Minoa, NY - In a return to the first meet we ever covered, the ESM Invite kicked off the official start of the XC competitive season. No more previews, pre-rankings, and ponderings, but finally some cold hard facts. Here's how the races played out.
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Boys Varsity
Making the trip east for their opening invite, Section 5's Brighton put on an impressive showing. From the gun, Mason Vodacek took off to lead the pack by 20 meters. At the halfway mark, the pack began to gain on the senior, however, the pack consisted of five fellow Barons. Drew Schmitt would then take over, leading a clean sweep of the top points at the invite, a perfect 15 to kick off the season. The team took 3rd at States in 2005, but will be facing a strong Pittsford-Mendon, the defending champs, to make it back there this year. If this was any indication, the teams in Section 5 aren't slouching.
Girls Varsity
A strong quartet separated early from the sea of runners in their opening runs. Anna Galbraith (Chittenango), Hannah Butler (Jamesville-Dewitt), Natalie Marra (ESM), and eventual race winner Kaitlyn Neal (Skaneateles) were running alone at the halfway mark. It was only at the two mile mark where Galbraith threw in a surge, pulling away. Neal, one of the top runners in Class C, responded to the surge, and overcoming the leaders to take home the win. Behind the first four was another team of Section 5. Fairport had made the trip to ESM the year before, and looked to come back in force. They stayed close the entire race, and finished well with 38 points, and only a 51-second spread.
