VERONA – Even when it had to abandon most of the ambitious goals it usually goes after in the fall of 2020, the Fayeteville-Manlius boys and girls cross country teams still did not lose any of its meets.
This September has brought back league, Section III, state and national meets, and the Hornets began its latest quest with a dominating performance in the Varsity 1 races at Friday’s Vernon-Verona-Sherrill Invitational.
On the same VVS course where they will run the sectional meet in early November, the F-M girls had seven of the top 10 finishers and, earning 20 points, was well clear of runner-up West Genesee (99 points) and the rest of a 14-team field.
It was Hannah Kaercher winning the race in 18 minutes, 41.3 seconds, just ahead of the 18:43.4 from teammate Izzie Sullivan as Amelia Amack finished fourth in 19:41.9.
Isabelle Adrian made her way to seventh place in 20:33.8, with Debbie Lucchetti eighth in 20:34.6 as Maria Khalifeh stepped up to grab 10th place in 21:45.3. Catherine Walters was 16th in 22:37.9.
As for the F-M boys, it also pulled away from the field at VVS, its top six runners in a single pack on the way to 25 points as Baldwinsville took second with 68 points.
Individually, Anthony Otis led the Hornets, his clocking of 17:11.5 third behind West Genesee’s Peter McMahon (16:40.7) and B’ville’s Solomon Holden-Betts (17:01.5).
Jackson Matthews grabbed fourth place in 17:23 flat, with Ben Perry fifth in 17:23.9. Daniel Patrick earned sixth place in 17:24.6, well clear of William Seamans, whose 17:41.6 edged Cooper Dereszynski (17:42.3) for seventh place.
Also in the Varsity 1 race, East Syracuse Minoa had Rachael Ladd make her way to 11th place (ninth among team runners) in 21:55.5. Overall, the Spartans were ninth in the team standings, with Elena Vespi 39th in the team race in 24:36.4, just ahead of Ainsley McKenna’s 24:54.8.
On the boys side, ESM got 10th place, with Tom Walters the top individual performer for the Spartans as he finished in 19:57.5, just ahead of John Courcy’s 20:13.1.
Jamesville-DeWitt competed on Saturday in the Varsity 3 race at VVS and, on the boys end, saw Alex Martinez lead the Red Rams to a second-place finish of 60 points behind Liverpool’s winning total of 36.
Martinez, a junior, would beat most of the field with his time of 17:47.4, second behind the Warriors’ Ryan Hagan, who pulled away to prevail in 16:48.8.
Connor Clarkson made his way to eighth place in 18:29.1, while Ashton Corona was 10th in 18:34.1. James Hillers finished 13th among team runners (14th overall) in 18:52.5 as Anthony Cawley, in 19:54.4, beat out Sam Smith (20:04.3) and Aiden Usher (20:04.4) as Hudson Groat posted 20:10.4.
J-D’s girls team was third with 87 points behind Liverpool and Rome Free Academy as Rachel Gao led the Rams, taking 13th place among team runners (17th overall) with a time of 23:37.8.
Megan O’Malley, in 23:46.6, was two spots behind Gao, with Cora Gilbert finishing in 24:06.3 and Madeline Carter posting 24:15.8. Molly McIntyre finished in 24:45.7.
