On Tuesday, Oct. 4, the Bears Cross Country teams got their first look at the course for sectionals in November. In this league meet, hosted by Salmon River, the Bears raced against Norwood-Norfolk, Franklin Academy, Salmon River, Massena, Tupper Lake, Potsdam, Brushton-Moira, Gouverneur, and Ogdensburg.
The Cedar View Golf course has a relatively flat trail and the runners demonstrated exceptional speed on it. Every member of the girls and boys teams set a season best. This is extremely promising for the Bears’ chances for the rest of the season and at sectionals. The girls team placed second, behind Norwood-Norfolk, and the boys team placed third, behind Norwood-Norfolk and Franklin Academy.
All the runners on the girls team ran season bests, with some runners beating their time from the shorter OFA course. The Canton girls team put three runners in the top 10. Senior Sharon Colbert from Norwood-Norfolk sped to another first place finish with a time of 19:11.07, followed by her freshman teammate Madison Carista who had a time of 20:06.30. Freshman Bennett Schmitt and senior Grace McDonough from Canton placed third and fourth with their fastest times of the season so far, 20:34.21 and 20:43.49. They were followed by three more Norwood-Norfolk runners, junior Rachel Hewey, who placed fifth with a 20:43.49, freshman Brielle Gates with a 21:10.75, and freshman Allie Snell with a 21:13.73. Sophomore Meredith Bush placed eighth for Gouverneur with a 21:17.88, and junior Jasmine Oakes from Salmon River placed ninth with a 21:34.58. Less than three seconds behind her was Canton sophomore Johanna Tupper who placed tenth with a time of 21:37.15. The fourth and fifth finishers for the Bears were Haley Burnett who placed 20th with a time of 23:46.52, and CJ McKinley placed 21st with a time of 23:51.23. The Bears’ sixth runner was senior Lynzie Lawton who placed 31st with a time of 25:08.25, and the seventh runner was sophomore Lorelei Harper who placed 37th with a time of 26:18.63. The final scores for the Girl’s Varsity 5k were Norwood-Norfolk in first with 21 points, Canton in second with 53 points, and Gouverneur in third with 66 points.
Canton boys placed two runners in the top ten even though they were missing Kaden Worthley, a top runner, due to an ankle injury. Junior Dominic Fiacco from Norwood-Norfolk placed first by almost a minute with a time of 16:20.06. Second place went to Franklin Academy senior Watson Chodat who had a time of 17:13.54. Almost 50 seconds behind Watson were seniors Anthony Fiacco and Lance Bradley from Norwood-Norfolk, with times of 18:02.13 and 18:05.03. Salmon River senior Cayde Lazore finished fifth with a time of 18:21.09, and Salmon River sophomore Gunner Mitchell followed him with a time of 18:23.15. Seventh and eighth places went to juniors Logan Bradley of Norwood-Norfolk (18:34.15) and Dylan Keating of Franklin Academy (18:37.21). Directly behind Keating were Canton sophomores Daniel Armendariz-Huang who placed ninth with a time of 18:40.53 and Lucas Watts who placed tenth with a time of 18:41.32. Canton’s third runner was sophomore Rylan Lee-Powell who placed 16th with a time of 19:44.20, and their fourth runner was junior Nick Moquin who placed 22nd with a time of 20:26.34. Ten seconds later a flood of Canton jerseys crossed the line, owned by freshman Adam Sabatini who placed 26th with a time of 20:35.53, freshman Duncan Harper placing 27th less than a second later with a 20:35.76, and junior Aaron Putman who placed 28th with a time of 20:38.31. The final scores for the Boy’s Varsity 5k saw Norwood-Norfolk place first with 27 points, Franklin Academy second with 74 points, and Canton in third with 83 points.
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