With the month of September at an end, it’s safe to say area high school cross country teams have rarely run in anything other than dry conditions and comfortable temperatures.
That’s bound to change soon, but for now it’s mostly proven a sunny start to the season, right up to the last day of September, when Fayetteville-Manlius senior Nolan McGinn beat all other competitors at the vast McQuaid Invitational in Rochester.
Competing in the featured Bob Bradley Premier race, McGinn sped through the three-mile Genesee Valley Park course in 14 minutes, 36.4, nearly 20 seconds ahead of the second-place 15:36 flat from Fairport’s Jake Passalugo.
In the girls Bob Bradley Premier race, F-M’s Izzie Sullivan had a strong showing, too, making her way to fourth place in 17:38.6, with Camille Ryan 20th in 18:34.1 and Maria Khalifeh 23rd in 18:38.6. Jordan Giannetti (18:56.2) and Claire McDonald (19:01.6) also had top-30 finishes.
Elsewhere at McQuaid, Bishop Grimes girls runner Edy Livingston made her way to 10th place in the 1-A division with a time of 18:53 flat, while East Syracuse Minoa was in the boys AAA race and Joe Pedroso-Garcia had the Spartans’ quickest time of 17:37.7 over Brandon Cerlanek (17:39.7).
All of this followed last Wednesday’s Class A showdown between F-M and Auburn.
The two reigning sectional Class A champions each prevailed, with the girls Hornets winning 17-44 behind a swift performance by Sullivan, who broke the 15-minute mark on the 2.6-mile F-M course, winning in 14:56.6.
Ryan got second in 15:36.9, just ahead of Delilah Pandori-Howell (15:41.4) and the Maroons’ top runner, Kyleen Brady (15:49.2) – who would end up taking third at the Bradley race in McQuaid, one spot ahead of Sullivan.
Head-to-head with Auburn, Khalifeh made her way to fifth place in 15:53.5, with Giannetti sixth in 16:05.3. McDonald (16:17.5) and Ava Beecher (16:55.9) also had top-10 finishes.
In the boys race, though F-M lost to Auburn 23-38, McGinn covered the shorter distance in 12:43.4, more than a minute ahead of the 13:55.6 from the Maroons’ Chris Howard. Will Ditre finished fourth in 13:58 flat.
ESM ran last Tuesday and swept Oswego, winning the girls race 15-51 as Rachael Burt and Jaylen Jordan ran together and went 1-2, each finishing in 21:05.
Ainsley McKenna, third in 23:13, led the next group of Spartans, Danika Besig getting fifth place in 23:28 and Emily Clonan needing 23:46 for sixth place.
The closer boys race still saw ESM beat the Buccaneers 24-32, with Pedrosa-Garcia second in 18:12 behind Oswego’s Daniel Dunn (17:48) as Cerlanek was third in 18:31 and Bryce Oviedo fourth in 18:36. Tom Gallery finished seventh in 19:28 and Austin Gott, eighth in 19:30, clinched the Spartans’ victory.
Jamesville-DeWitt ran a day later, and was able to sweep its boys race against Central Square (24-35) and Syracuse West (19-41), largely based on its depth.
Hudson Groat’s 18:12 trailed the 17:52 from Central Square’s Charles Raymond, but Ryan Carter (18:44) and Peter Drew (19:05) claimed the next two spots, with Noah Rafkis sixth in 20:47 and Cameron Stafford seventh in 21:07.
J-D’s girls lost 18-39 to Central Square, the Redhawks sweeping the top four ahead of Rebecca Mendez Squier, who was fifth for the Rams in 24:09. Neve Gordon was sixth in 24:19 ahead of Meghana Reddy (24:24) as Abigail Adams finished in 24:53.
