HAMILTON – Way back in the fall, the Fayetteville-Manlius boys golf team found itself in a tight race for top league honors with the likes of Baldwinsville and Cicero-North Syracuse Blue.
When it counted the most, though, no one would beat the Hornets.
F-M’s Green side went to Colgate University’s Seven Oaks course on a hot, humid Monday and soared to the top of the standings to earn the Section III Class AA championship.
With a team score of 331, the Hornets held off B’ville’s runner-up total of 338 as West Genesee rose to third place with 352 and C-NS Blue was fourth with 357.
It helped, no doubt, to have two of the three individual medalists as teammates Velton Perry and Andrew Heyman both shot eight-over-par 80 to match the total of B’ville’s Aidan Farmer.
Further help came from Matt LaCombe, who briefly stepped away from his starring role as a goalie on the F-M boys lacrosse team to post an 84 and finish alone in fourth place.
When Jack Sommers posted his 87 to tie for eighth place, F-M clinched the sectional title as Toby Schulman finished with a 93.
Also at Seven Oaks, the sectional Class A title was on the line and Jamesville-DeWitt looked to repeat its regular-season SCAC Empire division title – but could not quite pull it off.
Shooting a 327, the Red Rams beat all of the Class AA schools, but still finished behind Oswego’s winning total of 321.
Small-school sectional golfers competed at Barker Brook, where Manlius-Pebble Hill senior Johnny Gruninger shot a 79 to finish fourth in the individual standings, seven shots behind Marcellus’ Shawn Colella.
As a team, the Trojans held up well, shooting a 373 to finish seventh, in the middle of the pack, though Waterville pulled away to win with a 331.
