Section V cross country championships: Fairport boys, Sutherland girls among champs
LEICESTER – “Landon, where’s your dad?” Fairport senior Landon Ruder was asked as his teammates thronged around a frenzied red and blue Raiders celebration.
Helping complete the first quadruple sweep for any high school in Section V’s long and storied cross country history, Landon Ruder turned to the crowd at the Section V championships in Letchworth State Park Saturday and spotted him just beyond the fence.
"Right here!" he said.
The two shared knowing smiles, for son had made dad proud with an MVP-type eighth-place finish overall and No. 3 man, after being his team’s seventh man at the county championships. It rekindled memories for Nate how deeply he dug to win his title for Fairport 32 years ago.
“I remember it well,” Nate said. “I went through the same thing. It’s so cool to see what can happen when people discover what's inside them, what they're capable of, when it really counts. Landon has done that.”
Junior Jake Passalugo broke the course record on the 3.1-mile Highbanks Recreation Area layout in 15 minutes 47.1 seconds, set just four hours earlier by Oakfield-Alabama junior Connor Domoy, to lead Fairport’s 1-2-8-13-14 Class A finish over Rush-Henrietta. It was Fairport’s fourth title in six years. Junior Ari Reback led the girls in 1-8-13-15-25 over Brighton, Fairport’s second A title in three years.
Just as Landon’s older brother Kaelen struggled to win the A sectional title two years ago with a last-gasp finish, Landon said he was determined to improve on his 14th finish at counties.
“I needed to solidify my place in our top five,” he said. “I went out harder this time and just tried to hang with Jack (No. 4 man Jackson Warnett) farther.”
Passalugo led all the way, with runner-up Owen Willard, also a junior, 29 seconds behind.
“I ran a pretty good race,” Passalugo said. “Maybe not quite as good as at McQuaid, though. I sat on the leaders for the first mile, then hammered the last two. I had to make something happen so I wouldn’t have to rely on a kick at the end.”
Reback’s 18:44.6 finish beat Rush-Henrietta sophomore Haylie Smith by nine seconds and Fairport assistant coach Katie DeRusso Ghidiu was one of the first to congratulate her. DeRusso Ghidiu won two titles of her own for Fairport, the second 20 years ago to the day. Her head coach today, Christy Finke Moore, was her classmate and teammate then.
“Pretty special to coach the girls to a win 20 years after my team won in high school when I was a Fairport athlete,” Moore texted later.
“We’re so happy for Ari,” Ghidiu said. “She’s earned it.”
“My goal was to get a top 3,” Reback said. “I was second going into the woods at the first mile. I felt really good, so I started to accelerate. So many of my teammates who weren’t competing were all over the course cheering.
“It was mentally uplifting. I wouldn’t have gotten through it if they hadn’t been there.”
And then, as she turned to re-join her teammates, it hit her.
“Oh, my god, I’m going to states for the first time!”
She and Smith had the only two sub-19 times of the day. R-H senior Lindsay Richardson was third in 19:16.4 while Brighton sophomore Hannah Devine was right on Richardson’s shoulder in 19:17.2.
Sophomore sweep
Pittsford Sutherland’s girls won their second B title in four years as sophomores Reid Smith, Ellie Rice and Marianne Spyra placed 1-2-5 and Sutherland outscored crosstown rival Mendon 36-49.
“We stepped up when it counted,” Smith said.
Blistering pace
Junior Connor Domoy earned a special reprieve from his dad this week to prepare for sectionals. He didn’t have to work on the family farm in Genesee County.
“I drive a tractor,” he said, “and it's harvest time. So, I really appreciate the break. Probably be back at it tomorrow.”
Domoy, who was second a year ago in 16:59, had some early concerns before blistering the Class D field in 15:57.1 for Oakfield-Alabama, a record that held up until Passalugo bested it in the last race of the day.
“We hit 4:50 the first mile,” Domoy said. “I thought I was going to die. I knew the Naples-Bloomfield guys would try to take it out hard. I was running right next to Jude (N-B junior Jude Rischpater) and Drew (Reigelsperger) was right behind.
“I decided I’d surge there as we came past the crowd. I was fortunate to stretch it out the last mile because I didn’t trust myself to be able to outkick them.”
His O-A team lost by six points to Arkport/Canaseraga/Alfred-Almond for the D1 title, earning a trip to states next Saturday for the fourth straight year.
Domoy waited at the finish line until Byron-Bergen junior Lincoln McGrath crossed the finish line in 17:22.7, earning the D2 title.
“We’ve raced each other a lot,” Domoy said. “It was great to see him win.”
Back on top
It didn’t take McQuaid long to re-establish itself, albeit in Class B for the second year.
