VERONA – Thanks to senior Solomon Holden-Betts, the Baldwinsville cross country program had its best opportunity at a New York State Public High School Athletic Association championship in a long while.
And Holden-Betts did not squander it, getting to the front of a talented field and hanging on to win the state Class A championship on a chilly, windy Saturday morning at Vernon-Verona-Sherril High School.
Holden-Betts arrived at the meet among the top-ranked individuals along with Fayeteville-Manlius’ Nolan McGinn, who edged the Bees’ star by one-tenth of a second in the Nov. 5 sectional final.
Now they met again, joined by a high-quality field dealing with race conditions far different from the warm, dry weather they had at the sectional meet seven days earlier.
On a VVS course slowed down in some spots by rains the day and night before, Holden-Betts flourished, moving in front of a tight pack of runners that could not separate from one another, a group that included McGinn and his F-M teammate, Anthony Otis.
By the time he crossed the finish line in 16 minutes, 6.9 seconds, Holden-Betts had gone exactly one second slower than the 16:05.9 he had amid better conditions with the sectional title at stake.
But it was still enough for Holden-Betts to beat out the 16:09.1 from Arlington’s Ethan Green and earn the state championship as Monroe-Woodbury’s Collin Gilstrap was third in 16:11.4.
Otis trailed them, getting fourth place in 16:14.1, while McGinn could not quite match his sectional effort, finishing sixth in 16:16.2 as West Genesee’s Peter McMahon was 16th in 16:48.7.
When Holden-Betts returned to Baldwinsville, he was welcomed by a village fire department truck and Onondaga County Sheriff’s deputy cars who escorted him and his coaches back to Baker High School.
