With every point important, the Vernon Verona Sherrill boys track and field team won its home showdown with Tri-Valley League rival Oneida, beating the Indians 73-68.
A key element to the win was the fact that the Red Devils swept all three relays. It took the 4×800 in 8:48.6, earned first place in the 4×100 in 47 seconds flat and, near the end of the meet, claimed the 4×400 in 3:43.2.
Matt Femia, Bob Mumford, Mike Eichenlaub, Tom Visali, Dylan Guider, Robert Romeo, Neal Fahey, Tyler Curtis, Nash Robb, Ryan Dugan and Luke Lagoy took part in those relays, demonstrating the superior depth on the VVS roster.
The Indians countered with Mike Rabbitt earning four individual titles. Rabbitt held off VVS’s Robert Romeo, 16.9 seconds to 17.0, in the 110 high hurdles, took both the 200-meter dash (23.1 seconds) and 400-meter dash (52.2 seconds) and went 20 feet 10 inches to win the long jump.
Meanwhile, Curtis, with a winning time of 11.3 seconds, led Lagoy and Dugan in a 1-2-3 sweep in the 100-meter dash. Just as important was the fact that VVS won all the distance races.
In the 800-meter run, Femia, in a time of 2:16.1, beat Oneida’s Eric Riley by 2.7 seconds. Seth MacDonald (5:04.5) and Adam Litterio (5:09.8) went 1-2 in the mile as Eichenlaub won a 3,200-meter showdown with the Indians’ Conor McCarthy, 10:48.5 to 10:50.5.
Riley gave Oneida a win in the triple jump, going 40 feet 8 inches, and also prevailed in the high jump, though Eli Cleveland also cleared 6 feet (the best VVS effort in that event in years), giving the Red Devils key points late in the meet.
Also for VVS, Aaron Owens cleared 9 feet to prevail in the pole vault. Oneida’s Zach Hall won the 400 hurdles in 1:03 flat as Kyle Blessing threw the discus 117 feet 5 inches.
In other meets, the Oneida girls team routed Utica-Notre Dame 114-26, as Rachael Kline won both the 100-meter hurdles (17.5 seconds) and shot put (31 feet 7 1/2 inches).
Jordan Armstrong was first in the 100 (13.2 seconds) and long jump (14 feet 11 inches) as Sara Riefendifer won at 3,000 meters (12:39.6) and helped in two relays.
The VVS girls swept a three-way meet over New Hartford (76.5-63.5) and Clinton (117-21) with, among other things, Lauren MacDonald winning the 1,500-meter run (5:40.7), Elaine Slaven taking the 200-meter dash (28.0 seconds) and Tammy Beal taking the 400 hurdles in 1:13.7. Jenna Fiacco won both the shot put (29 feet) and discus (81 feet 5 1/2 inches).
