Though it didn’t resemble the state and national honors accumulated throughout the new millennium, each of the Fayetteville-Manlius cross country teams was quite content with their perfect marks attained in an abbreviated 2020 campaign.
The Hornets completed 4-0 regular-season marks in the Salt City Athletic Conference Metro division last Saturday by withstanding twin challenges from Cicero-North Syracuse.
A highlight of the F-M girls’ 22-36 victory was a close individual race where Hannah Kaercher, in 19 minutes, 14 seconds, was just behind the winning 19:11.3 from C-NS sophomore sensation Kate Putman.
But the Hornets took over starting with Debbie Lucchetti finishing third in 19:56.3 and Izzy Sullivan getting fourth in 20:08.6. Amelia Amack was sixth in 20:25.9 and Grace Kaercher, seventh in 20:31.6, clinched the victory, with Lejla Borcilo (21:00.2) and Ava Beecher (21:21.9) behind them.
For the F-M boys, who beat C-NS 23-33, it was Peyton Geehrer again dominating the individual race, his 16:08.9 more than a minute clear of the Northstars’ Matt LeClair, who was second in 17:18.4.
Daniel Patrick was third in 17:51.5, with Jackson Matthews fourth in 17:51.5. Trevor Kurkin (18:22.7) beat out Anthony Otis (18:25.2) for seventh place and Will Seamans (18:59.6) also had a top-10 finish.
Jamesville-DeWitt also had a league meet in the SCAC Empire division on Saturday, facing Oswego, with the boys rolling to a 17-43 win and the girls Red Rams defeating the Buccaneers 25-32.
Nate Rindfuss, finishing in 18:17, led a top-four J-D boys sweep, Connor Clarkson getting to second place in 18:41. James Hillers was third in 19:11, just ahead of Ashton Corona (19:18) in fourth. Hudson Groat (19:48), Collin Revercomb (19:58) and Sam Smith (20:47) each added top-10 finishes.
For the J-D girls, Madeline Foss, in a time of 22:02, was behind Oswego’s Sophia Babcock (21:48) at the front of the pack, with Megan O’Malley getting to third place in 23:01.
Nicky Militi earned fifth place in 24:07, but it took Norah Kirch (24:45) and Jillian Kordas (24:48) finishing seventh and eighth, respectively, to help J-D hang on as Maddie Carter posted 25:10.
Meanwhile, East Syracuse Minoa hosted West Genesee and took a pair of narrow defeats to the Wildcats.
In the boys race, ESM lost 27-30, seeing John Courcy run a 19:31 ahead of Spencer Carnival (19:52), Tom Walters (20:09) and Casey Engineri (20:39), but WG swept the top three spots, led by Aiden Walsh, who won in 18:08.
The girls Spartans had a 25-32 defeat as Mary Roach, in 22:14, finished third behind the Wildcats’ Lauren Puchta (21:20) and Claire Griffin (21:38).
Elena Vespi got fourth place, in 22:46, with Ainsley McKenna rising to sixth place in 24:02, just ahead of the 24:11 from seventh-place Taylor Hoffman.
Christian Brothers Academy took part in a four-team meet with Skaneateles. Weedsport and host Jordan-Elbridge, and beat all of them on the girls side to stay undefeated, with 35 points to the Lakers’ 55 and the Eagles’ 64.
Bella Cannizzo led the Brothers with a time of 19:56, second to J-E’s Vassi Klock (18:51), while Kayla Newman was third in 20:42. Mary Sullivan (21:39) and Abby Nash (22:42) also ran well.
In the boys meet, CBA finished second with 95 points behind the Lakers’ 72. Michael McMahon ran to a time of 15:47, behind only Skaneateles star Caleb Bender’s 15:27, with Joe McMahon making his way to sixth place in 17:23.
