MOUNT MARKHAM – With a state Class A individual championship already on her resume, Fayetteville-Manlius girls cross country senior Izzie Sullivan has grown quite accustomed to winning races in her high school career.
And as her senior season got underway Saturday in the Mustang Invitational at Mount Markham, Sullivan again flourished on the course which will host the Section III championships in November.
Needing just 17 minutes, 36.9 seconds to cover the 3.1 miles, Sullivan posted the day’s fastest time in any of the three girls races and was nearly a full minute ahead of the second-place 18:29.8 from her F-M teammate, Jordan Giannetti.
F-M won the girls Varsity 2 race with 37 points to Cicero-North Syracuse’s 56, using its top-heavy lineup to overcome the Northstars earning five of the top 15 team spots.
Camille Ryan got seventh place overall and sixth in the team standings in 19:08.8. Claire McDonald just missed reaching the top 10 but was 11th in 19:15.8 as freshman Evie Pinkerton went 20:19.8 for 19th place. Ashlynn Yonge (21:03.8) and Noelani Introne (21:06.5) also finished in the team top 30.
F-M’s boys team, having seen senior Nolan McGinn depart due to graduation, was in the Varsity 3 race, getting to fourth place with 116 points behind Baldwinsville, Auburn and Liverpool.
Will Ditre ran quite well for the Hornets, third in 16:18.3 and not far from the winning 15:25.7 of Auburn’s Owen Gaspar. Ninth-grader Sam Beeman finished 18th in 17:32.4, while Jacob Vaccaro posted 17:53.3.
Jamesville-DeWitt got seventh place in the 12-team Varsity 3 race, the Red Rams led by Ryan Carter going 17:30.7 for 15th place as Peter Drew, in 17:42.5, was one spot ahead of Vaccaro. Rebecca Mendez Squier (21:31.0) and Emma Rukavena (22:10.8) led the J-D girls in Varsity Race 3, while Christian Brothers Academy had Vivaan Shah 27th in Varsity 2 in 18:13.9.