With senior Collin Brown hurting with a right leg stress fracture, he still pulled out first-place honors over senior Colin Burke of Pittsford Mendon and a 47-56 victory over Mendon, last year’s champions.
“I tried to push through it,” Brown said. “We felt we had one big advantage. We wanted it more than anyone else. We were hungry.”
Brown and Burke ran head-to-head at the Newark Legends 5K October 8 and Brown was dominant, 16:25 to 17:12.
“Alex Steele really put the nail in the coffin,” said coach Todd Stewart. “He’s been our No. 5 guy all year with lingering shin splints. Today he just took off at the two mile mark.” Steele was 12th overall.
“I’m proud of our boys,” Steele said. “We got it done. We got the brick.”
Starting with Mike Tripp in 2009, McQuaid has had seven individual champions in the last 13 years, including Robert Hurlburt, Nick Ciolkowski, Donny Glavin, Abel Hagos, Jayson Chichelli and Brown.
Long wait over
Dansville’s girls gave their coach, Sec. V girls cross country chairman Lynn Auble, her long-awaited first title.
She became head coach the year after their third one – in 2007.
“If I had to pick one girl who really rose to the occasion for us today, it would be Sofia Rodriguez,” Auble said. “She played offense and defense for us.”
As her team’s fifth finisher, as Rodriguez explained, “I played defense to keep anyone from passing me and offense to catch others in front of me.”
Great wheels
Jim Wilkes promised his daughter he’d give her his Jeep if she won sectionals a year ago.
Midlakes senior Katelyn Wilkes did, and tools around now in a slick black Jeep Wrangler.
“He didn’t make any promises this year,” she laughed after winning her third straight C individual title.
“I’ll settle for a new pair of Nike spikes this time. I’ve worn these since last sectionals.”
Wilkes outraced Waterloo ninth-grader Addi Bree and Le Roy senior Charlotte Blake.
Best of the rest
Penn Yan senior James “JD” Tette won his third straight C title, crediting staying well-hydrated, focused and paying attention to his form. He trimmed 19 seconds off his 16:38 time of a year ago . . . Marcus Whitman senior Fletcher Dickmann and junior Brendan Lally went 2-3 as their team won its second title. The other one was in 2017.
Jim Castor, retired assistant sports editor of the Democrat and Chronicle, has covered running in the Rochester area for more than five decades. He can be reached at jcastor@jimcastor.com
Section V Championships
At Letchworth State Park, Highbanks Recreation Area
Fenton, Livingston County
5K (3.1-mile) open-loop course. Top five individual finishers (*) and top seven on winning team (*) qualify for state championships Saturday, Nov. 12 at Section 3’s Vernon-Verona-Sherrill High School, town of Vernon, Oneida County.
Inc. – Incomplete team (four or fewer). cr – course record.
BOYS
Class A
Teams: 1. Fairport* 38 points, 2. Rush-Henrietta 63, 3. Churchville-Chili 84, 4. Webster Thomas 132, 5. Canandaigua 178, 6. Brighton 184, 7. Spencerport 194, 8. Victor 203, 9. Irondequoit 211, 10. School of the Arts 260, 11. Penfield 264, 12, Webster Schroeder 270, 13. Hilton 416, 14. Gates Chili 447. Inc. Franklin/East.
Individuals (98 finishers): 1. Jake Passalugo* (Fa) 15:47.1cr, 2. Owen Willard* (Fa) 16:16.6, 3. Mikey Flannery* (R-H) 16:24.3, 4. Evan Lacey* (WT) 16:24.7, 5. Christian Westcott* (R-H) 16:30.3, 6. Jerry Lewis* (WT) 16:38.0, 7. Toby Dickerson* (Sp) 16:43.9, 8. Landon Ruder* (Fa) 13. Jackson Warnett* (Fa) 17:10.3,14. Mike Taranto* (Fa) 17:12.3, 19. Connor Roeser* (Fa) 17:25.2, 20. Brady Kolson* (Fa)17:26.9.
Class B
Teams: 1. McQuaid* 47, 2. Pittsford Mendon 56, 3. Pittsford Sutherland 92, 4. Batavia 118, 5. Honeoye Falls-Lima 120, 6. Brockport 153, 7. Greece Arcadia 185, 8. Geneva 200, 9. Greece Athena 209, 10. Wayne 281, 11. Palmyra-Macedon 324, 12. Greece Olympia/Odyssey 364, 13. East Irondequoit Eastridge 394.
