BALDWINSVILLE – Just as they have done for seven decades, hundreds of cross country runners made their way to Durgee Junior High School to compete last Saturday in the Baldwinsville Invitational.
The 70th edition of this autumn ritual was special for the Bees because of the possibility that Solomon Holden-Betts could claim individual honors against a tough, deep field in the Varsity Large School division.
Indeed, Holden-Betts did make a push for the top, finishing in 15 minutes, 35.6 seconds, which topped everyone except Fayetteville-Manlius star Nolan McGinn, who won in 15:22.4.
From a team standpoint, the boys and girls Bees both recorded fifth-place finishes as Cicero-North Syracuse upended F-M for the girls Varsity Large School title and Fairport, from Section V, was victorious by a comfortable margin in the boys Large School race. South Jefferson (girls) and Lansing (boys) won the Small School varsity races.
With 116 points, B’ville trailed F-M and Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake by just three points in the fifth spot as Jeff Ragonese made his way to 19th place in a clocking of 17:10.7.
Noah Covert finished 25th, in 17:22.2, with Kyle Sheckler 36th in 17:44.8, two spots ahead of Arthur Bauer’s 17:46.1 as Ryan Quinn (17:51.7) was close behind them.
Earning 188 points in the girls Large School race, B’ville was led by freshman Kamryn Barton, who sped her way to 13th place in 19:31.5 as F-M’s Izzie Sullivan (17:30.2) was the individual winner.
Sophia Cavalieri, who was 35th in 21:08.8, led a trio of Bees that included Yolanda Wei in 37th place (21:18.0) and Mary Sabatino (21:19.1) in 39th place as Margaret Solomon was 64th among team runners in 22:19.7.
B’ville’s boys had already won big during the week, handling West Genesee 20-40 last Wednesday as Holden-Betts roared to a time of 15:57.7, more than a minute ahead of the field.
Covert, in 17:14.5, was well clear of the Wildcats’ Kevin Moser (17:32.4) in third place, while Ragonese was fifth in 17:36.8.
Behind them, Jack McAllister, who was sixth in 17:55.6, led a B’ville group that included Sheckler in seventh (18:13.4) and Quinn in eighth (18:34.1) as Bauer (18:33.5) also reached the top 10.
In the girls race, B’ville lost 20-37 to West Genesee, even though Barton won the individual race, her time of 19:50.5 well clear of the 20:37.4 from the Wildcats’ Chloe Fietze.
However, WG swept the next four finishing spots before Sabatino made her way to seventh place in 21:43.2. Cavalieri was eighth in 21:46.4, with Solomon ninth in 21:51.8 as Clare Horan was 12th in 22:18. flat.
