CENTRAL NEW YORK – It’s now post-season time for the area’s high school cross country teams, with most of them preparing for next Wednesday’s Onondaga High School League championships, Marcellus getting to host the Liberty division meet at Marcellus Park.
West Genesee led the post-season parade, making its way to Baldwinsville for Wednesday’s Salt City Athletic Conference championships where it had a strong showing.
The higher finish went to the girls Wildcats, who were fourth in both the overall and league standings. WG’s overall score of 115 points trailed only Fayetteville-Manlius, Cicero-North Syracuse and Liverpool.
Individually, sophomore Chloe Fietze led the way, getting to 16th place in 19 minutes, 37.4 seconds on the Durgee Junior High School course.
Zoe Maupin, in a time of 19:51.6, beat out Rebecca Dickey’s 19:54 flat to gain 20th place. Lily Pellegrino made her way to 27th place in 20:39.7, with Shannon McMahon 31st in 20:46.8. Claire Griffin (20:57.0) was just ahead of Thalie Petrie (21:07.8) as Karolina Lata (21:28.4) was just outside the top 40.
Michael Gomes led WG’s boys to a sixth-place league and overall finish with a superb individual race. His time of 16:25.9 was ninth overall and fifth among runners outside of the winning team from Auburn.
Dillon Holzwarth was 39th among team runners and 47th overall in 18:04 flat. Mason Doran finished seven seconds behind Holzwarth in 18:11, with Archer Macholl (18:29.1) and Sean Moser (18:47.8) rounding out the scoring column.
Other area teams finished their regular-season slates that same day, including a three-team race between Skaneateles, Jordan-Elbridge and Solvay where the girls Lakers would get a clean sweep of the Eagles and Bearcats.
Lucy Fleckenstein led Skaneateles, her time of 19:13 more than a minute and a half ahead of the 20:47 from teammate Tobi DiRubbo. J-E’s Abigayle Bates was third in 21:19, but the rest of the Lakers followed, Caroline McSwain in 21:42 well clear of Annabel Wells (22:49) as Monica Pohl posted 24:04.
It was the Solvay boys sweeping J-E 23-33 and Skaneateles 23-34. J-E’s Peyton Bates led his side, posting a time of 17:40 ahead of Anthony King’s 18:14 and Connor Boylan’s 19:04.
And though Skaneaeteles had Ben Williams post 17:31 and Tritan Boucher finish in 17:34, Solvay’s Max Overend was close behind them in 17:36, while Luke Dickinson, in 18:31, led a pack that included Jack Burke (18:49), Aaron Trendell (18:57) and Landon Raymond (19:00).
Marcellus prevailed 22-37 over Hannibal, sweeping the next three spots after Noah Melita’s winning 17:12. Liam Eldridge was second in 17:42, with Robbie Hakes (18:16) and Ethan Checksfield (18:18) in the next two spots.
Evan Fullagar (18:37), Alex LoStraco (18:52) and Ay-Zoh Shaw (20:04) also ran well, while the Marcellus girls won 15-51, Jane Middaugh and Lorelei Reffler each finishing in 24:22 ahead of Zoe Case’s 25:42 and Sophia Legnetto’s 29:51.
Westhill moved to 4-1 by beating Christian Brothers Academy 22-37 in the boys race. Edward Popp won in exactly 16 minutes, half a minute ahead of the Brothers’ Kyle Gaffney, while Alex Dacko posted 16:50 for third place. Chris Gilkes, in 17:15, was ahead of Bryce Burdick (17:30), John-Paul Headd (18:42) and Anthony Cardoso (18:46).
By that exact same 22-37 score, Westhill’s girls also topped CBA. Eileen Mullen won the individual race in 19:45, seven seconds ahead of teammate Stella Napolitano’s 19:52. Izzy Leonardo was fourth in 20:25 as Ellie Thornton, in 21:01, led a group that included Rachel Evans (21:15), Caitlyn Krohl (21:23) and Sophia Hoffman (21:43).
