QUEENSBURY – In many different ways the Liverpool girls cross country reached its pinnacle when it upended favored Auburn by a single point to win the Section III Class A championship on Nov. 9. A week later, the Warriors tried for another unlikely victory at Queensbury High School where the New York State Public High School Athletic Association meet would take place – and while it didn’t get a state title, Liverpool’s third-place finish was still an exceptional effort. This was the first state meet without traditional powers Fayetteville-Manlius and Saratoga Springs since the early 1990s, adding to the novelty factor. But it was another Section II school, Bethlehem, which would dominate the team event and win with 20 points, well clear of Northport’s second-place 75 as Liverpool got 97 points to easily slide into third ahead of Scarsdale’s fourth-place 122. Taylor Page and Kaitlyn Hotaling had led the Warriors all season and would do so again here. In 18 minutes 3.7 seconds, Page made her way to 15th place in a field of more than 100 runners. Only one Section III runner beat Page’s effort – Auburn’s Kyleen Brady, who was 10th in 17:58.4, both of them ultimately chasing William Floyd’s Zariel Macchia, who emerged from Long Island to win the state individual title in 17:24.7. Hotaling ended up in a pack of local runners, making her way to 26th place in 18:30.8 right behind Fayetteville-Manlius’ Izzie Sullivan (18:29.0) and right ahead of Auburn’s Mary Alice Pineau (18:34.0). Freshman Katie Martin finished 21st among team runners and 55th overall in a clocking of 19:31 flat. Paige Baker posted 19:47.2 for 27th place in the team standings. Rose Piorkowski, who great effort helped Liverpool overtake Auburn a week earlier, finished in 20:07.3. Maggie Sherlock got a time of 20:18.7 and Addison Ziegler raced to the finish line in 20:36.1. Section III, overall, gained third place with 351 points, behind only Section II’s 169 points and Macchia’s home Section XI from Suffolk County, who got 305 points. Earlier on Saturday, Liverpool boys cross country senior Josh Vang ran in his state Class A race and finished 53rd in a time of 16:20.9. Among the sectional All-Stars Vang trailed Nottingham’s Henry Zhe-Heimerman (16:03.4) and was just one spot behind F-M’s Will Ditre (16:16.6) but beat the Bulldogs’ Coen Fierke (16:33.6) and the Hornets’ Kevin Heller (16:38.4.