NORWICH – The Norwich varsity cross country has enjoyed some early successes in the 2016 season, on both the boys and girls side of the races.

• On Sept. 10, the Tornado boys and girls got their season underway when they traveled to Oneonta, for the annual Oneonta ‘Flash’ Forbes Invitational meet.

Ben Ericksen and Nicole Jeffrey have lead the charge for the Tornado runners thus far, as they both sparked their seasons early on with respectable runs.

The varsity course would see the Tornado runners maneuver an approximately 2.7 mile course consisting of hills, flats, grass, water, and small amount of blacktop.

Matt Goyden of Maine-Endwell would earn the top spot in the meet when he ran a 14:03.0 for the win on the boys side.

Norwich’s Ericksen would enjoy a fifth place finish to start 2016, when he managed a 15:04.9 on the course.

On the girls side Maine-Endwell would once again claim the top spot, as Ali Otis ran a 17:21.1. Jeffrey would see a sixth place finish for the Tornado girls when she finished the course with a 18:36.5.

Norwich would also see other athletes scratch out some solid performances: Marcus Cashman would finish 22nd with a time of 18:36.5, Nick Loscavio would finish 26th with a time of 16:36.1, Noah Bufalini would finish 35th with a time of 16:58.5, O’rian Slater would finish 38th with 17:03.9, Michael Cardoza finished 47th with a time of 18:24.3, and Jacob Russell would round out the Norwich boys with a 53rd place finish with a time of 19:06.7.

Although Jeffrey enjoyed the most success for the girls, Nicole Mikalunas would finish 44th on the girls side with a time of 26:49.2.

• Following the opening performance by the Tornado runners, they traveled over the hill to participate in the Tuesday Trot at Unadilla Valley where they would race across a 2.5 mile course on Sept. 13.