Even as Vernon Verona Sherrill played host to its annual cross country invitational on Saturday, the bigger news was what was announced earlier this month. Officials awarded the 2011 New York State Public High School Association cross country championship meet to VVS, giving all the younger runners in the area, both boys and girls, a goal to shoot for. To be exact, the date of the state meet at VVS will be Nov. 11, 2011, a year after the 2010 Section III championships will be staged there following a three-year stint at Jamesville Beach State Park. The VVS course winds around the athletic fields at the high school and also heads into wooded areas near a water tower, all finishing up on the f0otball field sidelines. That last fact will allow thousands of spectators to sit in bleachers and get a panoramic view when all the runners come home. In the first of what will prove to be three seasons full of warm-ups for the big show in 2011, the annual VVS Invitational took place on Saturday, with competition in “Red” and “White” divisions on both the boys and girls side. In all, 21 girls and 19 boys teams took part. VVS saw its girls team grab fourth in the Red division with 113 points. Lauren MacDonald, in a time of 20 minutes, 37.7 seconds, was ninth, but best among runners outside of Fayetteville-Manlius, the reigning national champions posting the top eight finishers, including Molly Malone, who won in 18:45.2. Outside of MacDonald, Kerry Miley had the best effort, taking 17th place in 22:32.3, while Casey Kane was 24th in 23:32.5. Oneida, seventh in the 11-team field with 165 points, had Erin Durdan finish 22nd in 22:59.4, with Jen Scholl 35th (24:32.9) and Lena Reginelli (24:53.9) close behind Scholl. Beginning her senior campaign in the White division race, Canastota’s Allison Lasnicki pulled away from the field, winning in 19:16.5, the only runner to break 20 minutes in this division. As a whole, the Raiders were fifth, with 136 points, as Tully prevailed with 50 points. Eighth-grader Marissa Williams was 19th, in 22:15.3, while Francesca Popple took 23rd place in 22:33.7. In the boys division, VVS finished fifth in the 10-team Red division with 150 points, with Oneida eighth (184 points) as F-M, led by Brendan Farrell (16:25.9), took five of the top six individual positions. Seth MacDonald, just a freshman, led the Red Devils, storming into seventh place in 17:53.8, while Oneida’s Connor McCarthy was 10th in 18:08.5. Nathan Feherty gave VVS a 23rd-place clocking of 19:21.6, with Adam Litterio 35th in 20:27.2. For the Indians, Paul Greene was 38th in 20:50.5. Canastota landed in fifth among 10 White division teams with 144 points, with Baldwinsville (32 points) out in front and Jesse Garn (Marcellus) winning the race in 16:52.6. Aaron Walker led the Raiders, finishing seventh in 17:26.4, with Alex Spara 18th in 18:30.4 and Zach Skolnick (19:04.0) in 28th place. For Hamilton, Erik Roberts was 34th (19:40.2) and Dan Jacobs 45th in 20:28.9.