CATO - Five local teams were in the mix at the OHSL Cross Country Championships at Cato-Meridian High School on Saturday. Every runner finished the final race before the Section III competition with mud-splattered legs and most were encouraged about how they finished the season.

Not state-ranked Jordan-Elbridge boys runner Cody Stanton, though. The Eagles' top runner had to drop out of the race about two miles into the 3.1-mile course, succumbing to an illness that has been running rampant through Jordan-Elbridge High School. It was the first time in his storied running career that he had to exit prematurely from the race.

“We had a very off day today,” Eagles coach Roger Roman said. “Cody had to drop out. He was very sick and light-headed, so he didn't have his normal race. He was in second or third place when he went out, but some other guys had some good races.

Stanton's absence from the team's points didn't stop the Eagles from finishing third overall, however, with 123 points. Marcellus won with 67 points and Christian Brothers Academy came in second with 107 points. Locally, Skaneateles came in 17th out of the 23 complete boys' teams with 438 points, just ahead of Port Byron in 18th place with 480 points. Cato-Meridian finished 20th with 537 points and Weedsport came in 22nd with 565 points.

For the girls' teams, Tully won with 82 points, Skaneateles (246) came in 10th out of the 19 complete girls teams, Jordan-Elbridge finished in 15th place (373) and Weedsport was 17th (413). Cato-Meridian and Port Byron were incomplete with three and four runners, respectively.

Runners mucked through the mud-laden course, most avoiding slipping down the stretch to the finish line, but there were a few runners that completed the race by gliding across the line.

J-E's Mike Marrero was the best local overall finisher of the day. Of 168 boys runners, Marrero came in fourth overall (17:33), less than half a minute behind winner Jesse Garn from Marcellus (17:04). There were four leagues at the meet and Marrero came in second in the Liberty League.

“Mike had a good race today and he's coming off taking his ACTs this morning,” Roman said. “He was much improved from last year's 10th or 11th place.”

Sophomore Steve Slonosky finished 14th overall (18:07) and 10th in the league, Mitch Alpha was 21st (18:40) and 13th in the league, Greg Bader was 27th (18:58), 16th in the league, and junior Tom Poppe was 57th (19:43).

“It was a real jumbled race for us,” Roman said. “But it was the county race, not sectionals. It wasn't like we tanked it totally, but we had a good shot to win this if everyone was healthy.”

The Eagles' Liberty League rival Skaneateles was led by Calvin Davis in 12th place (18:07), which was good enough for eighth in the league. Sam Kriever placed 64th (19:59), Matt Delasin was 110th (21:27), Michael Card came in 124th (22:34) and Danny Sakal placed 128th (22:54).

Senior Christian Cobb led the Panthers with a 32nd-place finish (19:04), which was good enough for second in the Patriot-National League. Michael Borst was 87th (20:36), Zac Leja placed 103rd (21:09), Matt Teabo took 127th (22:54) and Tyler Wellington rounded out the team's top five with a 131st finish (23:14).

Tom Klaben was the first runner for Port Byron, taking 65th place (20:02), and eighth in the Patriot-National League. Brett Ryan was 80th (20:27) and 11th in the league, Robert McLain was 111th (21:28) and 20th in the league. Larry Treasure finished 139th (23:52) and TJ Nervina was 142nd (24:27).

For Weedsport, Seth Baker placed 49th (19:32), fourth in the Patriot-National League. Logan Thompson was 76th (20:24), 10th in the league, Ryan Wager came in 134th (23:28), Austin Bates placed 152nd (28:59) and Nick Sanchez took 154th place (29:50).

In the girls race, which began the day, Skaneateles eighth grader Madeline Adams was the top local finisher, in 26th place overall (22:36) and eighth in the Liberty league. Courtney Pitman came in 37th (23:14), 19th in the league. Blair Gage was 47th (23:39), Shannon Byrne came in 66th (24:19) and Ellis Van Slyke was 70th (24:26).

Jordan-Elbridge had one runner finish in the Liberty League top 20, when Phebe Alley came in 33rd overall and 16th in the league (23:09). Kim Foltz was 39th (23:19), Emma Coomey took 96th (25:57), Jessica Salisbury finished 100th (26:11) and Rachel Betts placed 10th (26:55).

Alyssa O'Bryan finished 59th for Weedsport (24:06) and 10th in the Patriot-National League. Eleventh in the league was Michele Donahue, who ran 67th (24:20), Bethany Brown was 91st (25:35) and 16th in the league, Natalie Liddiard was 95th (25:54), 18th in the league and Erin Daly was 101st (26:13).

For the incomplete Blue Devils, Jordan Weir came in seventh in the Patriot-National League and 35th overall (23:05). Angelina Argese was 12th in the league and 82nd overall (24:54) and Jessica Bye was 13th in the league and 86th overall (25:09).

Port Byron's Emma Aversa came in 96th overall (25:25) and 14th in the league, Kate Riley was 119th (27:17), Heather Kurtz was 133rd (28:28) and out of the 142 girls runners, Christina Rooker placed 136th (30:33).

The Section III championships will be at Jamesville Beach on Nov. 7.