ONONDAGA COUNTY – Now all of the area’s high school cross country teams are well into league competition, and some are already climbing to the top of the standings.
But the big events remain weekend meets such as last Saturday’s Baldwinsville Invitational, where Marcellus had a strong showing in the Small School divisions, finshing third on the girls side and fifth on the boys side.
Only Cazenovia (111 points) and NewHartford (113 points) topped the girls Mustangs’ total of 132 as Virginia Lucchetti finished 10th among team runners, and 18th overall, in 21 minutes, 41.9 seconds.
Sophia Maum took 17th among team runners in 22:09.3, with Heidi Steigerwald 21st in 22:15.2. Alyssa McShane, who was 40th in 23:29.2, was four spots ahead of Chloe Mack’s 23:42.2.
Skaneateles finished ninth in the 20-team girls Small School field at B’ville, led by eighth-grader Lucy Fleckenstein, who finished 19th among team runners (27th overall) in 22:11.8 as Tobi DiRubbo was 22nd in the team event in 22:16.3.
Moving to the boys Small School division at B’ville, Marcellus was propelled to fifth place by Caeden Cox, whose time of 17:51.5 landed him in 10th place. Nate Alexander was 31st among team runners in 18:42.1.
Right behind Cox, Skaneateles had Will Girzadas get 11th place in 17:55.1. Overall, the Lakers were ninth in the team event, with Aidan Ward doing best other than Girzadas as he was 33rd among team runners in 18:49.3.
Before this, Skaneateles hosted Altmar-Parish-Williamstown and Hannibal last Wednesday at the rain-soaked Polo Grounds, with the Lakers sweeping all sides of that meet.
Girzadas posted a time of 17:18, nearly a full minute ahead of the 18:10 from Ward as Nolan Gryzlo was third in 18:15.
Seamus Fogerty made his way to a time of 18:34 to complete a top-four sweep, with another pack of Lakers led by Patrick Hagen (20:48) as Ethan Leubner (21:50) beat out Sam Coleman’s 22:05.
In the girls race, DiRubbo and Fleckenstein finished together in front, each posting 22:07. Grace Conan finished in 23:13 as Lily Yengo (23:27) and Caroline Wells (24:12) followed.
West Genesee swept its race against Nottingham, with the boys Wildcats prevailing 15-49 and again led by Peter McMahon, whose time of 16:44 was nearly two minutes ahead of the field.
Kevin Moser, in 18:24, edged out Mike Gomes (18:26) for the runner-up spot. Aidan Walsh was fourth in 18:42, with Max Broccoli (18:45) in fifth place and Casey Cominy sixth in 19:16. Connor Moore finished in 19:48 as Cade Duda (20:25) and Mason Doran (20:27) also had top-10 efforts.
The girls race went 15-49 in WG’s favor as Claire Griffin won in a time of 21:54, three seconds ahead of the 21:57 from teammate Zoe Maupin.
Peyton Long, in 22:31, easily claimed third place. Chloe Feitze (24:13), Andrea Conklin (24:27) and Madalyn Lauricella (24:40) completed a top-six Wildcats sweep.
Westhill met Chittenango last Wednesday. The girls Warriors lost 22-35, with Ellie Thornton’s 20:37 second to the 20:23 from the Bears’ Evelyn Wynkoop. Malia Gutierrez was fifth in 21:30, with Kemery Sanborn (21:42) and Angie Mesa-Espinosa (21:50) also in the top 10.
