CENTRAL NEW YORK – It proved quite the battle for the Fayetteville-Manlius boys cross country team as it squared off with West Genesee in last Wednesday’s SCAC Metro division opener.
The Hornets were able to beat the Wildcats 24-31 in part because WG didn’t have its best runner, Peter McMahon, in the event.
Nolan McGinn, who won at the Vernon-Verona-Sherrill Invitational on Sept. 10, prevailed here, his time of 13 minutes, 11.9 seconds on a 2.6-mile course part of a top-three sweep.
Anthony Otis was second in 13:34 flat, with Ben Perry third in 14:001 and well clear of the Wildcats’ Kevin Moser (14:35.5) in fourth. Will Ditre was eighth in 14:59.1 and Kyler Patrick 10th in 15:31.8.
Meanwhile, in the F-M girls’ 15-49 win over WG, Izzie Sullivan won in a swift 14:29.4, more than a minute ahead of Hannah Kaercher’s 15:35.7. Maria Khalifeh finished in 15:58.7 as Camille Ryan (16:22.5) and Isabelle Adrian (16:22.5) completed a top-five sweep.
East Syracuse Minoa would take the spotlight when it hosted its annual Invitational meet last Saturday, one where the Spartans finished eighth on the girls side, one spot behind Jamesville-DeWitt in seventh.
Individually, Rachael Ladd led the Spartans, getting to 12th place in 20:51.8 as team champion Cicero-North Syracuse swept the top, led by Hannah Boyle, who won in 18:33.8.
No other ESM runner was in the individual top 50, while on J-D’s side Molly McIntyre finished 27th among team runners in 22:19.9, two spots ahead of Megan O’Malley’s 22:22.2.
It was Christian Brothers Academy doing best among the local boys teams, taking fifth out of 19 sides largely because Joe McMahon was third in 17:11.3 and Charles Raymond fourth in 17:11.6 behind the winning 16:57.7 from Montrose’s Nate Sinkovich.
As for ESM, it took eighth place with John Courcy at the forefront, Courcy earning 21st place in 18:44.3 as Brandon Cerlanek was 31st in 19:02.5.
Prior to that, ESM met Cortland and Syracuse West, sweeping both meets. In the 25-34 boys win over Syracuse West, Courcy finished second in 20:20, with Bryce Oviedo taking fourth in 22:09. Sol
Scofield (22:53), Tom Gallery (23:03) and Elijah Evelyn (23:33) claimed the fifth through seventh spots.
ESM’s girls beat Syracuse West 23-33 and Cortland as Ladd won the individual race in 22:45, nearly three minutes ahead of Ainsley McKenna’s second-place 25:24. Alaina Blok was fifth in 26:48.
J-D ran on Thursday afternoon, sweeping Oswego 18-51 on the boys side and 25-35 on the girls side.
CBA had faced Marcellus and, in the boys race, got a victory from McMahon, who posted 18:36, more than a minute ahead of the field.
The Mustangs still used its depth to beat the Brothers 22-48 as it snagged eight of the next nine spots in the finishing order, the only exception James Cass, who was fifth in 20:41.
