The Colonie boys cross country team ran away with the D division championship at Saturday’s Manhattan Invitational in the Bronx.
Brothers Jake and Jordan Johnson each had top-10 finishes to lead the Garnet Raiders to a 66-point victory over Hunterdon Central. Jake Johnson placed fourth with a time of 13:02.6, while older brother Jordan finished ninth with a time of 13:23.9.
Zach Bell (13th place, 13:39.1) and Ryan Mulson (19th, 13:44.6) added top-20 finishes for Colonie. Jon Coogan (63rd, 14:32.9) rounded out the Garnet Raiders’ top five.
Shaker’s boys team was part of a tight competition for the F division title. The Blue Bison placed third with 126 points, four points behind runner-up Cicero-North Syracuse and eight points behind division champion Commack. St. Peters of Jersey City was a close fourth with 129 points.
Shaker used a pack mentality to place itself among the top four teams. The Blue Bison’s top five runners all finished in the top 40, and the gap between them was 35.5 seconds.
Paul Nichols led Shaker with a ninth-place finish in a time of 13:34.4, while Tom Hale took 17th place with a time of 13:45.6. Dan Hausamann (26th place, 13:55.1), Christopher Bouchard (35th, 14:05.1) and Jack Fallon-Underwood (39th, 14:09.9) made up the rest of Shaker’s lead group.
Christian Brothers Academy grabbed 10th place in the Boys E division race with 263 points. Justin Van Epps led the Brothers with an eighth-place finish in a time of 13:04.3.
On the girls’ side, Colonie and Shaker each had top-five finishes in their divisions. Colonie took second place in the B division with 115 points, while Shaker placed fifth in the D race with 172 points.
Colonie had four girls in the top 40 in the B race. Bellame Bower paced the Lady Raiders with a ninth-place finish in a time of 15:36.9, while Amanda Chambers placed 11th with a time of 15:41.0. Kathryn Tenney (34th place, 16:24.1), Marilyn O’Brien (35th, 16:24.7) and Shannen Kerin (42nd, 16:33.1) rounded out Colonie’s top five.
Shaker tied Rush-Henrietta for fourth place in the D division standings, but the Royal Comets won the tiebreaker to place ahead of the Blue Bison.
Maryanna Lansing was Shaker’s top runner, as she turned in an eighth-place finish with a time of 15:34.5. Calynn Cerniglia was 26th with a time of 16:23.0, and Payton Czupil finished 37th with a time of 16:38.9.