Individuals (83 finishers): 1. Collin Brown* (McQ) 16:15.1, 2. Collin Burke* (PM) 16:23.3, 3. William Tempest* (PS) 16:33.9, 4. Andrew Garringer* (PM) 16:50.3, 5. Nathan Canale* (Bat) 16:50.9, 6. Nathaniel Fisher* (Br) 16:52.9, 7. Logan Canfield* (McQ) 17:07.4, 12. Alex Steele* (McQ) 17:52.8, 13. Max Schnittman* (McQ) 17:53.2, 14. Luke Schickler* (McQ) 17:58.7, 31. Ambrose Weidmann* (McQ) 18:35.9, 51. Mark Atalla* (McQ) 19:48.5.
Class C
Teams: 1. Marcus Whitman* 62, 2. Waterloo 109, 3. Penn Yan 120, 4. Livonia 124, 5. Newark 125, 6. Midlakes 127, 7. North Rose-Wolcott 166, 8. Sodus/Marion 182, 9. Le Roy 204, 10. Mynderse 249, 11. Wayland-Cohocton 266, 12. Attica 281. Inc. Aquinas, Bath, Dansville, Hornell.
Individuals (95 finishers): 1. James “JD” Tette* (PY) 16:19.0, 2. Fletcher Dickmann* (MW), 3. Brendan Laity* (MW) 17:31.6, 4. Alston Anaya Hernandez* (NR-W) 17:36.4, 5. Kaleb Swartley* (W) 17:44.1, 6. Aiden Soggs* (L) 17:54.8, 9. Nate Robson* (W) 17:58.4, 12. Max Clovis* (MW) 18:18.6, 19. Lachlan Dickmann* (MW) 18:50.9, 28. Jason Lincoln* (MW) 19:22.1, 30. Chris Westermann* (MW) 19:23.2, 41. Sam Virkler* (MW) 19:57.4.
Class D1
Teams: 1. Arkport/Canaseraga/Alfred-Almond* 52, 2. Oakfield-Alabama 58, 3. Bloomfield-Naples 84, 4. Harley-Allendale Columbia 125, 5. Clyde-Savannah 162, 6. Geneseo 209, 7. Red Creek 209, 8. Kendall 226, 9. Addison 236, 10. Williamson 239, 11. Avon 254, 12. Alexander 264, 13. Bishop Kearney 268. Inc. Gananda, Holley, Letchworth, Pavilion, Pembroke.
Individuals (44 finishers): 1. Connor Domoy* (O-A) 15:57.1, 2. Jude Rischpater* (B-N) 16:12.4, 3. Drew Reigelsperger* (B-N) 16:38.5, 4. Pierce Young* (A/C/A-A) 16:54.9, 5. Logan Clark* (O-A) 17:03.0, 6. Braydon Brewster* (A/C/A-A) 17:12.9, 7. Quillan Shimp* (C-S) 17:13.9, 8. Salim Ford* (A/C/A-A) 17:31.2, 9. Ibrahim Ford* (A/C/A-A) 17:48.8, 27. Jacob Broughton* (A/C/A-A) 18:* 36.3, Alex Preston (A/C/A-A) 20:35.7, 94. Dylan Cannon* (A/C/A-A) 20:55.0.
Class D2
Teams: 1. Byron-Bergen 37, 2. Honeoye 38, 3. Notre Dame Batavia 91, 4. Genesee Valley 142, 5. Red Jacket 143, 6. Keshequa 160, 7. Warsaw 170, 8. East Palmyra Christian 176, 9. Hammondsport 230. Inc. Avoca-Prattsburgh, Caledonia-Mumford, Cuba-Rushford, Dundee-Bradford, Fillmore, Jasper-Troupsburg, South Seneca, Wheatland-Chili.
Individuals (44 finishers): 1. Lincoln McGrath (B-B) 17:22.7, 2. Evan Miller (Hon) 18:38.5, 3. Jordan Welker (NDB), 18:41.5, 4. Eli Strickland (F) 18:45.6, 5. Chris Morse (Hon) 18:46.9, 6. Jacob Taylor (A-P) 18:50.6, 7. Roman Smith (B-B) 18:53.6, 8. Frank Hersom (B-B) 19:02.0, 13. Travis Shallenberger (B-B) 19:20.6, 16. Gabriel Vallese (B-B) 19:40.1, 19. Josh Tardy (B-B) 20:00.7, 23. Cameron Carlson (B-B) 20:23.9.
GIRLS
Class A
Teams: 1. Fairport* 58, 2. Brighton 85, 3. Rush-Henrietta 91, 4. Victor 112, 5. Webster Thomas 125, 6. Penfield 161, 7. Churchville-Chili 191, 8. Irondequoit 199, 9. Hilton 212, 10. Canandaigua 234, 11. Webster Schroeder 248. Inc. Franklin/East, Gates Chili, School of the Arts, Spencerport.
