TOWN OF FENTON -- It's been an all-too-familiar sight in recent years at the Section 4 Cross Country Championships awards booth -- Ithaca High and Newark Valley's boys' teams adding first-place hardware to their growing list of titles.

The scene at Chenango Valley State Park was no different Thursday, but like 2007 when Groton emerged out of the shadows to capture the Class D championship, another small school stole the spotlight for a brief time.

Spencer-Van Etten.

The Panthers claimed their first sectional title since the 1990s to join the regular cast of characters in the winners' circle, edging Thomas A. Edison, 40-49. The team victory was also a first for the 2009 group, impressively enough.

"This is actually the first race they've won," S-VE coach Jason Zorn said. "But as I've told them, I've been telling them all you have to do is win one race. And this is the one to win.

"All of the guys had their best race today," he added.

The 3.1-mile layout weaves its way through the golf course at Chenango Valley State Park, and after several years of strong performances, Ithaca's Andris Goncarovs finally mastered it.

The senior took first in the Class AA race with a time of 16 minutes, 29.2 seconds.

The Little Red earned six of the top seven finishes to record 16 points, well-ahead of second-place Corning in the team standings. The Class AA sweep was the program's first since 2006. Ithaca's boys had won 13 straight sectional titles before Binghamton won the crown last year.

"Personally it felt great to win because I've been looking for this win for about three years now," Goncarovs said. "It finally feels good to get it."

Goncarovs credited his teammates for their commitment, which included summer workouts of 60 to 80 miles logged per week, 6:30 a.m. runs during the school year and 12-mile jaunts on Sunday mornings.

"You have to be able to put in a lot of time," he said. "These guys are just incredibly dedicated. I can't say more."

Coach Rich Bernstein could, and did.

Junior Matt Johnson placed second (16:40.4), followed by teammates Cody Liam (17:20.1) and Ari Lewenstein (17:33.4). MacKenzie Cummings-Grady placed sixth, followed by Kay Owen.

"Matt Johnson, I thought, had a great race," Bernstein said. "Matt was right on Andris the whole time. He ran a state-level race and kind of busted out."

Only Goncarovs scored points for the team in the 2008 sectional race, meaning this year's group showed tremendous improvement, Bernstein said.

The Little Red will enter the New York State Public High School Athletic Association championship meet, scheduled for Nov. 14 at SUNY Plattsburgh, ranked No. 17 in the state in Class AA. Each sectional team champion, in addition to the five best runners from each classification, earn a trip to states.

Other team champions included Vestal (Class A) and Windsor (B). Other highlights from Thursday's boys' races included:

* Newark Valley completed a Class C sweep by edging Chenango Valley, 54-59, for the boys title.

Coach Eric D'Arcy said the two teams were dead-even after each's top four runners crossed the finish line. The difference, D'Arcy said, was Connor Cleveland (18:40.9) and Mike Giblin (18:47.9) finishing ahead of CV's fifth-best runner, Alex Westcott (18:52.5).

Freshman Jordan Stevens clocked the Cardinals' best time, a sixth-place finish at 17:18.6. Chris Friend, who finished third, ran "on one leg, basically," D'Arcy said, who added: "He hasn't been running pretty much all week; he's been limping everywhere he goes."

* Lansing's Josh Barber and Jon Cleveland were all smiles after placing fourth and fifth overall in the Class C meet, as each stamped their ticket to the state meet.

"It was a magical race," Cleveland said. "You can't describe it, really. It's just a good feeling and everyone is just out there battling -- it was just a great race."

Barber was happy the girls' team had success -- Shanna Swanson and Kathryn Shaw also qualified -- in their first year back since 2003.

"It's just nice to see our hard work pay off," Barber said.

Trumansburg placed fourth, one spot behind Lansing, in the team standings. Dan Stackman and Cody Scott were the Blue Raiders' top finishers at 13th and 14th place, respectively.

* Bainbridge-Guilford's Chris Burnett won the Class D race, with Spencer-Van Etten's Geoffrey Hall coming in second at 17:03.4.

The Panthers' depth was the difference, as sophomore Ken Reuter (10th), senior Tyler Holmes (12th), sophomore John Reuter (18th), senior Nate Newbury (19th) and junior Travis Overly (22nd) all finished in the top 25.

"Every guy had their best race," Zorn said again. "And the two twins, Ken and John Reuter, without them joining the team this year, this is their first season -- we wouldn't have been here."

* Candor's Taylor Drake, a senior, qualified for states by finishing sixth overall with a time of 17:49.5.

* Groton's top finisher was sophomore Robert Dunham, who placed 14th with a time of 18:36.3.