When the Skaneateles boys cross country team’s meet at Hannibal was postponed on Oct. 2, it only added to its eventual meaning.
By the time the Lakers and Warriors did get together Wednesday afternoon, they were both sitting at 4-0, and the Onondaga High School League Liberty National division regular-season championship was at stake.
Despite its no. 9 state Class C ranking and the fact that Hannibal was unranked, Skaneateles could not translate that advantage into a race victory as it took a narrow 27-29 defeat to the Warriors.
Caleb Bender did take the individual race in exactly 15 minutes, easily clear of Hannibal’s Patrick Hall (15:25) for that top spot.
But the Warriors gained the point advantage by having Dillon Plantz take third and Noah Kuc finish fourth in front of Skaneateles’ Joe Norris, who was fifth in 15:52.
Trying to catch up, the Lakers had Chris Burgher finish sixth in 15:54, with Matt Persampieri eighth in 16:11 and Connor Gell ninth in 16:29 to round out the scoring column.
Still, Hannibal had Jacob Dennis get seventh place in 16:08, and it had the 11th-place finisher, too, to clinch the points, though the Lakers’ Nolan Gryzlo was 10th in 16:42.
Far less was at stake in the girls race, and the final score here was also 27-29, but this time Skaneateles finished on top.
Ellie McSwain won the race in 18:33, edging out teammate Elyse Osmun, who was second in 18:34. Hannibal, led by Emily Weaver (18:49) in third place, claimed four of the next five spots around Hope Cross-Jaya, who was fifth in 19:28.
It took the running of Cross-Jaya and Lillian Yengo to help the Lakers stay in front, Yengo getting eighth place in 21:11 as Skaneateles also placed 11th to get the clinching points.
