Ambitions fueled the area’s high school boys cross country teams as they set out on a chilly Saturday morning at Vernon-Verona-Sherrill High School to race for Section III championship honors.
Skaneateles was able to gain some glory thanks to junior Caleb Bender, the top seed entering the race and, ultimately, the first one to cross the line as a newly-minted sectional champion.
On the 3.1-mile VVS course, Bender only required 16 minutes, 22 seconds to prevail, the fourth-fastest time of the entire day, better than anyone in the Class C or D fields and well clear of Adironack’s Tyler Fauvelle, second in 16:45.2.
As for the state no. 9-ranked Skaneateles team, it battled with state no. 6-ranked Westhill for position alongside other contenders like no. 4-ranked Christian Brothers Academy, and would finish second overall with 101 points to the Warriors’ 104, though the Brothers prevailed with 52 points.
The Lakers, aside from Bender, got its best run from Matt Persampieri, who made his way to ninth place in 17:38.7. while Joe Norris was 15th in 17:59.5. Will Girzadas was 37th among team runners in 18:52.1, two spots ahead of Tony DiRubbo’s 18:53.7 as Connor Gell (19:10.5) and Josh Reed (19:15.1) were close behind.
For West Genesee, the aim in the first race of the morning, the Class A sectional championships, was to see if its top individual, Matt Bartolotta, could secure his third trip to the state meet amid a strong field – which he did.
Blazing to a time of 16:40.5, Bartolotta was sixth overall and third among runners outside of sectional champion Fayetteville-Manlius, meaning he joins Nick Ferretti, Nate Sletten (both from Free Academy), Carter Rodriguez (Liverpool) and Jack Michaels (Baldwinsville) on the sectional All-Star team for this Saturday’s state meet at SUNY-Plattsburgh.
WG finished sixth among 12 Class A sides, with freshman Peter McMahon the best ninth-grader of the day as he was 24th overall and 15th in the Class A race in 17:25.8. Aiden Walsh posted 18:29.4, with Joe Parisi, in 19:18.6, beating out Ryan McMahon (19:29.5), Sam Mosher (19:39.3) and Connor Moore (19:45.0).
Westhill’s biggest frustration in Class C was seeing Jacob Fricano finish sixth among runners outside of the winning team (CBA), when the top five, including Bender, advanced to the state meet.
Fricano’s 17:32.1 was less than a second behind the 17:31.4 Cazenovia’s Jared Smith recorded to advance. Brian Allen was 18th in 18:13.2, while Mike Ferrara got 23rd place in 18:23.8. Angelo Carr was 25th in 18:24.6 as Will Thornton finished 30th among team runners in 18:42.6, just ahead of Justin Nowicki (18:45.9) and Brandon Mulholland (18:50.7).
Jordan-Elbridge and Marcellus also ran in Class C, as did Solvay, and it was the Eagles that won the Class C-2 team competition with 48 points to runner-up Pulaski’s 69 and J-E also finishing fifth overall in Class C.
Sean Dristle finished 11th for the Eagles in 17:48.9, with Kenny Williams getting 22nd place in 18:22.5. Derek Quigley was 34th among team runners in 18:48.8 as Colin Jewsbury (19:11.0) and Zach Barber (20:16.6) also ran well.
On the Mustangs’ side, Aidan Shea was 42nd among team runners in 19:01.8, with Kevin Huss 44th in 19:08.8 and Kyle Stottlar finishing in 19:39.4 as the Bearcats had Ryan Trendell finish in 19:30.6 to lead his side and Adam Delucia posted 20:12.9.