Since then, Maple Grove has been the only Class D school from Western New York to send a team of runners to the state meet.

Until Friday.

Tess Flikkema finished first overall in 20:27.67 to lead Clymer/Sherman/Panama to a first-place team finish in Class D with 25 points at the Section VI championships at Alden High School.

“Beyond working toward it just this year, when we look at our seniors Hannah (Schauman) and Leighanne (Swan), they’ve been on varsity since eighth grade and had four years of sectional runnerup finishes,” C/S/P head coach Ray Shrout said. “For them to stick through it and help lead the team to this point, I’m really excited for them to have a chance to take their team to states.”

Photo by Mike Frame Fredonia/Westfield’s Kaley Robb leads a group of runners at the Section VI Class C cross country championship at Alden High School on Friday.

Schauman took fourth, Swan was sixth, Haley Odell was ninth and Solki-Martin Lacayo was 11th for the Wolfpack, who beat second-place Maple Grove by 35 points. Sherman’s 2008 title is the only one the three-school partnership had ever won before Friday.

“We’ve had a lot of kids battling illness or injuries. Solki has been dealing with an injury and I thought she really stepped up. Haley Odell had a really strong kick at the end to pass a couple of Maple Grove girls,” Shrout said. “(Leighanne Swan) missed the first part of the season so when she came back, she ran really well initially and had another injury that made it hard for her to run for a while. … She has just missed out qualifying for states before as an individual so for her to be part of that as a team, I’m really happy for her.”

Frewsburg’s boys also put an end to a 15-year run of either Maple Grove or Barker winning Section VI titles as Juvenal Diaz’s fifth-place individual finish led the Bears to a 57-point total.

“Maple Grove is an admirable team. Barker is always good. Typically, in the past several years, we were always trying to catch Maple Grove and watch out for Barker,” said Frewsburg head coach Sandy Ruhlman. “When you have a special group of boys, you want to have it pay off like it did today.”

Cody Kent was seventh, Micah Barber was eighth, Xander Pitts was 19th and Noah Collins was 22nd for Frewsburg, which won its fourth sectional crown and first since 2001.

“This past summer, there was a core group of boys who were running consistently and it shows in their times,” Ruhlman said. “What I love about this team is that they are just fiercely competitive with each other, which drives us to be better every day.”

Randolph’s Roan Kelly won the Class D boys race in 16:22.84 and will be joined by Maple Grove’s Ethan Verbosky, Barker’s Mason Allee-Castro, Wilson’s Jaydan Ruble and Franklinville/Ellicottville’s Grant Cornell at the state meet.

Barker’s Emma Evans, West Valley’s Olivia Harmony, Gowanda’s Calie Hudson, Frewsburg’s Jadyn Trocki and Maple Grove’s Presley Haines all qualified for the Class D girls state meet.

“She’s ultra competitive and likes to win. She ran really well in some big races. We knew we would move her up after McQuaid and the question was how well she would adjust to the longer distances,” Ruhlman said of her daughter, Jadyn Trocki. “She’s naturally a pretty athletically talented kid so she handled the training well. She handled the nerves well today because it was so competitive.”

The top team of boys and girls in each class as well as the top five individual runners not on those teams will run at Vernon Verona Sherrill High School next Saturday.

In Class C, Alden beat Southwestern by 13 spots to clinch the boys team title. East Aurora’s Owen Rung took first in 16:42.58 followed by Southwestern’s Nate Lewis and Trey Faulk, East Aurora’s Shane Fraser and Fredonia/Westfield’s Trenton Krenzer.

The Trojans were crowned Class C2 champions with 12th-place Donavin Brown, 16th-place Sam Kautzman and 17th-place Lukas Sevenson joining Lewis and Faulk in the scoring, but only the overall class winner advances to the state meet.

The Class C girls championship was won by East Aurora with 41 points. Allegany-Limestone’s Angelina Napoleon, the defending Class C state champion, took first individually in 17:52.76. The other four qualifying individuals were Newfane’s Kylie Bowman, Southwestern’s Emma Lewis, Springville’s Kirsten Melnik and Allegany-Limestone’s Lilianna Peters.

Jamestown’s boys finished third in the Class A race with 114 points, led by 14th-place Maxwell Knight and 15th-place Tyler Zwald. Orchard Park won the Class A crown with 41 points, led by first-place individual finisher Joseph Bertola (16:11.36).

Jamestown’s girls were 10th with 276 points, led by 38th-place Gabriella Knight in 22:55.20. Orchard Park also won the girls Class A title with 55 points while Frontier’s Lillie Bogdan won the individual title in 17:49.31.

Dunkirk was 11th in the boys Class B race with 288 points, paced by 25th-place Willjarie Santiago. Starpoint won the Class B boys team title with 52 points while City Honors eighth-grader Henry Peterson won the individual crown in 17:06.13.

Starpoint also won the girls Class B team title with 57 points, led by first-place individual finisher Shannon Zugelder in 19:38.04.

