Four weeks later, the cross country teams from Liverpool and Cicero-North Syracuse had the head-to-head race that was supposed to mark the start of the fall campaign.
Instead, it was the last Salt City Athletic Conference regular-season meet for both sides, and in conditions far cooler than when they were supposed to race, the Warriors swept the Northstars.
When it got postponed on Sept. 5, it was due to excessive heat as, that day, the heat index soared into triple digits. It was at least 50 degrees cooler when things got underway at Oneida Shores on Wednesday afternoon.
Liverpool’s girls were still atop the state Class A rankings despite its defeat to no. 2-ranked Fayetteville-Manlius on Sept. 26 at Long Branch Park, in large measure due to a subsequent second-place finish to a California team in the McQuaid Invitational in Rochester.
Now, in its third big race in eight days, the Warriors beat C-NS 20-39, led by Madison Neuner, who tore through Oneida Shores in 18 minutes, 55.1 seconds, well clear of the Northstars’ Kate Putman, who was second in 19:23.6.
Jenna Schulz, the fastest girls runner of the hundreds who competed at McQuaid, eased back here, taking fourth place in 19:47 flat as Sydney Carlson got third place in 19:36.5
Windsor Ardner gained sixth place in 19:54.4, ahead of teammates Emily Neuner (20:00.4), Gabby McCarthy (20:42.8) and Bella Brancato (20:49.0) as Rosie Petrella, in 21:03.9, finished just outside the top 10.
The Northstars had Allison Newton finish sixth in 19:54.4 and Marissa Navarra get eighth place in 20:39.3. Maria Marullo finished 12th in 21:15.3 as Abbee Norris (21:57.4) was just ahead of Riley Barrett (22:11.2).
Still at no. 4 in its state Class A rankings, Liverpool’s boys team romped past C-NS 15-48, sweeping the top five individual spots with two sophomores leading the way.
Jake McGowan won the race, needing 16 minutes, 40.5 seconds to wing through Oneida Shores as fellow 10th grader Carter Rodriguez finished second in 16:50.6.
The seniors followed as Nate Reeves got third place in 16:52.7, while Spencer Ruediger was fourth in 17:00.2, just in front of Nick Brancato (17:00.8) for that spot.
T.J. Praschunus posted 17:37.4, leading another group of Warriors as Ryan Cartwright got eighth place in 17:51.1, Ethan Glashauser was ninth in 17:52.7 and Cameron O’Connell finished 10th in 17:54.9.
On C-NS’s side, only R.J. Davis finished in the top 10, making his way to sixth place in 17:05.4. Josh Koeppe, in 11th place in 18:02.2, was just ahead of Lucas Sharron (18:02.9) as Matt LeClair was 13th in 18:05.1 and Brad Laquidari (18:26.5) was 14th.
