Frontier stole the show at a sloppy, cold, East Aurora course on Saturday taking both the individual win and the overall team win! Sophomore Joshua Peron chased down Lancaster senior Armani Merlino over the last 200 meters to cover the muddy 3 mile course in 16:14, and just over a 2 second win over the steady Merlino. Peron noted "I just wanted to keep the leader close," as he showed off why with his closing speed. The fast finish should not be a surprise as he won the large school section title in the 400 hurdles this past spring. Frontier also fended off a strong challenge from fellow "A" school Orchard Park, who placed 3 runners in the top 8, however Frontiers depth (1st, 7th, 14th, 22nd, and 31st) was too much for every other team to handle. Pioneer, a class B school, took 3rd, ahead of host East Aurora, another class B school, who finished in 5th. This sets up one of the more anticipated team races next week at the sectional championships, as that is the 1st time Pioneer has topped East Aurora this season.
On the girls side host East Aurora matched the Frontier boys taking both the individual title, and the team title. Freshman Megan McLaughlin continued her dominant season winning by over 40 seconds. Teammate Karis Ertel, as they did at the EA invite, came in 2nd place, holding off a challenge by Orchard Park junior Marin Bogulski and Lancaster sophomore Maya Lasker. East Aurora capped off their dominant performance with 8th grader Samantha Hulme placing 9th, junior Maggie McLaughlin took 15th, and sophomore Geneva Green rounded out the scoring for East Aurora placing 17th. West Seneca West took 2nd with 98 points, and is looking to lead the class A schools next week at the sectional championships. Springville girls placed 12th, the top class C school in the field, with Alden, a fellow class C school finishing just behind in 13th. Both teams will be looking to challenge Niagara Orleans school Newfane for the section 6 class C title next week.