Full results are available at ny.milesplit.com/results

BOYS

Class A

1. Orchard Park 41; 2. Clarence 50; 3. Jamestown 114; 4. West Seneca West 139; 5. Lancaster 159; 6. Kenmore West 160; 7. Lockport 185; 8. Niagara Wheatfield 190; 9. Frontier 198; 10. Niagara Falls 220; 11. Williamsville North 270; 12. Tapestry 381

1. Joseph Bertola (OP); 2. Cameron Bogdan (F); 3. Jeff Zhang (C); 4. Thomas Reid (L); 5. Noah Holden (C); 6. Benjamin Betrus (OP); 7. Max Stinner (KW); 8. Thomas Blake (OP); 9. Michael Breth (OP); 10. Ryan Vanderlip (WSW). T–16:11.36

Class B

1. Starpoint 52; 2. Hamburg 86; 3. Williamsville East 108; 4. Amherst 135; 5. Lewiston-Porter 178; 6. City Honors 187; 7. Iroquois 215; 8. Lake Shore 224; 9. Williamsville South 241; 10. Kenmore East 265; 11. Dunkirk 288; 12. Sweet Home 293; 13. North Tonawanda 318; 14. Pioneer 333; 15. Grand Island 343; 16. Maryvale 390

1. Henry Peterson (CH); 2. Peyton Spatorico (S); 3. Sidney Morris (KE); 4. Marek France (WE); 5. Gavin Farrell (S); 6. Owen Olsen (A); 7. Joseph Kramer (WE); 8. Krist Mihallofski (H); 9. Daniel Costello (WE); 10. Blayze Becker (LS). T–17:06.13

Class C

1. Alden 34; 2. Southwestern 47; 3. East Aurora 53; 4. Fredonia/Westfield 125; 5. Akron 186; 6. Newfane 208; 7. Eden 217; 8. Medina 231; 9. Falconer/Cassadaga Valley 265; 10. Silver Creek/Forestville 283; 11. Springville 292; 12. Royalton-Hartland 317; 13. Depew 354; 14. Albion 378; 15. Cleveland Hill 389; 16. Tonawanda 449

1. Owen Rung (EA); 2. Nate Lewis (So); 3. Matthew Strasser (Al); 4. Trey Faulk (So); 5. Gage Feider (Al); 6. Evan Feider (Al); 7. Caleb Feider (Al); 8. Shane Fraser (EA); 9. Trenton Krenzer (F/W); 10. Mason Wiedeman (EA). T–16:42.58

Class D

1. Frewsburg 57; 2. Barker 69; 3. Maple Grove 74; 4. Gowanda 93; 5. Wilson 111; 6. Randolph 155; 7. Clymer/Sherman/Panama 157; 8. West Valley 196

1. Roan Kelly (R); 2. Ethan Verbosky (MG); 3. Mason Allee-Castro (B); 4. Jaydan Ruble (W); 5. Juvenal Diaz (F); 6. Grant Cornell (F/E); 7. Cody Kent (F); 8. Micah Barber (F); 9. Sean Verbosky (MG); 10. Lucas Dunnewold (C/S/P). T–16:22.84

GIRLS

Class A

1. Orchard Park 55; 2. Clarence 57; 3. Niagara Wheatfield 87; 4. Frontier 100; 5. Lancaster 107; 6. Williamsville North 112; 7. West Seneca West 208; 8. Niagara Falls 231; 9. Kenmore West 259; 10. Jamestown 276; 11. Hutch Tech 318

1. Lillie Bogdan (F); 2. Miranda Gatto (NW); 3. Noel Barlette (OP); 4. Jillian O’Rourke (OP); 5. Brier Amerlinck (WN); 6. Chloe Fisher (F); 7. Hannah Wierer (OP); 8. Julia Gullo (L); 9. Lily Wolfley (C); 10. Brooke Podgorski (C). T–17:49.31

Class B

1. Starpoint 57; 2. Hamburg 61; 3. Iroquois 96; 4. Grand Island 104; 5. Amherst 107; 6. Pioneer 111; 7. Williamsville South 197; 8. Sweet Home 206; 9. Maryvale 220

1. Shannon Zugelder (S); 2. Annabel Pacouloute (S); 3. Brooklyn Lazarz (S); 4. Aurora Smith (H); 5. Ella Herman (H); 6. Sara Cedro (I); 7. Olivia Meier (WS); 8. Jorja Smith (KE); 9. Sienna Uebelhoer (I); 10. Greta Schmitt (H). T–19:38.04

Class C

1. East Aurora 41; 2. Allegany-Limestone 49; 3. Newfane 85; 4. Eden 132; 5. Southwestern 133; 6. Alden 173; 7. Akron 195; 8. Royalton-Hartland 204; 9. Springville 231; 10. Albion 283; 11. Tonawanda 296; 12. Fredonia/Westfield 298

1. Angelina Napoleon (A-L); 2. Kylie Bowman (N); 3. Emma Lewis (So); 4. Kailyn Houghton (EA); 5. Kirsten Melnik (Sp); 6. Emilia O’Leary (EA); 7. Catherine Schoeneman (EA); 8. Lilianna Peters (A-L); 9. Lucy Brown (So); 10. Hope Owens (EA). T–17:52.76

Class D

1. Clymer/Sherman/Panama 25; 2. Maple Grove 60; 3. Barker 81; 4. Wilson 90; 5. Gowanda 100

1. Tess Flikkema (C/S/P); 2. Emma Evans (B); 3. Olivia Harmony (WV); 4. Hannah Schauman (C/S/P); 5. Calie Hudson (G); 6. Leighanne Swan (C/S/P); 7. Jadyn Trocki (F); 8. Presley Haines (MG); 9. Haley Odell (C/S/P); 10. Madelynne Jowdy (W). T–20:27.67