The Bears Cross Country team’s first meet was Saturday, Sept. 9, at the 2023 Section VII Cross Country Invitational in Cadyville. The boys varsity team opened its season with an unexpected win, beating 15 other teams from Section X, Section VII, and Section III. The girls varsity team placed third overall out of 13 teams. This was the Bears’ first time attending this invitational, which grew significantly, from 86 boys and 72 girls in 2022 to 147 boys and 105 girls in 2023. The course was grassy and flat, with only 105 feet of elevation gain.
When the gun went off for the boys 5k, the leaders took off, opening extremely fast. No one was able to hold the blazing pace of the first mile, but going into the second and final lap, the two leaders began to gap the field. Junior Jake Kollmer from Saranac Lake eventually finished first in a time of 16:55.74, followed almost immediately by Norwood-Norfolk senior Dominic Fiacco who placed second in 16:58.74. Canton’s first boy over the line was Aiden Rodriguez-Doyle, who finished his debut cross country meet eighth overall with a time of 17:52.11. His teammates Lucas Watts and Rylan Lee-Powell followed him closely in 11th and 13th places, with times of 18:05.85 and 18:20.22, respectively. Following this trio of juniors, Canton’s top five was rounded out by sophomore Adam Sabatini, who placed 27th in 19:25.71, and junior Kaden Worthley, who finished 34th in 19:52.85. This was enough for Canton to win the meet by a hair with 91 points and an average time of 18:43.35. Second Place went to Saranac Central with 93 points, and third place went to Saranac Lake with 94 points.
In the girls varsity 5k, Canton sophomore Bennett Schmitt started the race in first place, leading the pack for a few minutes before eventually falling back to finish in third place. Eighth-grader Maddy Welc from Peru took first place, barely going sub-20 with a time of 19:59, Saranac sophomore Laura Denial was second in 20:06.13, and Schmitt followed them with a 20:49.50. Canton freshman Ori Casserly also landed herself in the top ten, finishing eighth with a time of 22:09.22. The other members of the Canton top-five were junior Johanna Tupper, who placed 18th with a time of 23:30.63, junior CJ McKinley, who finished in 28th with a time of 24:34.76, and freshman Lena Frank, who took 32nd place in 24:47.82. This was enough to land the girls team in the top three. First place went to Norwood-Norfolk with 56 points, second went to Saranac Lake with 78 points, and third place went to Canton with 83 points.
After this strong start to the season, the Bears will race again on Tuesday, September 12 in Norwood-Norfolk.
The results of Saturday’s meet can be found at https://ny.milesplit.com/meets/566085-section-7-cross-country-invitational-2023/results.