When the SCAC Metro division track and field schedule for 2019 was constructed, they put Cicero-North Syracuse, Liverpool and Baldwinsville together for a single boys and girls meet right at the end.
And on a sunny Wednesday afternoon at LHS Stadium, the trio did battle, not just for bragging rights against their closest neighbors, but also league regular-season championship honors.
C-NS earned them on the boys side, battling past B’ville 76-65 and topping Liverpool 74-67, while the Bees salvaged a split by defeating the Warriors 73-68.
Every point was important, and the Northstars won five individual events, two of them by Jeremiah Willis, who went 43 feet 6 1/4 inches in the triple jump and 20’3 1/4″ in the long jump. Nate Osborne was victorious in the pole vault, clearing 11 feet to top the 10’6″ from Liverpool’s Jamie Vong and 10 feet from B’ville’s Aidan Priest.
Isaiah Wright, second to Willis in the triple jump with 40’3 1/4″, was victorious in the 110 high hurdles in 15.80 seconds, nearly a full second ahead of the field, while Sam Nessel claimed the 400-meter dash in 51.89 seconds.
In the last of the distance races, the 3,200-meter run, C-NS got another crucial win when R.J. Davis posted 9:42.41 to hold off LIverpool’s Jake McGowan (9:45.60).
Prior to that, the Warriors had won the 4×800 relay and had seen Nathan Reeves edge C-NS’s Nathan Poirier, 4:32.22 to 4:35.21, in the mile and also take the 800-meter run in 2:00.68, again with Poirier (2:04.30) second.
B’ville had some of its best success in sprints, where Mike Letizia went 11.40 seconds to win the 100-meter dash and then take the 200-meter dash in 23.48 seconds, with Nessel second in 24.01.
The Bees also went 1-2 in the 400 hurdles, Sam Kellner prevailing in 1:01.11 and Nick Kruger (1:01.79) right behind in second place. Connor Waldron was second in the 400 and third in the 200, with Sam Mellinger third in the 100
A high-quality discus throw saw Liverpool’s Antwan Kellly win with 135’9″ over Jacob Barnes (121’4″), with B’ville’s Steven Miller (115’11”) edging C-NS’s Andrew Culver (115’8″) for third.
Culver then was second in the shot put with 43’9″ behind Barnes’ winning 46’2 1/2″, while Aiden Wroblewski won the high jump for the Warriors by clearing 5’8″ as the Bees’ Owen Weaver was second with 5’6″, also taking third in the long jump (19’5″) behind Liverpool’s Paul Dewan (19’8 1/2″).
The girls meet was much more lopsided in Liverpool’s favor, with the Warriors handling C-NS 89-52 and B’ville 104-37 as the Northstars managed a split by topping the Bees 94-47.
Jenna Schulz, fresh off a 3,000-meter victory at a prestigious meet in Hilton on May 4, claimed the 1,500-meter run here in 4:48.0, with Sydney Carlson second in 4:59. Later, Schulz edged Windsor Ardner by a second in the 800 as Madison Neuner took the 3,000 in 10:24.36, Carlson again getting second place.
Marissa Baskin got going when she edged B’ville’s Karen Ekure, 12.58 seconds to 12.61, in the 100 sprint, followed by Baskin winning the long jump with 17’11”. Ekure did rebound to win the 200 in 26.10 seconds, with the Warriors’ Anne Gullo (26.87) second.
Brooke Blaisdell won a close 100 hurdles for C-NS in 15.73 seconds to the 15.80 for Liverpool’s Kali Hayes. Later, in the triple jump, Blaisdell rolled to a second victory with a top attempt of 36’2″, and was second (17’3 1/4″) to Baskin in the long jump.
Imahni Sinclair threw the discus 104’1″ to win for the Warriors as B’ville’s Jenna Wallace was second with 99’9″ and threw the shot put 28’4″, trailing the winning 29’4″ from C-NS’s Stephanie Webb.
Among the Section III leaders in the high jump, C-NS’s Liliana Klemanski topped 5’4″ here, four inches ahead of teammate Lilly Capria and Liverpool’s Amina Sinclair. In the pole vault, Capria, the Bees’ Ella Smith, the Warriors’ Amelia Loop each topped 7’6″.
Also for the Northstars, Hannah Boyle needed 1:00.62 to hold off Gullo (1:01.48) in the 400 sprint, while B’ville had Justus Holden-Betts win the 400 hurdles in 1:07.70 to the 1:08.5 for Hayes and 1:08.9 for C-NS’s Savannah Kuhr.
All of these athletes come back to LHS Stadium next Wednesday, joined by West Genesee, Fayetteville-Manlius and the city schools for the overall SCAC Metro championships.
