Fueled by star turns and record performances from Mike Acchione and Greg Manning, the Solvay boys track and field team extended its reign the OHSL Liberty division at the expense of its neighbors from Westhill.
In a tough head-to-head battle Wednesday at Earl Hadley Stadium, the Bearcats beat the Warriors 80-61 for its 53rd consecutive league meet win. Both sides also beat Skaneateles at this meet — Solvay by a 101-39 margin, Westhill by a 102-39 margin.
Acchione began his work by taking the 100-meter dash in 11.5 seconds. He also held off Jesse Krell to win the 200-meter dash in 23.4 seconds.
Not stopping there, Acchione also ran the 400-meter hurdles in 59.1 seconds to beat teammate Will Hntako (59.6 seconds), and claimed a fourth title in the triple jump by going 38 feet 11 1/2 inches.
Meanwhile, Manning had two great moments. He ran 800 meters in 1:57.6, breaking a 30-year-old school record in that event, and teamed with Brain Wright, Ben Carl and Tyler Grim to take the 4×100 relay in 45.6 seconds.
Then, in the 4×400 relay, after Paul DelPrato, Jeremy Parker and Casey Pucello kept the race close, Manning charged down the stretch and overtook Westhill anchor Pavle Bujanovic to help Solvay win in a time of 3:30.2, just ahead of the Warriors (3:30.3).
Elsewhere for the Bearcats, Jason Conners continued to dominate the shot put, tossing it 51 feet 8 1/2 inches, while Mike Dixon won the discus with a throw of 121 feet 9 1/2 inches.
Westhill had its share of good moments, too. Bujanovic won the 400-meter dash (51.6 seconds) as Andrew Corcoran tore through the 3,200-meter run in 10:16.3 and helped Chris Moore, Anthony Legnetto and Eric Moore claim the 4×800 relay in 8:28.9.
Tom Welch cleared 11 feet 6 inches for the Warriors in the pole vault, while Eric Garofano took first in the high jump (5 feet 4 inches) and Tom Trendowski went 18 feet 9 1/2 inches to win the long jump.
