A strong and successful junior season for Cazenovia boys cross country runner Caleb Smith culminated with his appearance in Saturday’s New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class C championships.
On a chilly morning at SUNY-Plattsburgh, Smith not only ran well, he helped Section III to a first-place finish against the other sections and their collective lineups of runners.
And it was close. Section III finished with a score of 309 points, just eight ahead of Section VI (Western New York), who had 317 points. Section I (Westchester County) was third with 334 points.
Amid this battle, Smith ran through the snow-covered 2.8-mile Plattsburgh course (shortened from 3.1 miles due to safety concerns) in 16 minutes, 27.0 seconds, which put him in 56th place, better than half the runners in the field of 132.
Skaneateles junior Caleb Bender won the state title in 14:41.6 to lead the Section III All-Stars, with Adirondack senio Taylor Fauvelle not far behind as he took fourth place in 14:54.7.
Meanwhile, Hannibal senior Dillon Plantz made his way to 15th place in 15:24.2, and South Lewis eighth-grader Collin Stafford finished 44th in 16:10.8 before Smith’s effort clinched Section III’s victory.
They were helped, too, by Christian Brothers Academy taking second in the state Class C team meet behind Saranac Lake, with Riley Nash, Michael McMahon, Joel Gaffney and Zach Medicis all recording top-40 individual finishes.
And Section III dominated the state meet as a whole, with team titles going to Fayetteville-Manlius (who swept Class A boys and girls), Camden (Class C girls) and Beaver River (Class D boys), plus winning five of the eight sectional team competitions to go with individual wins by Bender, Elizabeth Lucason (Camden, girls Class C) and Tully’s Brooke Rauber, who took her fourth straight state Class D crown.
