Another big and important stretch for the Liverpool girls cross country team began last Saturday with its appearance in the featured race of the Manhattan Invitational at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.
One odd part about this Eastern States Championship was that the Warriors didn’t have to face Fayetteville-Manlius head-to-head, since the Hornets chose to race in the Varsity B division.
Without F-M to worry about, Jenna Schulz and the rest of the Liverpool squad nearly won. It finished with 85 points, topping everyone in the 15-team fiele except Claremont, from California, who won with 72 points.
Schulz made her push for the individual title and, on the 2.5-mile Van Cortlandt Park course, finished in 14 minutes, 34.7 seconds, not far from the winning 14:03 flat by Randolph’s Abbey Loveys.
Madison Neuner just missed a top-10 finish, getting to 11th place in 14:57.5, just ahead of Sydney Carlson, who had an impressive run as she finished 13th in 15:05.6.
Team-wise, Claremont won by having four runners in the top 20 as opposed to Liverpool’s three, which accounted for most of the points difference.
Still, the Warriors saw Windsor Ardner finish 28th in 15:32.6, just ahead of Emily Neuner, who was 29th in 15:33.5. Gabby McCarthy finished 66th in 16:16.4 as Bella Brancato posted 16:40.3.
Liverpool’s boys team, also running in the Eastern State Championships, finished ninth out of 22 teams with 282 points as Rhode Island’s Bishop Hendericken (92) beat Fayetteville-Manlius (113 points) for the top spot.
Individually, Nathan Reeves did best for the Warriors, finishing 25th in 12:51.9, while Carter Rodriguez, in a clocking of 13:10.2, edged teammate Jake McGowan (13:10.6) for 49th place.
Nick Brancato made his way to 72nd place in 13:25.2, followed by Spencer Ruediger in 13:31.4 as T.J. Praschunus (13:36.6) and Ryan Cartwright (13:56.9) followed.
Cicero-North Syracuse also took part in the Manhattan Invitational, but in the supporting races.
In the girls Varsity A race, C-NS finished seventh out of 26 sides. Sophomore Allison Newton led the way for the Northstars, finishing 13th in a time of 15:47.9 as eighth-grader Kate Putman held her own, getting to 23rd place in 16:15.2.
Maria Marullo led the next C-NS group, taking 36th place in 16:35.7 as Riley Barrett was 57th in 17:01.7. Sarah Davis posted 17:12.2 for 65th place as Abbee Norris (17:28.6) and Morgan Steckler (17:48.5) followed.
The C-NS boys were in the Varsity E race, one of the last of the afternoon, and claimed fifth place out of 26 sides with 166 points as St. Peter’s, from Jersey City, won with 97 points.
Individually, Nathan Poirier gave the Northstars a 10th-place time of 13:18.3 as R.J. Davis was close behind, finishing 13th in 13:22.2.
Following them, Matt LeClair got to 22nd place in 13:42.8, while Lucas Sharron was 50th in 14:08.6. Josh Koeppe posted 14:20.7 and Brad Laquidari finished in 14:35.4 to beat out Christian Carlin, who had a time of 15:17.9.
