EAST SYRACUSE – Working together in the way they had done throughout an undefeated regular season, the Cicero-North Syracuse boys cross country would claim last Wednesday’s Salt City Athletic Conference Metro division meet at East Syracuse Minoa’s Pine Grove Junior High School.

It took 34 points for the Northstars to dethrone Baldwinsville (52 points) as Liverpool was fourth with 77 points. Overall, C-NS had 66 points to beat everyone in both divisions except Empire division power Auburn, who won with 50 points.

To lead the way, C-NS’s Nolan Zinsmeyer went 16 minutes 55.9 seconds for seventh place overall, third among SCAC Metro runners, while Rhett Andrews’ 16:59.3 put him fourth in the league and ninth overall and Tyler Graham was fifth in the league (11th overall) going 17:09.8.

Also running well, freshman Jack Putman went 17:22.8 for 14th place overall, seventh in the league, while Dominic Petrera clinched the division taking 15th place in the league in 18:09.7 just ahead of Joe Massett’s 18:21 flat as Evan Champ went 18:49.2.

Liverpool had Josh Vang finish sixth in the Metro division and 12th overall in 17:19.9. Brian Juston, in 17:55.1, was just outside the league top 10, Mason Dineen going 18:04.7 as Jackson Allen (18:21.7) and Brady Petrella (18:42.5) rounded out the Warriors’ scoring column ahead of Cooper Kohanski’s 18:45 flat.

C-NS and Liverpool would offer major challenges in the SCAC Metro girls race, the Northstars’ 42 points only three behind Fayetteville-Manlius, who won with 39 and also edged the Northstars 52-59 in the overall standings. Auburn also got 59 points.

Liverpool was third in the league and fourth overall, but had the quickest local individuals as Taylor Page made her way to fourth place in 18:59.2 and Kaitlyn Hotaling was fifth in 19:21.3, the pair only trailing F-M’s Izzie Sullivan (17:55.4) among Metro division runners.

Kennedy Jones, 10th overall in 19:44.2, led a C-NS with Cameron Sisk one spot behind her in 19:45.7 and Katy Harbold just behind them posting 19:47.1. Sophia Graham, in 20:06.1, was one second ahead of Gabby Putman’s 20:07.1, both of them also part of the individual top 20.

Though no individual Liverpool runner got close to matching Page and Hotaling, Katie Martin still finished 16th in the league (21st overall) in 20:28.5, with Rose Piorkowski going 20:53 flat and Paige Baker, in 20:59, also beating the 21-minute mark.

Now comes the long wait (more than two weeks) for the Nov. 9 Section III Class A championships at Mount Markham as C-NS and Liverpool will run and train plenty while also resting from a busy regular season.