True, the margins are getting a bit tighter, but the Cicero-North Syracuse boys indoor track and field team remains far ahead of the field.
In last Thursday night’s John Arcaro Invitational at Manley Field House, the Northstars accumulated 86 points, earning the team championship as Fayetteville-Manlius (52 points) finished second and Rome Free Academy (39 points) won a tight battle for third place.
This was the first time all season that individual events were scored that way, rather than with two athletes and a combined total.
Again, the team’s versatility was on full display. In the 4×400 relay, Zach Marchese, Jeff Azzoto, Andy Neumeister and James Thurn combined for a time of 3:35.17, more than three seconds clear of second-place Solvay (3:38.94).
Individually, Andy Kahl continued to dominate the high jump. He cleared 6 feet 6 inches, half a foot better than Solvay’s Victor Young, to easily claim the title there. He was also fifth (39 feet 2 1/4 inches) in the triple jump.
Ben Ludovici led a big point gain in the 800-meter run, as he won the race in a clocking of 2:02.63. Jake Whritenour took third place, in 2:04.74, giving CNS 16 points in that single event.
Ty Howington joined in by blazing through the 55-meter hurdles in 8.45 seconds, just ahead of RFA’s Santino Emannuele (8.56 seconds).
Dan Minahan joined in by finishing second in the shot put, tossing it 46 feet 3 1/2 inches as Derek Sherman (RFA) won with 53 feet 4 1/2 inches. Craig Barber cleared 11 feet 6 inches to get third place in the pole vault.
CNS also finished second in the 4×200 relay as Marchese, Nick Orlando, Devin Young and Mike Fischer earned a time of 1:36.27. Henninger (1:34.90) took first place.
Nathan MacNabb emerged to take third place in the 1,500-meter run (4:06.79) as, in front of him, F-M’s Tommy Gruenewald (3:59.15) broke the Section III record.
Azzoto earned fourth in the 500-meter dash (1:08.88), an event where Solvay’s Greg Manning, in a time of 1:07.27, shattered a 10-year-old sectional mark. Vincent St. James got fifth place (6.83 seconds) in the 55-meter dash.
To gain even more relay points, MacNabb, Whirtenour, Ludovici and Kevin Cusworth combined to finish fifth in the 4×800 in 8:35.83.
