Whenever it has gone up against its neighbors this fall, the Skaneateles cross country teams have flourished.
The boys Lakers improved to 5-0 by handling Westhill 16-41 last Saturday afternoon, its fourth race in a span of 11 days, while the girls also prevailed over the Warriors by a 19-36 margin.
In a time of 15 minutes, 59 seconds, Caleb Bender again earned individual honors, more than half a minute ahead of the 16:31 from teammate Matt Persampieri. Will Girzadas, in 17:24, edged Joe Norris (17:28) for third place.
To lead Westhill, Brandon Mulholland had a fifth-place clocking of 17:51, but the Lakers’ Seamus Fogerty followed, getting sixth place in 18:01.
The Warriors had Justin Nowicki (18:05), Brian Allen (18:15) and Cam Niezabytowski (18:29) run well, finishing in the top 10 to join the Lakers’ Aidan Ward, who posted 18:20.
Moving to the girls race, it was Hope Cross-Jaya winning it for Skaneateles, her time of 22:09 leading a top-four Lakers sweep similar to what the boys accomplished.
Lilian Coleman got to second place in 22:24, just ahead of Claire Keady’s 22:27 as Lily Yengo posted 22:32 and Caroilne McSwain (23:56) was further back.
Westhill’s Kylie Nowicki posted 23:19 to get fifth place. Caitlyn Knobl (23:18) edged Kim Sanborn (23:30) for sixth place as Ellie Thornton finished in 23:41, Bella Sampo (24:11) just ahead of Angie Mesa (24:18).
Three days earlier, the Lakers swept all nine of the top individual spots in last Wednesday’s 15-50 victories over Bishop Ludden and Mater Dei Academy.
Bender, fresh off defeating Liverpool runners in a head-to-head race on Oct. 17, this time stayed with a lead pack of Lakers that included Matt Persampieri, Norris and Girzadas, each of whom finished in 17:48.
Fogerty was next, getting fifth place in 18:44. Ward, in 19:09, held off Josh Reed (19:16) for sixth place as Braden Grzylo and Ryan Persampieri both finished in 19:26.
Will Anderson led the Gaelic Knights, his time of 19:30 good for 10th place among individuals ahead of Porter Sheen, who was 11th in 20:50. Vincent Gieser led Mater Dei, finishing 12th in 21:28.
The Skaneateles girls also swept Ludden and Mater Dei by equal 15-50 margins, the twin victories moving the Lakers to 2-2 on the season.
Also running on Saturday, Marcellus faced host Weedsport and Mater Dei Academy, sweeping both sides of that race.
The boys Mustangs beat Weedsport 27-34 and Mater Dei 15-49, with Jaiden Capozzi leading the Mustangs as he got a time of 20:15. Nate Alexander finished in 20:31, with Kieran Capozzi (21:20) ahead of Kolton Finarty (21:29), Kevin Shea (21:49) and Jonah Kwasnowski (21:52).
To win its race 25-30 over Weedsport, the Marcellus girls needed a 1-2 finish from Anella Bolster and Heidi Steigerwald as Bolster got first place in 22:58 and Steigerwald was second in 23:25. Sophia Maum added a fourth-place time of 24:37 as Virginia Luchetti (25:08) and Alyssa McShane (26:08) also cracked the top 10.
