Liverpool’s track and field teams made the short trip to Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Stadium last week to try and earn places in the state championship meet this weekend at University of Buffalo Stadium.
And in the course of that work, senior T.J. Davis put himself in the Section III record books in the boys long jump.
On a hot, sticky Friday afternoon, Davis took off from the line and didn’t land until he had gone 24 feet 3/4 inch. That bettered, by half an inch, the sectional record set in 1989 by South Jefferson’s Lucas Kerley, and beat Ben Maxwell (West Canada Valley) by 9 3/4 inches at this meet.
In addition to that effort, Davis also dominated the 400-meter dash. His time of 49.54 seconds beat the Division I (large school) field by nearly two full seconds, and was just enough to beat Solvay’s Greg Manning (49.68 seconds) for overall honors.
Corey Bundrage claimed victory in the 110-meter high hurdles, beating his rival, CNS’s Ty Howington. Bundrage finished in 15.21 seconds, inches ahead of Rome Free Academy’s Santino Emmanuele (15.26 seconds), as Howington (15.87 seconds) had to settle for third place.
Ethan Hickey, Bryan Piccotto, Alex Wilke and Colin Savage teamed up for a superb effort in the 4×800 relay. They chased Baldwinsville all the way to the finish line and earned a time of 8:02.92, just behind the Bees, who won in 8:01.86.
Savage also was 10th in the 800-meter run behind Chris Clemons, who took fifth place in 2:00.83. Piccotto appeared to be in line to win the Division I 3,000-meter steeplechase before New Hartford’s Ryan Millar caught him at the wire, 10:09.65 to Piccotto’s clocking of 10:09.71.
In the pole vault, Eric Osborne took fourth place, clearing 11 feet 6 inches, while Pat Single tossed the shot put 45 feet 3/4 inch for fifth place. Davis, Bundrage, Pedro Torres and Farrakhan Cody combined for third in the 4×100 relay in 45.80 seconds.
Going first last Thursday afternoon, the girls Warriors saw Janeeka Benson prevail in the 100-meter high hurdles. In her latest battle with CNS’s Jasmine Thompson, Benson won in 15.17 seconds, with Thompson (15.47 seconds) in the runner-up spot.
Trina Bills had the top Division I time in the 800-meter run, winning in 2:17.75, though she was second overall to Homer’s Heather Wilson (2:16.63), the Division II winner.
In a tense 4×100 relay final, the Warriors battled with Rome Free Academy to the wire, posting a time of 49.16 seconds that forced the Black Knights to win in 48.99 seconds. Liverpool was also third among Division I teams in the 4×800 relay in 9:58.71.
