CENTRAL NEW YORK – It was time for the Jamesville-DeWitt and East Syracuse Minoa cross country teams to meet each other.
They did so Tuesday afternoon on ESM’s home course, and it was the Red Rams winning both the boys and girls races as both sides also raced against 0 and swept – Fulton.
Connor Clarkson led the J-D boys’ 20-41 victory over the Spartans, finishing in 17 minutes, 41.3 seconds, well clear of the 18:24.9 from teammate and runner-up Hudson Groat.
ESM’s John Courcy was third in 18:28 flat and Brandon Cerlanek fifth in 19:11.6, but Peter Drew took fourth for J-D in 19:05.2 as Paul Fischi, in 19:21.0, led a pack that included Isaiah Sternberg (19:28.2), Chris Donaghue (19:53.3), Nathan Warren-Fancy (19:58.1) and Garrett Fuller (20:05.1).
In the girls race, ESM earned the individual title thanks to Rachael Ladd, who in a time of 21:46.7 pulled away from J-D’s Molly McIntyre, who was second in 21:59.4.
Still, the Red Rams won 24-37 and also topped Fulton 20-41 because, after Ainsley McKenna’s third-place 22:30.4, Megan O’Malley, fourth in 22:41.7, led a Red Rams pack that included Meghana Reddy (23:25.7), Rebecca Mendez-Squier (23:55.0) and Norah Kirch (24:12.9) as
Fayetteville-Manlius would not have the girls showdown with Cicero-North Syracuse as the Northstars rested its top runners in between two large-scale meets.
Virtually unchallenged by C-NS or host Baldwinsville, the Hornets had Hannah Kaercher tear to a time of 18:08.8 ahead of Izzie Sullivan’s 18:44.3. Maria Khalifeh finished in 19:15.5 as Camille Ryan posted 19:39 flat and Isabelle Adrian (20:08.5) was behind Bees freshman Kamryn Barton’s 19:48.2.
Meanwhile, F-M’s boys lost to Baldwinsville 26-31 while it beat C-NS 15-46, with the battle at the front including Nolan McGinn, in 15:25.4, taking second to the Bees’ Solomon Holden-Betts (15:19.6) on the latter’s home course.
Anthony Otis was third in 15:46.8, with Ben Perry (16:52.3), but Noah Covert was fourth for the Bees and four others – Jeff Ragonese, Arthur Bauer, Jack McAllister and Ryan Wilson – crossed before Kyler Patrick (17:45.0) and Will Ditre (17:47.5) for the Hornets.
F-M went from here to Friday’s Twilight Invitational at Chittenango, winning both sides of the meet in a showdown with Section II power Niskayuna.
The girls race saw Sullivan tear to a time of 17:50.6 to beat Kaercher (18:48.2) by nearly a full minute. Khalifeh was third in 19:22.8, with Ryan going 19:28 flat for fourth place and Isabella Adrian seventh in 20:21.7.
Then there was the boys race where F-M beat Niskayuna 37 points to 57, led again by McGinn, whose 15:52.1 was part of a 1-2 finish with Otis (16:17.7). Perry was fifth in 17:15.9 as ESM also raced here, with Courcy (18:44.3) in 22nd place.
Christian Brothers Academy had a three-team meet Wednesday where the girls were able to win over Phoenix and Mexico by equal 15-51 margins.
Adele Sommers led all individuals, her time of 23:45topping CBA teammates Mary Sullivan (24:41) and Charlotte Wilson (24:46). Grace Fletcher finished in 27:04 and Kristina Kennedy, in 27:14, rounded out the scoring column.
On the boys side, the Brothers edged Phoenix 27-29 but took a 21-35 loss to Mexico. Charlie Raymond’s time of 18:31 led all individuals, with James Cass posting 20:22.
Manlius Pebble Hill beat Weedsport 19-38 as Oliver Dreyfuss tore to a time of 17:43 for the Trojans, with J.J. Braverman finishing in 18:59 and Tae-Jin Shah adding a 19:52.
