CENTRAL NEW YORK – The West Genesee boys cross country team nearly got the best of long-time powerhouse Fayetteville-Manlius in last Wednesday’s SCAC Metro division opener, but dropped a 24-31 decision to the Hornets.
Peter McMahon did not run in this race, so Kevin Moser was the Wildcats’ top finisher, going 14 minutes, 35.5 seconds on a shortened course. He led pack of four WG runners that included Casey Comny (14:52.1), Max Broccoli (14:52.1) and Michael Gomes, who went 14:53.7.
F-M swept the top three, though, led by Nolan McGinn, who won in 13:11.9. Connor Moore closed out the Wildcats’ scoring, taking ninth place in 15;12.7.
Meanwhile, WG’s girls lost, 15-49, to F-M, who were led by defending state Class A individual champion Izzy Sullivan’s top time of 14:29.4.
Peyton Long, in 17:30.5, had the Wildcats’ best effort. Karolina Lata finished in 18:00.3, with Andrea Conklin posting 18:10.4 as Claire Griffin (18:14.2) and Zoe Maupin (18:18.2) followed.
WG’s boys were victorious Saturday at the East Syracuse Minoa Invitational, picking up 39 points to finish well clear of runner-up Montrose, who had 132 points.
Five of the top 12 finishers were Wildcats, led by Moser, whose 17:06.9 put him second only to the 16:57.7 from Montrose’s Nate Sinkovich.
Gomes earned seventh place in 17:38.8, while Conmy finished eighth in 17:45.6. Broccoli took 10th place in 17:47.2 and Moore finished 12th in 18:01.6.
The WG girls were second to Cicero-North Syracuse, with Griffin making her way to eighth place in 20:19.7. Chloe Fietze, in 20:42.3, was just outside the top 10 as Conklin (21:08.3), Long (21:18.2) and Maupin (21:18.3) all had top-20 efforts.
Skaneateles and Solvay were together for a meet against Hannibal, with the Lakers getting the sweep on the boys side, beating the Bearcats 18-43 and the Warriors 26-31.
Aidan Ward led Skaneateles with a time of 18:31, behind two Hannibal runners. Ethan Leubner posted 19:56, with Mike Galbato (20:18) and Patrick Hagen (20:34) running well. Max Overend led Solvay with a time of 20:28.
Marcellus saw its boys team handle Christian Brothers Academy 22-48, claiming eight of the nine finishing spots after Joe McMahon won in 18:36 for the Brothers.
Nolan Manahan, second in 19:46, led a group that included Zach Lester (20:11) and Liam Eldridge (20:18), while a pack of five Mustangs was led by Nate Alexander’s 20:41 and Kieran Capozzi’s 20:45.
Later that week, at the ESM Invitational, the boys Mustangs finished sixth as as Alexander, in 34th place (19:05.5), led a tight pack where Eldridge (19:24.0), Manahan and Capozzi (19:30.0) were in consecutive spots. Solvay had Overend finish 50th overall in 19:48.2.
Westhill won its boys meet over Homer 19-39, with Drew O’Reilly, in a time of 17:41, pulling away from the Trojans’ Matt Fish (18:16) for individual honors.
Each of the next four spots went to the Warriors, with Bryce Burdick third in 18:43 as Jack Pease (18:56), Carlos Ramos (18:57) and Sean Finnerty (18:59) closely followed.
When the Westhill girls beat Homer 21-37, Stella Napolitano won in 21:36 and Alexis Bergett was second in 22:09. Ashley Carter got third place in 22:22 as Eileen Mullen, in 22:44, beat out Rachel Evans (23:10) and Katelyn Sainsbury (24:12) for the next three spots.
