For her post-season efforts, Baldwinsville girls cross country senior Justus Holden-Betts could say that she ended her high school career helping to bring home a state championship.
Holden-Betts was a part of the Section III team that took first place during last Saturday’s state meet at Long Island’s Sunken Meadow State Park.
With a total of 196 points, Section III finished ahead of Section II, who had 244 points. And this came despite Saratoga Springs ending the 12-year reign of Fayetteville-Manlius as state champions by a single point, 46-47.
For her part, Holden-Betts managed to beat most of the field on the tough, hilly Sunken Meadow course that had plenty of mud from early-week rains despite sunshine and wind on race day.
In a time of 19 minutes, 58.2 seconds, Holden-Betts took 39th place overall. North Rockland superstar Katelyn Tuohy won the race in 17:02.1, well clear of Saratoga’s Kelsey Chmiel (17:20.6) and the field.
F-M’s Claire Walters led her side, finishing third in 17:42.6, while the sectional All-Star squad featured Liverpool teammates Jenna Schulz and Madison Neuner as Schulz took fourth place in 18:20.9 and Neuner was 12th in 19:08.3.
There were two other top-20 finishes from the other All-Star runners, with Oswego’s Molly Fitzgibbons earning 19th place in 19:22.9, just ahead of Rome Free Academy’s Gianna Capoccia, who was 20th in 19:24.6.
