Records broken, champions crowned at Section V cross country championships

LEICESTER – Jake Passalugo cracked a knowing grin when told that friend and running buddy, Connor Domoy, said that earlier in the week Jake would concede the day’s best time to him at cross country sectionals Saturday.

"Well, that’s just a little joking among friends," Passalugo said, shortly after leading his Fairport team to its second straight team title and fifth in the last seven years. "Coming down the stretch I saw I had a chance to beat his time so I couldn't resist."

Domoy’s winning finish for Oakfield-Alabama/Elba in Class D – in a 3.1-mile course record 15 minutes, 27.1 seconds at Letchworth Park's Highgrounds Recreation Area – smashed Passalugo's course mark from a year ago by 20 seconds in the 9:45 race.

Three and a half hours later, when Passalugo was considering playing it safe with a big lead in the "A" race, for the biggest schools, he chose the fast road. He won in 15:26.2.

"We’re friends. We text every day or two," Passalugo said. "I couldn't pass up that opportunity. I'll hear about it. As it was, it was probably my best race of the year but I still felt I had something left."

Both are seniors. Both are contenders to win state titles and both enjoy messing a bit with each other's minds.

"We'll meet again at Nike regionals," Passalugo said. "That will be really good. We'll help each other."

They were the two fastest performances Saturday in the 96th edition of Section V cross country. The winning teams and top five individuals not on winning teams advance next Saturday to the state championships for members of the public high school athletic association.

Cool Ari excels during Section V girls cross country championship

Emily Leo was back in town to support her old teammates, and the Class of 2022 grad and Division I runner at UNC-Asheville saw senior Ari Reback defend her Class A title with her career-best race.

"I am so thrilled for her," Leo said. "I knew her when she was 11. She has come so far since then."

Reback lowered her personal-best time by 40 seconds, clocking a course-record 18:06.0 to finish three seconds ahead of Rush-Henrietta junior Haylie Smith.

"Ari looked strong from start to finish,” said Leo, who was Fairport's fifth finisher, a minute back of Reback, at the 2021 sectionals. "She's so cool. Nothing nervous shows."

"I felt really strong," Reback said. "I've been concentrating on finishing well. This time at around 400 meters left I told myself 'I can do this.' It worked."

No. 1 across town

Churchville-Chili cross country, on the rise for several years now with the collaboration of coaches Paul Glor, Richard Strasser and Chris Memelo, claimed the team title for the first time in girls A.

Beth Burchill (1983) and Heather Whalen (1986) were C-C individual champions, but no team had supplanted regular contenders like Fairport, Rush-Henrietta, Webster and Penfield in the previous 47 years of girls sectional competition.

Alexa Briggs led the way with a fourth-place finish and fourth-best time of the day.

Teammates Hannah Kuhns, a freshman (6th, 18:41.5), sophomore Aubrey Sudol (11th, 19:13.6), senior Madeline Sichak (18th, 19:43.2), junior Michaela Goettel (24th, 20:04.8) and junior Maria Mullen (30th, 20:13.1 followed.

C-C scored 61 points on the strength of placing four in the top 20, while Rush-Henrietta (74) and defending champion Fairport each had just three in the top 20.

Flying away

Oakfield-Alabama/Elba's Domoy, who led his team to its first title since 2017, has visited two colleges, Virginia Tech and University at Buffalo.

His family drove to UB, 45 minutes away and flew to Blacksburg, Va., in two hours.

Connor was the pilot.

"I got my license in April," he said, "and I've logged more than a hundred hours since then. We own a four-seater Cessna 172. It has a cruising speed of about 125.

"That flight to Blacksburg was so beautiful, with all the fall colors. I flew directly into campus at a small airport the Virginia Tech football team uses."

Domoy, who is a two-time sectional cross country champion, will study aeronautical engineering and run distance in NCAA Division I.

Another Brennan finishes No. 1 at the Section V cross country championships

Kate Brennan's sister, Ann, was Honeoye Falls-Lima's sectional champion her senior year – 2021 -- and it was the last time the Cougars qualified for states as a team.

