In many ways, Wednesday’s Onondaga High School League Liberty division boys cross country championships offered a preview of the battle to be waged at Vernon-Verona-Sherrill on Nov. 9 when Section III Class C honors are at stake.
Skaneateles and Westhill, both in the state rankings (the Lakers at no. 5, the Warriors at no. 7) challenged state no. 4-ranked Christian Brothers Academy for overall honors at Long Branch Park.
Among Liberty National division teams, Skaneateles prevailed with 37 points as Jordan-Elbridge was second with 52 points. But the Lakers were third overall with 76 points to Westhill’s 63 as CBA beat them both with 45 points.
Yet no individual could get close to the Lakes’ Caleb Bender. In a field of 149 runners, the Skaneateles junior tore through the Long Branch course in 16 minutes, 31.6 seconds, more than half a minute ahead of the 17:03.8 from CBA’s Michael McMahon.
Also earning a top-10 finish, the Lakers’ Matt Persampieri took ninth place in 17:46.2, while Joe Norris was 17th in 18:07.8. Connor Gell gained 23rd place in 18:45.8 and Will Girzadas was 26th in 18:50.7.
Ultimately, Skaneateles had five of the top 13 finishers in the OHSL Liberty National standings, to go with Seamus Fogerty getting 20th place in 19:25.6 and Josh Reed taking 23rd place in 19:40.3.
Jordan-Elbridge’s Sean Dristle earned sixth place in 17:27.6 as the Eagles Kenny Williams took 15th place in 17:59.8. Derek Quigley made his way to 19th place in 18:18.3 as Colin Jewsbury was 30th in 19:03.5, one spot ahead of Lee Jewell, who posted 19:14 flat.
Westhill again featured Jacob Fricano, whose time of 17:32.8 put him seventh overall, one spot behind Dristle. Close behind Fricano, Will Thornton finished 10th in 17:47.7, while Mike Ferrara was 11th in 17:49.3. Brian Allen earned 15th place in 18:00.5 and Angelo Carr finished 20th in 18:19.5.
Marcellus finished fourth among National division teams and sixth overall, led by Aidan Shea, who finished 24th in 18:46.3. Kevin Huss finished 27th among team runners in 18:59.1, with Kyle Stottlar 33rd in 19:20.2. Mason Grieb, in 19:34.8, was five spots ahead of Thomas Hoey, who posted 19:47.7.
Solvay had a 10th-place overall finish as Luke Dwyer paced the Bearcats, making his way to 29th place in 19:03.1. Adam Delucia earned 37th place in 19:27.4, while Ryan Trendell was 43rd in 19:50.2.
In the girls OHSL Liberty meet, Skaneateles again finished atop the National division, with 43 points to Jordan-Elbridge’s 56, while Westhill was third in the American division with 53 points and third overall behind CBA and Chittenango.
Skaneateles had five of the top 14 individual finishers in their division, paced by Sarah Tallerico, who ran to seventh place overall in 21:32.1. Hope-Cross Jaya got 11th place in 22:05.2, with Elyse Osmun (22:53.9) just ahead of Sophia Aureden (22:57.9) and Lillian Yengo finishing in 23:14.8.
It was the Warriors posting a pair of top-10 individual finishes, Liz Kessler getting sixth place in 21:17.8 and Katherine Evans earning ninth place in 21:42.9, though they both trailed J-E’s Vassianna Klock, who finished fourth in 20:53 flat.
Westhill’s Angie Mesa-Espinosa made her way to 17th place in 22:30.1, followed by Addie Lowery in 24th place (22:53.7) and Alexis Bergett finishing 32nd in 23:41.1.
Marcellus would see freshman Anella Bolster get eighth place in 21:41.7, just ahead of Evans, with Meaghan Strempel finishing 13th in 22:17.2. Aside from Klock, J-E had Coral Uhle finishing 12th in 22:11.2 and Hannah Fichter earn 18th place in 22:31.2.
