In order for the Fayetteville-Manlius girls track and field team to prevail at Liverpool last Wednesday afternoon, it would have to find success beyond its usual stronghold of distance races.
And the Hornets found it, thanks to the likes of Gwen Shepardson, Cady Barns and Brittany Travis, who all played key roles as the Hornets edged past the Warriors 71-70 to stay undefeated.
Shepardson would roll to first place in the 100-meter hurdles in 16.66 seconds and then, in the 400-meter hurdles, tear to victory in 1:10.51, but even with that, F-M also had to make inroads in field events where Liverpool expected to flourish.
Barns stepped up in the triple jump, and won that event with a top leap of 33 feet 6 ¼ inches. Meanwhile, Travis, in the shot put, threw it 30’8” to take first place, gaining crucial points to offset the Warriors’ wins in the other four field events.
Sophie Ryan led F-M on the oval, going 1:01 flat in the 400-meter dash after winning the 800-meter run in 2:25.11. Ryan, Christy Berge’, Phoebe White and Sophie Bansbach got first place in the 4×400 relay in 4:02.69.
Kaitlyn Neal tore through the 1,500-meter run in 4:35.04, this following a 4×800 relay where White, Ryan, Palmer Madsen and Rebecca Walters made their way to a victory in a time of 10:04.35.
F-M’s boys track team lost, 95-46, to Liverpool despite winning four of six field events. Chibu Ezidiegwu went went 49’9 ¾” in the triple jump, one of the top Section III performances of the spring, while clearing 5’8” in the high jump as Max Perry topped 10’6” in the pole vault and Connor Florczyk went 18’7 ¾” in the long jump.
Perry earned the Hornets’ lone win on the oval, going 4:28.42 in the mile, but the Warriors swept the relays and got two wins apiece from Brandon Mayfield, in the 100 and 200 sprints, and Nazir Murray, who won the 110 and 400 hurdles.
Neither of the Christian Brothers Academy track teams was able to keep up with Cazenovia last Wednesday afternoon. The close boys meet saw the Brothers take a 77-64 defeat, while CBA’s girls lost, 103-38, to a Lakers side wrapping up the OHSL Liberty American division regular-season title.
Pat Carey still won three events for the CBA boys team, going 16.3 seconds in the 110 high hurdles and 1:02.3 in the 400 hurdles as he cleared 5’6” in the high jump. Tyler Leonard had a first-place long jump of 19’5”.
Back on the oval, Tom SanGiacomo went 53.7 seconds to win the 400 sprint, with Zach Walsh claiming the 200 in 23.8 seconds and Dominic Morganti prevailing in the mile in 4:46 flat. Tim Schmitt finished first in the 800 in 2:14.7 as SanGiacomo, Walsh, Nikhil Reddy and Brendan Keeney took the 4×400 in 3:55 flat. Gavin Collins, Brett VanPatten, Jake VanPatten and Jaden Mitchell took the 4×100 in 45.9 seconds.
Only in the sprints did the CBA girls put a halt to Cazenovia’s dominance. Anna Schug went 26.4 seconds in the 200 and 59.8 seconds in the 400 sprint, with Claire Bargabos second in the 400 (1:01.9) as Kiana Ferguson won the 100 sprint in 12.9 seconds.
Among the field events, only Nafysa Williams prevailed for CBA, clearing a season-best 5’3” in the high jump as Elissa Kempisty’s triple jump of 33’7 ½” was just behind Cazenovia’s Maddy Gavitt, who went 34’2”. Gavitt also won the long jump (16 feet) as Lakers teammate Meggie Hart won the 3,000 and shared honors in the 1,500 with Clara Rowles, both of them finishing in 5:15.9.
Bishop Grimes lost last Monday to Weedsport. In the girls 101-34 match, the Cobras’ Abby Wilkinson prevailed in the 400 hurdles in 1:22.4 and helped the 4×400 relay team post a winning time of 4:49 flat. Liz Wolaver was first in the long jump, going 13’5 ½.
From there, the Cobras went on to a 100-31 defeat to Port Byron two days later despite Jordan Sloan winning the 100 (13.0 seconds) and 400 (1:02.3) sprints. Wolaver won the 100 hurdles in 17.5 seconds, with Wilkinson going 1:15.2 in the 400 hurdles and Sara Hopkins winning the 800 in 2:45 flat.
In the boys meet between Grimes and Port Byron, the Cobras lost, 85-40, to the Panthers. Nearly sweeping the field events, the Cobras saw Nigel Dufus throw the discus 115 feet and the shot put 38’ ½”, while Nathan Gay won the long jump, going 15’9”, and went on to clear 5’6” for first place in the high jump.
Back on the oval, Steve Johnson gave Grimes a win in the 400 sprint in 56.7 seconds, with Mitch Collins first in the 800 in 2:13 flat and Grimes winning the 4×400 relay in 4:01.0.
