MOUNT MARKHAM – Rested and ready to run, cross country teams from Cazenovia and Chittenango would both make serious marks when they went to Mount Markham High School for Saturday’s Section III championships.
It was the Lakers going first in the Class C races, and on the girls side it finished third in the team standings and nearly saw junior Lily Kogut claim the individual title.
All race long, Kogut remained in sight of the lead, and by the end of the 3.1 miles she had crossed in 18 minutes 47.8 seconds beating everyone except Skaneateles’ Lucy Fleckenstein, who in 18:45.1 was just 2.7 seconds ahead of Kogut.
With this result Kogut is on her way to this Saturday’s New York State Public High School Athletic Association meet in Queensbury, part of the sectional All-Star side with Fleckenstein, Johannah Northrup (Adirondack), Ella Ridgeway (Oneida) and Cora Hindsill (Adirondack).
Cazenovia’s team total of 120 points trailed South Jefferson (40) and Adirondack (65) as, behind Kogut, freshman Abbie Comeau had the best showing, making her way to 15th place in 20:18.3.
Maeve McGreevy finished 28th in 21:27.8, with Avery Cashatt 36th among team runners in 22:09.2 and Izzy Stromer-Galley 39th on the team side in 22:43.2. Gwen Livington, in 22:44.4, was one spot behind Stromer-Galley as Haylee Stearns (23:15.7), Rylee Stearns (23:32.1), Sorsha Lewis (26:12.8) and Emma O’Shea (28:29.7) followed.
Like Kogut, Cazenovia boys sophomore Jake Woolbert would comfortably earn a spot in the state Class C meet
By posting a time of 16:28.7, Woolbert finished fourth, and the top five individuals advanced so Woolbert joins race winner Tritan Boucher (Skaneateles), Tyson Fuller (Oneida), Liam Eldridge (Marcellus) and Edward Popp (Westhill) in that group.
From a team standpoint, Cazenovia got 99 points overall, one ahead of Westhill’s 100 and beating everyone except Mexico, who won with 72 points, as the Lakers also were second (60 points) to the Tigers (45 points) in the Class C-1 portion of the sectional meet.
Behind Woolbert, Cazenovia had Will Galton make his way to 18th place in a clocking of 17:41.7, while Kooper Wilmot finished 24th in 17:49.7 and Nolan Campagna was 28th in 18:02.2.
Evan Molloy, finishing 19th in Class C-1 and 36th overall in 18:25 flat, rounded out the Lakers’ scoring column, while Tristan Field-Bradley (18:31.7) and Owen Woodworth (18:38.5) were close behind. Henri Mongeau posted 18:46.1, with Gavin Wagner going 19:36.7 and Andy Franz going 19:52.9.
When the girls sectional Class B race was held later that day, Chittenango picked up 64 points, second only to the 45 from Vernon-Verona-Sherrill.
However, the Bears’ Natalie DiGennaro would post a time of 20:03.5 that put her seventh overall and gave her the fifth and final spot on the sectional All-Star team for the state meet with Ingrid Aagaard (Homer), Joslyn Cantine (Fulton) and New Hartford teammates Alexandria French and Abby Neale.
Ani McCarthy finished 12th in the team event (13th overall) in 21:07.3, with Ava McLean one spot behind her in 21:09.3. Emily Judd (21:35.3) beat out Mariah Stewart (21:38.1) for 18th place as Kyra Congden was 27th among team runners in 22:30.3.
The boys Class B sectional meet had Chittenango fifth in a 13-team field led by Bryce Edwards, whose 13th-place time of 17:29.6 put him one second ahead of Zach Driscoll (17:30.6) in 14th place. Dan Mahle (18:01.9) beat out Ethan Lavier (18:02.5) in 26th place.