Guess who's following her with faster footsteps?

Younger sister Kate.

Although HF-L missed states by 10 points this year, Kate, a junior, claims a faster time. She led a field of 57 finishers in girls B in a personal best 18:51.7 over the 3.1-mile layout. Ann ran 19:29.5 the first year of Letchworth as a sectional site, but it was in much poorer conditions.

"Ann's helped me a lot," Kate said. "It's good to have someone close who can give me good advice."

Retired HF-L coach Bernie Gardner, who coached the Cougar girls to 18 sectional titles, said he remembers meeting Kate for the first time, when she was in grade school.

"I introduced myself, and said 'hi, you're Ann's sister,' " Gardner said. "She looked me straight in the eye and said 'I'm the upgrade!'

A four-peat for Penn Yan's James "J.D." Tette

James "J.D." Tette, a Penn Yan senior rated seventh in the state in C by website MileSplit.com, has had no one to really push him again this season as he chalked up his fourth straight sectional title.

Did he back off on hard workouts last week?

"No," Tette said. "I still have to practice and I don't think I should take any easy days. The competition gets tougher now.

"Next week I will go all out."

He logged a 16:03.5 to beat a field of 77. That was the day's 13th-best time. His team was fourth as Marcus Whitman defended its title and won its third, all since 2017.

Whitman eighth-grader Desmond Hill was third, and the day's top eighth-grader in 16:51.0. Whitman placed runners in the 3, 6, 7, 13, 17, 20 and 25 slots to outdistance second-place Livonia 43-73. The C race had just nine full teams and seven partial teams (four or fewer).

Quite a sweep for Pittsford Sutherland

Pittsford Sutherland claimed the day’s only team double under fifth-year coach Dave Rappleyea. The school's boys and girls team had never won sectional titles in the same year until junior Will Tempest and senior Adrian Ochoa led the way Saturday.

Tempest is Section V's second-highest rated runner and had the day's third-best time, 15:29.9, in Sutherland's 1, 8, 12, 15, 22, 27, 28 finishing lineup.

Two boys teams in Sutherland's past – 1974 and 1982 – were champions with now-retired coach Tom Cole, who was at sectionals Saturday as an appeals committee member.

Olympian Pete Pfitzinger was lead man on his '74 team. When the two Pittsford high schools had combined teams they won titles in 1967 and 1987.

Shooting for states

Passalugo said he was racing with states in mind, which is why he backed off some on his early 4:50-first-mile pace.

But all Fairport's guys were psyched to finish ahead of Churchville-Chili, which is why their pre-race “psyche circle” in the starting meadow had a louder-than-normal bellowing chant, led by senior Tyler Fischer.

"Just something the Churchville guys posted online . . . like we were going down," Passalugo said. "So the mindset today was be sure to take care of business. We're where we want to be now," he said.

Fairport laid out the day's tightest five-man time spread, 49 seconds first to fifth. Churchville-Chili's was 1:06 with 4, 6, 11, 14, 30 finishes to Fairport's 1, 3, 8, 12, 13.

A grand prize for Wayland-Cohocton champion

Shortly after winning the first race of the day, Class C, Wayland-Cohocton sophomore Hope Ammarel was doubly, even triply, happy.

"I'm excited I won," she said, before she knew her team also won. "And . . . my parents promised me a foster cat if I won, and my coach promised me a bag of French fries!"

Ammarel, who already has two cats of her own, volunteers at the Hornell Humane Society and has taken in foster cats at home. But she has none right now.

"I’ll be there tomorrow."

So much better

Her coach, Pat Tyler, said they've been working on her closing times, so Williamson sophomore Hannah Governor turned it up several notches and came within 10 seconds of the course record, in 18:52.0.

"I was very nervous on the line," she said, "but after that I felt really good the whole race. My time is four minutes faster than sectionals a year ago."

Jim Castor, retired assistant sports editor of the Democrat and Chronicle, has covered running in the Rochester area for more than five decades. He can be reached at jcastor@jimcastor.com

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Section V cross country championship 2023; Records broken, titles won