MARCELLUS – A bit of history was made by the Cazenovia boys cross country team when it claimed the Onondaga High School League Liberty League championship meet for the first time.
During Wednesday’s league meet at Marcellus Park, the Lakers not only won the National division portion, it claimed the all-around title, too, knocking off 10 challengers including Westhill, whom it lost to head-to-head on Oct. 12.
Here, Cazenovia’s total of 70 points beat out the 85 from runner-up Marcellus, while Westhill settled for third place with 94 points.
Leading the Lakers’ charge was junior Eddie Comeau, who in 16 minutes, 44 seconds finished seventh overall and third among National division runners behind Hannibal’s Gavin Griffin (16:27.1) and less than a second behind Skaneateles’ Aidan Ward (16:43.1).
Branden McColm was close behind Comeau, the senior going 16:45.4 for eighth place overall and fourth in the division. Fellow senior Will Austin was fifth in the division and 13th overall in 17:11.2.
To round out the sweep, eighth-grader Jake Woolbert made his way to sixth place in the division and 17th overall in 17:22.4 as sophomore Kooper Wilmot also had a top-10 division finish in 17:35.4.
Wilmot beat out the 17:54.7 posted by junior Garret Lounsbury, who was 29th overall as Owen Woodworth went 19:27.1 and Evan Malloy broke the 20-minute mark, finishing in 19:58 flat.
Meanwhile, in the girls OHSL meet, Chittenango emerged victorious among four teams in the American division, its total of 26 points well clear of runner-up Westhill (50) as the Bears were also second overall.
Individually, Laura Powers led the Bears, the junior winning her division and finishing fifth overall with a time of 19:28.7 as freshman Natalie DiGennaro was second in the division (ninth overall) in 19:57.7.
Senior Bailee Burton, in a clocking of 20:18 flat, edged junior teammate Sophia DiGennaro (20:18.7) for fifth in the division and 12th overall. Ani McCarthy was 12th among division runners in 20:55.4, while Mariah Stewart, in 21:15.1, was just ahead of Evelyn Wynkoop’s 21:16.5.
In the boys OHSL Liberty race, Chittenango was fourth in the American division and fifth overall.
Caleb LeBlanc was near the top of the standings, his 16:17.2 good for third place as Westhill’s Drew O’Reilly (15:07.8) won and Christian Brothers Academy’s Charles Raymond (16:02.2) was second.
Kaleb Toscano gave the Bears a ninth-place finish in 16:46.2, while Manu Tipa finished 30th overall in 17:56.9. Logan Rogers was 35th among team runners in 18:21.9 as Jacob Neupert, in 18:44.6, was ahead of Gavin Roach (19:06.2) and Andrew Bielicki (19:13.8).
