By a margin of just 3.5 points, the Cicero-North Syracuse boys indoor track and field team brought home the Section III Class AA championship.
In Saturday’s sectional meet at SRC Arena, the Northstars’ total of 91.5 points was just enough to hold off the challenge of Baldwinsville (88 points) in second place as Fayetteville-Manlius was third with 80 points.
To lead the C-NS boys, Isaiah Wright put up a winning long jump of 21 feet 11 ½ inches, exactly two feet ahead of the 19’11 1/2” from B’ville’s Robert Thompson as Liverpool’s Ryan Dewan was fourth with 19’6 1/2”.
Wright added a second-place finish in the 55-meter hurdles in 7.91 seconds, with Carlton Garnes third (8.26) and Jack Tschopp fifth in 8.70 seconds to go with his third in the triple jump (38’3 3/4”) and fifth in the high jump.
Sixteen points for C-NS came out of the 1,000-meter run that R.J. Davis won in 2:38.96 and Evan Romano (2:42.98) finished third.
Sam Nessel got third in the 55-meter dash in 6.83 seconds, with Evan Breitbeck third (1:29.64) and Matt LeClair fourth (1:29.83) at 600 meters. LeClair was fifth at 3,200 meters in 9:50.48, with C-NS fifth in the 4×400 relay in 3:52.83.
In the 300-meter dash, Nessel was fourth in 38.19 seconds and Colin Hopkins fifth in 38.45. Nessel, Hopkins, Wright and Josh Adams were second (1:34.29), just behind Utica Proctor (1:34.04), in the 4×200 relay.
Meanwhile, Liverpool finished fifth with 52 points, eight of them from seeing Jamie Vong clear 11 feet in the pole vault, behind only the 11’6” from Baldwinsville’s Aidan Priest, while Bennett Robb cleared 6’2” for second in the high jump behind the 6’8” from Henninger star Kwamere White.
Carter Rodriguez, in 2:44.49, beat out Ryan Hagan (2:47.02) for fourth place in the 1,000, with Mike Jones (fourth and Ryan Dewan (fifth) both going 6.98 seconds in the 55 sprint. Jalen Graham finished fifth in the weight throw.
Rodriguez led off the Warriors’ 4×800 relay team that, in 8:41.41, beat out C-NS (8:45.45) for third place, with the Warriors also fourth in the 4×200. Charlie Praschunus was fifth in the 600 and Jake McGowan got sixth place in the 3,200.
In the girls sectional Class AA meet, C-NS had 106 points, ahead of Liverpool (76.5 points) for second place, but trailing the winning total of 142 points that F-M earned.
Liverpool was without its top runner, Jenna Schulz, but for a good reason. Schulz took part in the prestigious Millrose Games at the Armory in New York City, finishing 12th in the one-mile run in a time of 4:55.82.
Still, it was the Warriors winning a series of events that included Kali Hayes setting a school record in the 55 hurdles, prevailing in 8.56 seconds.
Imahni Sinclair had a winning weight throw of 45’1” and a top shot put toss of 36′ 1/2”. Amina Sinclair, clearing 5’4”, was again victorious in the high jump, with teammate Alexia Ostrander fifth at 4’8”.
Hayes also helped Liverpool’s 4×400 team finish third in 4:24.94 as C-NS (4:28.12) was fifth, also running a leg for the Warriors as it took third in the 4×200 in 1:49.66, again with C-NS fifth.
Elsewhere for the Warriors, Sydney Carlson finished fifth in the 1,000 in 3:10.85. Riley Norris took third in the 55 sprint in 7.50 seconds, with Sophia Jarosz sixth in the 300.
Brooke Blaisdell was victorious for C-NS in the long jump, going 17’2 1/2” to hold off Rome Free Academy’s Olivia Griggs (16’10”), and then adding a triple jump title with 36’10 1/2” as Sierra Davis (34’9 3/4”) was fourth.
Kate Putman’s sensational freshman continued as she won the 1,000 in 2:55.13, edging F-M star Claire Walters (2:55.25) as Morgan Kingdeski was fourth in 3:08.02.
Putman added a fourth-place 1,500-meter time of 4:59.46 and helped C-NS take third in the 4×800 in 10:04.76 to Liverpool’s fourth-place 10:17.52.
Blaisdell also was second in the 55 hurdles in 9.07 seconds behind Hayes, with Savannah Kuhr third (9.20) and Lexi Gaetz fourth (9.31).
In the 600, Hannah Boyle grabbed second place in 1:38.84, with Kingdeski fifth as Boyle took fourth in the 300 in 43.19 seconds. Hannah Reichard was fourth in the 3,000-meter run in 10:49.22
Lilly Capria was third and Madelyn Wheeler fourth in the high jump, each clearing 4’10”, while Stephanie Webb finished fifth in the weight throw, going 32’9”.
