With the competition at the top of the CNY Counties League National division so heated, the Liverpool boys track and field team knew the importance of Wednesday’s meet at Utica Proctor.
Facing a Raider team that had beaten Baldwinsville the week before, the Warriors picked off key points in sprints and field events, then used its domination of distance running as the difference-maker to beat the Raiders 75-65.
Zavon Watkins battled the windy conditions to win the 400-meter dash in 52.4 seconds and the 800-meter run in 2:19.6. In the 4×400 relay, Watkins joined Colin Savage, Alex Wilke and Chris Clemons to prevail in 3:33.6.
Anthony Brais settled in to win both the mile (5:01.2) and 3,200-meter run (11:06.2) as Clemons, Mychal Ostuni, Drew Henry and Anthony Romano needed 10:10.8 to earn first place in the 4×800 relay.
Liverpool also snatched wins in two field events, as Jason Osborne threw the shot put 46 feet 5 inches and Joe Alvarado cleared 10 feet in the shot put. Proctor saw Will Hawkins win the 100-meter dash (10.6 seconds) and Richard Pete take the long jump (21 feet 8 1/2 inches) and triple jump (41 feet 1/2 inch). Jamal Pheance had a discus throw of 130 feet 3 inches.
This served as a warm-up for the Warriors’ appearance at Saturday’s Chittenango Invitational, where it earned 79 points, second only to Watertown’s winning total of 89 points.
Watkins challenged Fayetteville-Manlius star Alex Hatz in the meet’s featured event, the Fleet Feet mile. By the third lap, Watkins and Hatz had separated from the rest of the field, but in the late stages Hatz got away, winning in 4:11.51.
Still, Watkins took second place in 4:19.33, while Wilke finished eighth and Savage 13th. Clemons didn’t run here, but did help Tony Shuler, Keewan Rondinello and Damien Brown win the 1,600 sprint medley in 3:43.83, topping Jordan-Elbridge by 1.53 seconds.
Joe Spernyak tore to victory in the 110 high hurdles in 15.12 seconds, with Homer’s Andrew Gregg second (15.49 seconds), and Spernyak also claimed second in the 400 hurdles in 1:00.48, where Gregg (55.74 seconds) dominated.
Osborne won again in the shot put, tossing it 51 feet 1/2 inches to blow away the field as Vince Tesoriero (44 feet 1 1/4 inches) took fourth place and Paris Stenson sixth. Jackson O’Conner was fifth in the discus, throwing it 111 feet 8 inches.
Shuler took second in the 100-meter dash, just beaten by F-M’s Ryan Jones, 11.36 seconds to 11.41, and also was second in the triple jump (40 feet 11 1/2 inches), with Watertown’s Erroll Hooker just two inches better. Ostuni, Brais, Brandon Rudd and Mike Sanson were third in the distance medley relay (11:33.79) Justin McGriff was fourth in the pentathlon in 2,333 points.
Meanwhile, the Liverpool girls track team went east to the Rome Invitational at Rome Free Academy Stadium and earned a fair share of wins.
Lesley Bowers pulled away to win the 2,000-meter steeplechase, her time of 7:35.70 beating the field by more than nine seconds. Kyla Bills earned second place in the 3,000-meter run in 11:30.38.
Trina Bills, Skye Borasky, Armani Moore and Rachel Putman earned a victory in the 1,600 sprint medley in 4:17.53, with Tully second, more than 14 seconds behind.
Liverpool contended in the 4×800 as Chelsea Attaway, Ali Whiting, Marina Callisto and Mary Anne savage finished second in 10:40.55. In the 4×100, Borasky and Moore joined Erika Salem and Ashley Twum to take third place in 52.17 seconds.
Nikki Carfi came close to winning the pentathlon, her total of 2,029 points just behind Bethlehem’s Alyssa Marion (2,071 points). In field events, Moore was fifth in the triple jump (33 feet 9 inches), with Attaway sixth in the pole vault as she cleared 8 feet 9 inches.
