Though it got a bit of a late start, the Solvay boys track and field team has embraced the challenge a more crowded schedule has forced upon them.

Back on April 21, the Bearcats went to the Ilion Coed Relays and contended for the title, earning 103 points, second only to Rome Free Academy’s total of 118 points.

Solvay prevailed in the 4×200 relay in a time of 1:33.2 and also won the high jump with combined leaps of 16 feet.

In the coed portion of the meet, Solvay took the pentathlon as Christine Armstrong and John Mossotti combined for 4,225 points, and the Bearcats also beat the field in the coed middle distance relay in 6:55.4. With 182 total points, Solvay was second to RFA (210 points) when points on both sides were added up.

With this as a background, the boys Bearcats plunged into OHSL Liberty division action last Tuesday at home, beating Jordan-Elbridge 104-37 and pummeling Cazenovia by a 105-32 margin.

Mossotti won twice, taking the 110 high hurdles (16.2 seconds) and long jump (18 feet 9 inches), while Mike Acchione beat the field in the 100-meter dash in 11.2 seconds and ran the 400 hurdles in under a minute — 59.6 seconds, to be exact.

In other field events, Victor Young cleared 6 feet to win the high jump, as Jason Conners took the shot put (47 feet 1 inch) and Ben Pucello flung the discus 114 feet 11 inches to win that event.

Brendan Holiday, who won the 200-meter dash (23.5 seconds), teamed with Alex Nappi, Casey Pucello and Greg Manning to take the 4×400 relay in 3:43.3. Jeremy Parker, Will Hnatko, Paul DelPrato and Dan Sheridan teamed up as Solvay took the 4×800 relay in 9:01.9.

J-E had just two wins. Jeff Donohue took the 3,200-meter run in a time of 10:44.5, while Jake Griffin, Nick Piedmonte, Jason Lazore and Zac Darling worked together to take the 4×100 relay in 49.4 seconds. Andy DeGray cleared 5 feet 10 inches in the high jump.

In the girls meet, J-E pulled off a sweep, winning by close margins. It topped Solvay 73-59, and knocked off Cazenovia 74-67.

Lyndsay Hollis helped push the Eagles to victory with a pair of titles. She ran the 400-meter dash in 1:03.5, then earned a top long jump by going 15 feet 4 inches. Hollis, Catie White, Elizabeth Forward and Kim Foltz combined to take the 4×400 relay in 4:30.8.

Forward also won the 800 in 2:38.2, and teamed with White, Nicole Darling and Mackenzie Sawyer in the Eagles’ victory in the 4×800 relay (10:39.3).

Katie Darling won twice, in the 100-meter dash (13.4 seconds) and triple jump (32 feet 4 inches). On her own, Nicole Darling was first in the 3,000 (11:51), as White won the 1,500

Solvay won three times in this meet. Maggie Klasen beat the field in the 400 hurdles (1:19.2), as Christine Armstrong needed 17.5 seconds to prevail in the 100-metr hurdles. Rebecca Balduzzi, Amanda Lombardi, Kim Venuti and Ashley Ramirez gave the Bearcats a victory in the 4×100 relay in 54.9 second.

Bishop Ludden had its own three-way meet last Tuesday, dropping close boys contests to both CBA (71-59) and Skaneateles (71-68).

On Saturday, the Bearcats won again, beating the boys field at the Firebird Coed Relays in Phoenix with 70 points. Tully (61.5 points) was second.

Three different times, the Bearcats won relays. Acchione, Cosby, Holiday and Manning combined to take the 4×200 (1:32.9) and 1,600 sprint medley (3:42.9) by comfortable margins, while Ben Carl and Juan Rivera joined Holiday and Cosby in the 4×100, where Solvay won in 46.6 seconds.

That winning feeling spread to field events, where Conners took the shot put (45 feet 1/2 inch) and Pucello threw the discus 122 feet 11 inches to take that title. Mossotti added a fourth (16.9 seconds) in the 110-meter high hurdles.

J-E gained ninth place in the meet, with 25 points, as DeGray finished fourth in the triple jump (38 feet 6 1/2 inches) and Heffernan took fifth place (37 feet 10 1/2 inches). DeGray also finished sixth (18 feet 5 1/2 inches) in the high jump.

In the girls Firebird meet, the Eagles gained fifth place, earning 38 points. Forward, Hollis, Katie Darling and Rachel Hare teamed up to win the 1,600 sprint medley in a time of 4:29.9.

White (5:17.9) and Nicole Darling (5:19.8) were third and fourth, respectively, in the 1,500, as Hollis rose to second place in the long jump, going 15 feet 2 inches, and Katie Darling (14 feet 6 1/2 inches) was fourth. Forward settled for the runner-up spot in the triple jump, going 30 feet 10 1/2 inches as Indian River eighth-grader Latressa Graham (31 feet 3 inches) prevailed.