3. Manlius Puts Two Under Course Record
It was a fitting farewell to the VVS course in Section 3. Next year, the course will undergo major construction, as the school building receives an expansion. But before the course that held the state meet in 2011 could be redone, two runners from Fayetteville-Manlius wanted to stamp their names on the course record. Both Claire Walters (17:44) and Sophie Ryan (17:59) were under the previous record set by FM's Jillian Fanning (18:01) back at the state meet. In both races, the course was a muddy mess, but didn't slow down the team effort. Manlius had 30 second compression one through four, with some minor changeups in their finishing order. With a return to form from Manhattan, they could have all five in that compression, all about a 143 speed rating. Only one time, at Regionals in 2008, has an FM team had five girls over 140 on the same day.
Honorable mention goes to a Westhill boys team, who come away with the biggest upset of the weekend. They were ranked sixth in Class B in Section 3 heading into the race, and beat Class B-16 New Hartford to win.