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Marcellus, N.Y. - It was one of those rare fall days where spending time outside made you feel good.  It was 
also a spectacular day for a championship high school cross country race.  For the fourth straight season, the 
Mustangs of Marcellus and the Eagles of Jordan-Elbridge had to battle for first place in the Liberty Division of 
the OHSL.  Both teams held perfect 5 and 0 records.  Both teams were state ranked.  And only one team could 
claim to be the champs once the race was over.  This year, it would not be the Jordan-Elbridge Eagles as the 
host Mustangs had taken 
J-E's 2009 championship away with a hard-fought 24 - 33 victory.  
     Lost in all the hoopla was the fact that six J-E seniors were competing in their last high school cross country 
dual meet.  Four of six of those seniors had been on the squad for three seasons.  The won-loss record of 
these departing seniors is an incredible 27 and 4.  Although the 2010 season will not be recorded as a champion-
ship season in the books, it will be remembered as a season of class and character.  "We may not have won 
the league title, but we made darned sure that people knew we were here" said J-E senior Greg Bader.  Jordan-
Elbridge was easy to spot with its 22 man roster, almost double of that of Marcellus and four times the size of 
CBA.  The pre-race cheer drew curious and smiling onlookers as J-E did its usual ‘who we' cheer.  Even the coach 
of Marcellus, the dean of high school coaches in the area for the past 53 years - Mr. Oscar Jensen - was taken 
back when each and every J-E runner shook the mighty man's hand just before race time.  "Your kids did some-
thing very classy" said Jensen after the race was over, "I was very impressed".
     J-E got out hard and followed the race strategy perfectly for as long as their bodies would allow.  For Jordan-
Elbridge to have won, it was to have broken up Marcellus' 3rd and 4th runners as well as their top two.  
Unfortunately, the Mustang runners pulled away from J-E in these key areas.  "I was right where I was supposed 
to be" said senior Carlin Coomey, "but after the first set of hills, they just pulled away from me".  "I was running 
as hard as I've run all year, as hard as I've ever run" added Coomey, who finished 15th.  
     Marcellus senior Jesse Garn won the race in an incredibly fast time of 17 minutes and six seconds (17.06), 
an especially fast time considering that each had to run on a series of steep hills affectionately called ‘The M's'.  
CBA's Brendan Smith was second (17.19) followed by Marcellus' second runner Ryan Manahan (17.30).  
"I was right with him but I let him get away" said a fatigued J-E senior Greg Bader, "I felt the affects of my 
field trip today and the harder-than-normal pace of the front runners".  J-E put the next three runners across 
the line in succession with freshman Jack Gugel taking 4th (17.54), junior Steve Slonosky taking 5th (17.56), 
and Bader in 6th (18.02).  But J-E's short-lived advantage was cast away with four Marcellus runners finishing 
between places eight through 11.  Marcellus runners Justin Garn was 8th (18.41), Joe Fallen was 9th (18.41), John 
Bell was next (10th/18.47), followed by Mike Epp (11th/18.50).  J-E's Tom Poppe was 12th (19.22) and Alex Suslik 
was 13th (19.43), but it was too late to make an impact, Marcellus had outscored the Eagles.  Senior Scott Sullivan 
was J-E's sixth man (14th place/19.48) and Carlin Coomey was J-E's 7th man (15th place/19.51).
 

     J-E ends its season with a 6 and 1 record, good for second in the division.  With league competition over, 
J-E can set its sights on sectionals which is in three weeks.  On Saturday, J-E gets to run another monster 
hill at the Weedsport Invitational.  Looks like the Eagles are all warmed up for this.