Two months before it would go to the same course for the Section III championships, the Skaneateles cross country teams got a preview during last Saturday’s Chittenango Invitational.
It also served as the season opener for the Lakers, who had its boys side gain eighth place, right in the middle of the field of 16 teams, with 205 points, three points behind seventh-place Hannibal as Liverpool (25 points) rolled to the top spot.
Caleb Bender was the top individual for Skaneateles, posting a time of 17 minutes, 54.4 seconds that put him in 19th place as sophomore Matt Persampieri was 31st in 18:30.9.
Behind them, Chris Burgher was 42nd in the team standings with a time of 18:52 flat. Will Girzadas was 55th in 19:20.1, three spots ahead of Connor Gell’s 19:32.7 as Will Swarts (21:53.3) and Josh Reed (22:20.0) followed.
Meanwhile, the Skaneateles girls team finished 10th out of 14 teams in Varsity Race 2 with 234 points. Liverpool won the division with 30 points and was also the top overall team in the meet.
Individually, Georgia McSwain led Skaneateles, like Bender making her way to 19th place in 21 minutes, 34.8 seconds as Liverpool went 1-2 at the top with Madison Neuner (18:26.6) and Jenna Schulz (18:36.8).
Sarah Tallerico, a freshman, finished in 23:30.4 for 44th place in the team standings, one spot ahead of Elyse Osmun, who posted 23:33 flat. Hope Cross-Jaya was 59th in 24:13.6 ahead of Ellie McSwain (24:46.1) and Lillian Yengo (28:54.4).
For its first OHSL Liberty division meet this fall, Skaneateles faces its neighbors from Marcellus Thursday at 4:30.
