fayetteville-Manlius is something brand-new for Christian Brothers Academy.
But regardless of the circumstances, earning a state championship is always special, and the Hornets and Brothers made sure Saturday’s efforts at Wayne High School produced the best possible result.
In the girls Class A race, F-M won it all for the 12th year in a row, a streak that covers most of the lifetimes of the runners involved in this latest title push.
Led by the quartet of Claire Walters, Rebecca Walters, Sophie Ryan and Phoebe White, the Hornets endured snow, sub-freezing temperatures and lots of mud to produce a total of 24 points, well clear of runner-up Shenendehowa (Section II), who had 79 points.
North Rockland’s Katelyn Tuohy, one of the nation’s top runners, set a Wayne course record winning in 17 minutes, 51.4 seconds, but it wasn’t long before the F-M pack arrived.
Claire Walters got third place among individuals in a time of 19:11.6, while Rebecca Walters followed, gaining fourth place in 19:18.1 as she edged out Ryan, who was fifth in 19:19 flat as White crossed the line in sixth place in 19:22.8.
F-M had clinched the state title with that surge, but Grace Kaercher still finished 10th among team runners (21st overall) in 20:29 flat as Palmer Madsen got 14th place in the team standings (29th overall) in 20:45.5. Alex Villalba finished in 22:04.3.
This followed a state Class C race where CBA arrived at Wayne with the no. 1 state ranking and backed up that mark by earning 62 points to hold off Section VI champion Newfane (83 points) and Section I power Bronxville (87 points) for that first state championship.
Olivia Morganti led the Brothers, finishing tops among team runners and was third overall in 20:44.2 behind Livonia’s Hayleigh Palotti (19:24.6) and Clinton’s Eva Borton (19:45.4).
Cory Knox and Deja Jones finished together and were third and fourth, respectively, among team runners as Knox was sixth overall in 21:09.6 and Jones got seventh place in 21:10.7.
To clinch it for CBA, Lea Kyle made her way to 17th place in the team standings with a time of 22:05.4 and Bri Pucci finished 37th in the team race in 22:51.2. Annie Toole finished in 27:20.5.
Attempting to sweep both of the Class A state meets, F-M almost got there, but in boys Class A the Hornets, with 40 points, were edged by defending champion Corning (Section IV), who won with 38 points.
The difference was that the Hawks had three of the top five team runners, including Quinn Nicholson, whose time of 16:21.9 put him just ahead of F-M’s Ben Otis (16:24.1) in fourth place and Garrett Brennan (16:35.6) in sixth place.
Corning’s Dan Gahagan (16:36.8) and Torrey Jacobson-Evans (16:37.7) were fourth and fifth, respectively, in the team event, giving the Hawks the lead as the Hornets’ Jack Duncanson ran ninth among team runners in 16:54.6.
Though Geoff Howles finished in 17:00.1 and Peyton Geehrer posted 17:09.2, Corning held on with Nathan Lawson finishing in 16:57.2 and Bryce Derek posting 17;14.6 for top-20 team finishes. F-M had Matt Tripp finish 16th in the team standings in 17:10 flat and Sam Otis finish in 18:07.7.
Jamesville-DeWitt finished eighth in the state Class B championship race with 168 points as John Jay-Cross River (57 points) claimed the team title.
A week after winning the individual Section III Class B race, the Red Rams’ Madeline Foss finished 16th among individuals in 21:10 flat, while Sophia Vinciguerra finished 21st in 21:22.8.
Also for J-D, Megan Brown, in 23:31.3, finished just ahead of Abby Palin (23:33.4) as Amelia Gilbert posted 23:41.4, Stella Heflin finished in 25:01.1 and Ayla Erwin had a time of 25:07.6.
In the Class B boys state race, East Syracuse Minoa sophomore Nick Berg had a strong showing, getting to 22nd place in a time of 17:13.8.
