MOUNT MARKHAM – After a couple of years where both the Section III and state cross country championship meets took place at Vernon-Verona-Sherrill High School, the sectional meet moves this November to Mount Markham.
And it was there that the 2024 season got underway for both Cicero-North Syracuse and Liverpool as they took part in Saturday’s Mustang Invitational, competing in separate divisions.
C-NS was in the Varsity 2 races, where on the boys side the Northstars put together an impressive winning effort, its total of 69 points well clear of the 131 of runner-up Whitesboro.
Sophomore Rhett Andrews led the way for C-NS, taking sixth place in 16 minutes, 29.5 seconds, followed closely by fellow 10th-grader Nolan Zinsmeyer finishing eighth in 16:33.2.
Tyler Graham had a solid showing, his time of 16:57.3 good for 14th place, while Jack Putman earned 17th place in 17:03.8 and Joe Massett clinched team honors by finishing 26th in 18:12.7, just ahead of Dominic Petrera’s 18:17.6.
The girls Varsity 2 race had C-NS run quite well, with 56 points, fewer than the boys, yet still trailing the winning 36 from Fayetteville-Manlius, who swept the top spots led by Izzie Sullivan’s winning 17:36.9.
Gabby Putman made her way to fifth place, the senior going 19:00.7 to lead a Northstars group where Cameron Sisk (19:17.6) and Kennedy Jones (19:24.2) were just outside the top 10, with Katy Harbold (19:42.4) topping Mya Patti (19:49.5) for 15th place.
As for Liverpool, it finished third in both of the Varsity 3 division, with the girls Warriors getting 54 points to finish close behind the 40 from Auburn and 49 from Baldwinsville.
Back for her senior season, Taylor Page led the Warriors, gaining fourth place in 18:09.9 as fellow senior Kaitlyn Hotaling made her way to fifth place in 18:33.2.
No other Liverpool runner could get to the top 10, but freshman Katie Martin did take 13th place in 19:46.2, two spots ahead of sophomore Rose Piorkowski in 15th place (20:03.9), while Addison Ziegler (20:23.6) beat out Paige Baker (20:25.3) for 19th place.
Though further back of B’ville and Auburn in the boys Varsity 3 race, Liverpool still finished with 85 points and were led by Joshua Vang, whose ninth-place time of 16:56.9 beat Brian Juston, 10th in 17:06 flat.
Jackson Allen gave the Warriors a 20th-place time of 17:39.6, just clear of Michael Hoey (17:43.0) in 22nd place as Cooper Kohanski went 17:47.5 for 25th place.
