The Maple Grove cross country team made its way out to Long Island on Oct. 13 for a look at the state cross country course.

With the very demanding course that Sunken Meadows has to offer, both Maple Grove boys and girls teams had good showings. The boys were led by Peter Auer in a time of 17:22, which was good for a seventh place finish overall with large and small schools combined. He was followed by his teammates Frank Colburn in a time of 18:26 and Darius Jones with a time of 18:42. Riley Auer and Drew Kelemen rounded out Maple Grove’s top-five scoring members in times of 19:00 and 19:19 respectively. Nick Brunenavs 19:21 and Tyler McPherson 19:40 also ran well though the hills on the state’s course. The Maple Grove boys team finished in sixth place overall.

The Maple Grove girls cross country team was led by Christina Peppy in a time of 20:01. Ava Crist followed with a time of 20:33 before Abby Brunenavs crossed the finish line in 21:56. Bryn Mozzi finished in 22:22, while her teammate Carling Lockwood was close behind in 22:41. Teammates Tori Pavlock and Hannah Tarbrake had a photo finish sprinting to the line, both crossing the line in 23:07. The Maple Grove girls team finished in 5th place overall.

“It was a long drive out to Long Island and back from the western side of the state, but the Maple Grove team believes it is beneficial to be able to see the course and know how to prepare for it,” Coach Steve Matteson said. “We used some strategies that worked well and some that may not have worked as well. We have been warned about the hills on this course and we found out that the hills on Long Island are no joke. The course at Sunken Meadows State Park is a challenging course.

“I was proud of Peter Auer who set a game plan and stuck with it throughout the race. It was also nice to see friendly competition from fellow Fredonia runner Diego Rey work well with Auer for both of them to have strong performances and push each other to do their best.”

BRYANT PACES TROJANS

CLARENCE — Dagon Bryant of Southwestern finished in 10th place at the Clarence Invitational cross country race on Saturday.

Bryant ran a 17:18.8 to lead the Trojans, while Brady Fye clocked 18:52, Jaden Kinnear 19:10, Ethan Luce 19:15, Jack Vanstrom 19:36, Brendan Luce 19:39.6 and Ty Smith 20:01.5.

Sean Henretta of Fairport was the winner in 16:05.4.