Individuals (81 finishers): 1. Ari Reback* (Fa) 18:44.6, 2. Haylie Smith* (R-H) 18:53.4, 3. Lindsay Richardson* (R-H) 19:16.4, 4. Hannah Devine* (B) 19:17.2, 5. Alexa Briggs* (C-C) 19:25.9, 6. Cate Anzellotti* (Bri) 19:37.2, 8. Zoe Marcus* (Fa) 19:57.8, 13. Hannah Casler* (Fa) 20:27.4, 15. Mattéa Keller* (Fa) 20:32.1, 25. Helena Painting* (Fa) 21:10.4, 34. Mary Kate Fish* (Fa) 21:49.2, 45. Madison Hansen* (Fa) 22:25.2.
Class B
Teams: 1. Pittsford Sutherland* 36, 2. Pittsford Mendon 49, 3. Honeoye Falls-Lima 55, 4. Batavia 118, 5. Brockport 139, 6. Mercy 145, 7. Wayne 190, 8. Geneva 200, 9. East Irondequoit Eastridge 243. Inc. Greece Arcadia, Greece Athena, Greece Olympia/Odyssey.
Individuals (64 finishers): 1. Reid Smith* (PS) 19:37.0, 2. Ella Rice* (PS) 19:51.5, 3. Campbell Riley* (Bat) 19:56.2, 4. Alia Spaker* (HF-L) 20:13.6, 5. Sarah Hanfland* (PM) 20:14.8, 6. Marianne Spyra* (PS) 20:15.2, 7. Riana Heffron* (PM) 20:19.5, 8. Kate Brennan* (HF-L) 20:25.8, 13. Gabrielle Spyra* (PS) 20:55.2, 14. Adriana Ochoa* (PM) 21:01.1, 16. Karlee Angona* (PS) 21:12.1, 19. Kimberly Ludwig* (PS) 21:41.1.
Class C
Teams: 1. Dansville* 48, 2. Wayland-Cohocton 95, 3. Waterloo 99, 4. Midlakes 102, 5. Attica 117, 6. Bath 132, 7. Livonia 135, 8. Marcus Whitman 160. Inc. Aquinas, Hornell, Le Roy, Mynderse, Newark, North Rose-Wolcott, Sodus/Marion.
Individuals (70 finishers): 1. Katelyn Wilkes* (Mid) 19:04.7, 2. Addi Bree* (Wat), 19:49.0, 3. Charlotte Blake* (Le) 20:20.1, 4. Bailey Nixon* (Att) 20:38.1, 5. Emma Ubbink* (Mid) 20:38.7, Brianne Hurlburt* (D) 21:45.0, 8. Morgan Bell* (D) 21:53.6, 13. Maggie Bacon* (D) 22:40.9, 15. Haley Beman* (D) 23:00.1, 17. Sofia Rodriguez* (D) 23:09.4, 22. Riley Nagle* (D) 23:24.9, 23. Alexandra Schirmer* (D) 23:33.0.
Class D
Teams: 1. Addison* 44, 2. Arkport/Canaseraga/Alfred-Almond 95, 3. Oakfield-Alabama 95, 4. Honeoye 144, 5. Williamson 160, 6. Geneseo 165, 7. Clyde-Savannah 175, 8. Byron-Bergen 201, 9. Harley-Allendale Columbia 206, 10. Avon 232, 11. Bloomfield/Naples 242, 12. Red Creek 245, 13. Red Jacket 292. Inc. Alexander, Avoca-Prattsburgh, Bishop Kearney, Caledonia-Mumford, Charles Finney, Cuba-Rushford, Dundee-Bradford, East Palmyra Christian, Gananda, Genesee Valley, Hammondsport, Holley, Jasper-Troupsburg, Kendall, Keshequa, Notre Dame Batavia, Pavilion, Pembroke, South Seneca, Warsaw, Wheatland-Chili.
Individuals (145 finishers): 1. Faith Skowvron* (Add) 19:01.4, 2. Téa Malone-Bonacci* (H-AC) 19:42.5, 3. Kylie Paylor* (C-S) 19:53.3, 4. Emmy O’Neill* (Ham) 20:09.8, 5. Jenna Franklin* (A/C/A-A) 20:15.4, 6. Catheriine Staley* (Gen) 20:22.6, 7. Kerrigan Driskell* (Add) 20:34.8, 10. Anna Lyons* (Add) 20:39.2, 14. Sarah Lyons* (Add) 21:20.5, 24. Sydney Ribble* (Add) 21:48.7, 31. Aisha Randall* (Add) 22:09.5, 37. Brooke VanCise* (Add) 22:27.3.
Complete results online at www.yentiming.com
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Section V cross country championships results 2022
