In a pair of close meets, the Marcellus cross country teams managed to hold off Chittenango last Wednesday afternoon, the start of a productive week for the Mustangs on a team and individual basis. For the boys Mustangs, a 26-29 victory over the Bears required a 1-2 effort from Ryan Manahan and Justin Garn. Manahan won the race in 18 minutes, 37 seconds, while Garn worked his way to second place in 18:54, well ahead of the Bears’ Isaac Czarnecki (19:12) in third. Only Alex Zamajski, in sixth place (19:31), broke up a Chittenango run before Alex Stopen and Pat McGuane rescued the meet. Stopen finished eighth and McGuane in ninth, both of them crossing the finish line in 19:53. On the girls side, Marcellus, led again by Rachel Garn and Molly McGuane, earned a 25-32 victory over Chittenango. Garn won in a time of 21:15 as McGuane, in 22:40, was nearly a minute ahead of the Bears’ top runner, Shannon Bunce (23:42), to put together yet another 1-2 finish. Then Eliza Bell made her way to sixth place in 24:21, just ahead of Schuyler Stuart (24:22), while Emily Townsend earned ninth place in 24:41 and Dominique Weeks (24:45) was 10th. Neither of West Genesee’s cross country teams could keep up in last Wednesday’s showdown with Fayetteville-Manlius, falling 15-49 on the girls side and 23-32 on the boys side. At least in the boys race, the Wildcats had its full lineup and took aim at the Hornets. Nate Conroy led WG, finshing in 17 minutes, 42 seconds, with Will Randall (17:57) right behind, but they trailed the 1-2 effort of F-M’s Nick Ryan (17:37) and Bryce Millar (17:39). Mike Lannon made his way to seventh place, in 18:02, inches ahead of Jack Erhard, who was eighth in 18:03. Kal Strickland also ran well, claiming 10th place in 18:11. As Laura Leff awaited her turn in the Manhattan Invitational, the WG girls ceded to the six-time national champions from F-M, the Hornets earning a top-six sweep before Lindsay Weaver finished in 21:21. Weaver was the lone Wildcat runner in the top 10. Solvay split with Phoenix, winning 15-45 on the boys side and losing a 19-40 decision to the Firebirds on the girls side. Matt Cregan won the race in 18:05, ahead of Cody McCarthy, who was second in 18:14. Nate Carr got third place in 18:45, edging out Eric Goodrich (18:49), who was fourth, as Isaiah Lee (19:03) gained fifth place. Ashlee Riggins gave the Solvay girls a second-place finish in 23:19. Jordan-Elbridge’s teams both lost to Hannibal, 15-48 on the boys side and 19-40 on the girls side. Brianna Byrnes finished second in the girls race in 23:11, but was the Eagles’ lone top-five runner. Lauren Hubbs was eighth, in 25:55, ahead of Natalie Emerick (26:33) and Sarah Knapp (26:57). The Warriors swept the top six boys spots ahead of J-E’s Nathan Hollis, who was seventh in 19:11. Jake Patterson (19:23) and Bill DiRenzo (19:55) closely followed. Many of these top local runners would go to Van Cortlandt Park, in the Bronx, for Saturday’s Manhattan Invitational. Manahan won again, claiming the boys Varsity D race on a 2.5-mile course in 12 minutes, 45.3 seconds, nearly 12 seconds better than the runner-up, Linganore’s Patrick Duboyce. J-E’s Jack Gugel, running in that same race, finished 34th in 13:45 flat. West Genesee, in the Varsity C race, finished sixth among teams as Randall got 11th place in a time of 13:23.8. Strickland was 14th in 13:28.1, while Conroy got 22nd place in 13:39.9. Looking at the girls side in the Manhattan meet, Westhill/Bishop Ludden’s Annibel Coolican was 28th in the Eastern States Invitational, the featured race, in a time of 15:27.5, part of a 12th-place finish among 17 teams as Emily Washburn took 40th in 15:47.2. Garn gave Marcellus a fifth-place finish in the girls Varsity C race in a clocking of 15:28.4, with J-E’s Abby Gugel sixth in 15:30.5. In the girls Varsity E race, West Genesee was 11th in a 27-team field, paced by Weaver, who earned 30th place in 16:15 flat. Sara Ferranti was 51st in 16:44.4, just ahead of Abby Kastick (16:53.3) in 58th.