MARATHON – Over the weekend, the Norwich, Unadilla Valley/GMU, and the Afton/Harpursville/Bainbridge-Guilford cross country teams competed at the Marathon Invitational.

For the boys, Norwich and UV/GMU were placed in the unseeded class where the Storm earned third place (135 points) while the Purple Tornado followed in fourth (139 points). Livonia achieved first place with 55 points.

Norwich’s Drew Brooks led all unseeded male runners with a time of 18:22. Coach Shaun Horan said Brooks broke away from the field just after the first mile and extended his lead until he crossed the finish line. Horan continues to be impressed by the great improvements from his runners.

Caden Sutton also proved himself as he finished seventh while Anthony Bourne made his way to 26th place to round out the top runners for the Tornado.

For UV/GMU, Brennan Finch finished fifth with a time of 19:31 in a close battle with runners only seconds behind him. Noah Pain just missed the top 10 as he finished in a tie for 11th place with Simon Aguilar from Geneseo. Both runners finished with a time of 19:48, just two seconds away from 10th place.

Afton/Harpursville/BG landed in the Girls seeded class, where they finished ninth with 214 points with West Genesee in first with 60 points. Ethne Degan continues to place well as she earned fourth place with a time of 20:08.8. While she was the top runner, her teammates saw the bottom of the board as Vanessa Brazee came in 43rd place.

In the unseeded race, Norwich and UV/GMU did not have enough female runners to provide a team score, but each runner finished strong.

Andrea Favinger had a fifth place finish as the Storm’s lone runner while Norwich was led by Annie Boland and Kyra Brunick-Davis. Boland earned 13th place while Brunick-Davis finished in 20th.

UV/GMU, along with Afton/Harpursville/BG, will be getting ready for the MAC Championships on October 27. Next up for Norwich is the STAC Championships on October 22.