ONONDAGA COUNTY – Though she had already recorded a series of impressive efforts this fall, Fayetteville-Manlius girls cross country freshman Izzy Sullivan really saved something special for Tuesday’s showdown with Cicero-North Syracuse.
Blazing through the Oneida Shores course in 17 minutes, 36 seconds, Sullivan beat most of the boys runners at this same meet and helped the state Class A no. 2-ranked Hornets beat the no. 5-ranked Northstars 21-39 to go with a 15-50 sweep of West Genesee.
A good battle for second place unfolded between Hannah Kaercher and C-NS star Kate Putman, but Kaercher won it in 18:07.8 to Putman’s 18:12.6 as Gabby Putman finished fourth for the Northstars.
Then the Hornets’ depth did the rest, with Amelia Mack fifth in 18:59.1 just ahead of Debbie Lucchetti’s 19:03.9 and Isabella Adrian’s 19:06.9. Maria Khalifeh posted 19:45.6 and eighth-grader Camille Ryan finished in 20:08.3.
F-M’s state Class A no. 2-ranked boys team had little trouble overall as it rolled past no. 19-ranked West Genesee 19-37 and C-NS 15-49, only not finishing on top in the individual event.
Anthony Otis finished in 16:52.5, and while that was well back of Wildcats junior Peter McMahon’s winning 16:04.4, it still heralded a pack of six Hornets runners.
Daniel Patrick got third place in 17:09.6, with Will Seamans fourth in 17:22.2, edging Nolan McGinn (17:23.2) for that spot. Ben Perry was sixth in 17:25.5 and Cooper Dereszynski took seventh place in 17:30.7.
More local meets followed a day later, with Jamesville-DeWitt successful against Syracuse West and Central Square.
The state Class B no. 6-ranked boys Red Rams beat both opponents by equal 20-43 margins and the girls prevailed 15-49 over Syracuse Westwhile it also defeated the Redhawks 22-39.
Depth ruled for the J-D boys as it swept every spot after Central Square’s Stephen Thompson prevailed in a time of 19:32.
Alex Martinez, second in 18:57, held off Ashton Corona (19:01) for second place as James Hillers posted 19:02. Anthony Cawley, in 19:14, led the next pack that included Sam Smith (19:21), Nate Bourcy (19:29), Chris Groat (19:34) and Aiden Usher, who posted 19:37.
In that girls race, Nickky Militi’s time of 22:58 trailed the 22:15 from Central Square’s Ciena Ferguson, with Megan O’Malley third in 23 minutes flat. Maddie Carter got fourth place in 23:08 as Molly McIntyre (23:41), Kaitlyn Hugel (23:44), Anna Smith (24:15) and Rachel Gao (24:41) swept the sixth through ninth spots.
East Syracuse Minoa hosted Oswego and Cortland, splitting the boys meet as it beat the Buccaneers 22-37 but fell to the Purple Tigers 23-32.
Tom Walters led the Spartans, getting third place overall in 18:49.8. John Courcy was sixth in 19:10.6, just ahead of Joe Podroso-Garcia’s 19:12.5 as Brandon Cerlanek (20:01.0) also had a top-10 finish.
In the girls race, ESM swept Cortland and Oswego, with Rachael Ladd’s winning 21:21.2 part of a top-four sweep. Taylor Hoffman got second place in 22:57 flat, with Ainsley McKenna (23:03.0) close behind and Elena Vespi fourth in 23:53.5.
Christian Brothers Academy took on Westhill, winning the girls meet 24-31 as Bella Cannizzo claimed the individual race in 19:32, with Mary Sullivan third in 20:33. Kristina Kennedy got fifth place in 20:55 as Abby Nash (21:42) and Eve Eikes (21:51) were sixth and seventh, respectively.
But the CBA boys lost 24-37 to Westhill, this despite Joseph McMahon winning the individual race in 15:39 to the 15:55 from the Warriors’ Brandon Mulholland. Cooper Groat was third in 16:03.
J-D ran in the McQuaid Invitational in Rochester last Saturday, the boys part of the Bob Bradley Premier Race where Martinez, in 16:32.5, finished just outside the top 50 and Clarkson posted 17:01.3.
The girls Red Rams were 10th in the Varsity AA race out of 27 teams, led by Gilbert, who was 54th in 21:27.1 as O’Malley, in 21:42.9, beat out Carter’s 21:44.6, with Militi (21:48.7) ahead of Huegel (21:52.4).
Bishop Grimes had Sean Moran finish 10th in the Tully Invitational in 18:21.3, with Manlius-Pebble Hill getting Will Markwood to 21st place in 19:41.7. Grimes’ Edy Livingston was sixth in the girls race in 21:59.1.
