The next destination for many of the area’s top track and field athletes is Middletown High School for the New York State Public High School Athletic Association championship meet.

To get there, they first had to withstand the 90-degree heat at Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Stadium during Thursday’s Section III state qualifier, and many would flourish in the steamy conditions.

That included Marcellus senior Ryan Manahan, who posted the fastest time in the mile of four minute, 23.58 seconds in either Division I (large school) or Division II (small school).

Manahan also prevailed in the 800-meter run in 1:56.20, edging Mexico’s James Gowans (1:57.01) for that title. Jordan-Elbridge’s Bill DiRenzo was fourth in the 800 in 2:01.84, while teammate Jack Gugel was sixth in the Division II mile.

West Genesee’s Laura Leff, favored for a state title in the girls 2,000-meter steeplechase, didn’t go all-out in the heat, but still won in 7:08.24, more than 22 seconds ahead of other Division I runners.

Marcellus’ Rachel Garn won the Division II portion of the steeplechase in 7:08.24 as Westhill/Ludden’s Annibel Coolican (7:58.42) was third among Division I runners. Garn also was victorious in the Division II 800-meter run in a clocking of 2:17.87, holding off Hamilton’s Sage Hurta (2:18.85) and the field.

In the boys Division I 400-meter hurdles, senior Pete Richarsdon reached his ultimate goal of qualifying for the state meet, finshing in 55.86 seconds to hold off Fayetteville-Manlius’ Kyle Barber (56.02 seconds) and C-NS’s Pete Girardi (56.76 seconds) and get first place.

Solvay gained its own individual victories, thanks to Brian McLeod and Nick Cometti. McLeod won the Division II pentathlon, compiling 3,064 points to pull away from Little Falls’ Ben Delaney (2,721 points) and the rest of the field.

As for Cometti, he qualified for the 100-meter final in 11.15 seconds and won the final in 11.29 seconds, just ahead of Onondaga’s Keanan Glod (11.38 seconds), as Marcellus’ Nate Waite (11.79 seconds) was seventh.

Waite also was fifth in the 200-meter dash in 23.55 seconds, with Jordan-Elbridge’s Dylan Whittico (24.00 seconds) in seventh. WG’s Jack Erhard took fourth (2:04.68) in the Division I 800-meter run.

Also, the Bearcats’ quartet of Matt Battaglia, Colton Francemone, Nate Carr and Eric Goodrich won the Division II 4×800 relay in 8:16 flat, beating South Jefferson by more than five seconds. In Division I, Westhill/Ludden was second (8:21.18) to F-M’s blistering time of 7:51.18, and the Warriors took sixth in the 4×400. Solvay’s Matt Cregan was second in the Division II 3,200-meter run in 9:51.57.

Corey Wilkinson finished second in the Division I shot put, his throw of 51 feet 2 ¾ inches only trailing C-NS’s Joe Castaldo (52’5 ¼”), while WG’s David Martin (50’5 ¼”) was third.

In the discus, Wilkinson again was runner-up, throwing it 137’6” as Rome Free Academy’s Robert Alder went 144’8” to prevail. Then Wilkinson teamed with Christian St. Amour, Antoin Montgomery and Mike Crisalli to finish fourth (44.27 seconds) in the 4×100 relay.

WG’s Abby Uczen cleared 10 feet in the pole vault, second to Liverpool’s Angela Kulpa, who won with 10’6”. Uczen’s teammate, Brianna Richardson, finished third in the Division I pentathlon with 2,480 points, while J-E’s Emily Hartwell was seventh in Division II with 1,707 points.

Westhill/Ludden got to third in the 4×800 relay in 10:01.13, where WG finished in 10:30.16, as the Warriors’ Emily Washburn finished fifth in the Division I 1,500-meter run and Genny Corcoran was third (10:56.91) in the 3,000-meter run. Justin Garn gave Marcellus a third-place finish in the Division II 3,000-meter steeplechase in 10:35.94.

In the boys Division II 4×400, J-E’s quartet of Dylan Whittico, Austin Whittico, Jacob Patterson and Bill DiRenzo was a close second (3:30.22) to Sauquoit Valley, who won in 3:29.30. J-E’s girls finished fifth in the 4×400, as Julie Hines took seventh in the 200 in 27.11 seconds.

Also for the Eagles, Tyler May earned sixth place in the discus with a throw of 129 feet, adding a seventh (44’3 ¾”) in the shot put.