A string of races across the area marked the start of Onondaga High School League Liberty division competition for a quintet of area high school cross country teams.
Two local sides met each other on Wednesday, and Jordan-Elbridge got the best of it, defeating Marcellus 27-31 in the boys meet and 23-31 in the girls meet.
The Eagles went 1-2 in the boys race as Kenny Williams, in 18 minutes, 34 seconds, edged Sean Dristle (18:35) for the top spot and Lee Jewell finishing fourth in 19:09.
K Huss led the Mustangs, getting third place in 18:48 as Aiden Shea (19:13) was fifth and Caeden Cox sixth in 19:16.
Four Mustangs followed as Kevin Huss, in 18:48, beat out Jewell, Aiden Shea (19:13) and Caeden Cox (19:16).Eli Hart was eighth in 20:27, just ahead of Jaiden Capozzi (20:32) and Tom Hoey (21:10).
J-E’s 23-31 win over Marcellus in the girls race started with Vassianna Klock winning the individual race in 21:38 over the 22:19 by the Mustangs’ Anelia Bolster (22:19) and Meghan Strempel (22:51) in the next two spots.
Hannah Fichter was fourth in 23:21, with Coral Uhle fifth in 24:16 as Tatiana Parkolap was sixth in 24:43 and Kendall Shaw was seventh in 25:17. The Mustangs had Sophia Maum (25:32), Violet Lucchetti (25:55) and Amy Francesconi (26:18) round out the top 10.
Skaneateles had a clean sweep of its three-team meet against Hannibal and Altmar-Parish-Williamstown at the Polo Grounds Course. The boys Lakers, no. 10 in the state Class C rankings, defeated the Warriors 21-39 and the Rebels 15-50.
Caleb Bender won the individual race in 15:48 as Matt Persampieri, in 16:43, beat out Joe Norris (16:52) for third place. Will Girzadas was sixth in 18:02, ahead of Josh Reed (18:14) and Seamus Fogerty (18:39) as Nolan Gryzlo, in 18:59, also had a top-10 finish.
The Skaneateles girls swept the top six spots against Hannibal and APW, Sarah Tallerico prevailing in 20:49 over the 21:20 from Hope Cross-Jaya. Elyse Osmun (21:34) beat out Lily Yengo (21:37) for third place as Georgia McSwain was fifth in 22:03 and Sophia Aurdeen was sixth in 22:28, Ellie McSwain taking eighth place in 23:36.
Westhill took a pair of close defeats to Christian Brothers Academy. The boys race, a 22-33 loss, had the Warriors’ Jacob Fricano finish in 17:47, six seconds behind the Brothers’ Mike McMahon, while Mike Ferrara was fifth in 18:16. Will Thornton got sixth place in 18:35 and Brandon Mulholland was seventh in 18:49.
The Westhill girls’ 23-32 defeat to CBA involved Liz Kessler leading the Warriors, her time of 22:17 third behind the Brothers’ Olivia Morganti (21:14) and Lea Kyle (22:01).
Kessler was followed by Addie Lowery, getting fourth place in 23:17, while Emily O’Reilly was seventh in 23:50, just ahead of Catherine Dadey (23:59) and Angie Mesa-Espinosa (24:25).
Solvay was swept by Cazenovia, though the 22-37 boys race proved close as Luke Dwyer finished third in 18:54. Adam DeLucia got fifth place in 19:09 as Ryan Trendell finished sixth in 19:30. The girls Bearcats lost 15-51 to the Lakers.
Up in the SCAC Metro division, West Genesee was swept by Liverpool, though in the boys race the Wildcats’ Matt Bartolotta was victorious, his time of 16:39 well clear of the 17:02 by the Warriors’ Carter Rodriguez.
Despite this and Peter McMahon’s fourth-place clocking of 17:37, the Wildcats fell 23-38 to Liverpool, who claimed the next five spots after McMahon before WG’s Aiden Walsh took 10th place in 19:08.
WG’s girls lost, 15-46, to Liverpool, no. 5 in the state Class A rankings. Hannah Craybas finished in 21:07, but that trailed five Warriors, led by Jenna Schulz, who won in 19:03. Natalie Buckhout was seventh in 21:09.
