A mere two days after meeting each other, the Oneida and Vernon Verona Sherrill track and field teams both would find success in separate meets.
In the New Hartford Invitational, the Indians’ Mike Rabbitt held up quite well against some of the area’s best, earning a pair of victories.
Rabbitt was the fastest qualifier in the 110-meter high hurdles in 15.34 seconds, and went on to win the final in 15.19 seconds, comfortably ahead of West Genesee’s Matt Ulrich (15.58 seconds) and the rest.
Amid a tough field in the high jump, Rabbitt prevailed again, clearing 6 feet 2 inches, two inches better than Brian Kane (Baldwinsville), Jalen Sanders (Corcoran) and Carl Patzer (Cicero-North Syracuse).
Rabbitt also had a third-place long jump of 21 feet 2 1/2 inches and was third in the 200-meter dash in 23.21 seconds.
Another Oneida standout, Eric Riley, got to third place in the 400-meter hurdles in 58.24 seconds.
All the other Oneida and VVS athletes were at Alibrandi Stadium for Christian Brothers Academy’s Brother Basilian Invitational, achieving a long series of high finishes.
VVS won the boys 4×100 relay as Ryan Dugan, Tyler Curtis, Dylan Guider and Luke Lagoy won in a time of 46.2 seconds. And in the 4×400, Dugan and Guider teamed with Neil Fahey and Matt Femia to win in 3:34.4.
On their own, Lagoy and Nash Robb went 1-2 in the long jump, Lagoy going 19 feet 2 1/2 inches and Lagoy (18 feet 9 inches) just behind. Robb also was second in the triple jump (40 feet 2 inches) behind Oneida’s Rob Moyer, who won with 40 feet 5 inches, and Robb took third in the 200.
Moyer didn’t stop with the triple jump, going to the high jump and clearing 6 feet for another title as VVS’s Eli Cleveland was fourth.
Oneida struck again in the discus, where Kyle Blessing threw it 118 feet 2 inches to prevail and VVS’s Matt Anthony (104 feet 5 1/2 inches) claimed second place. In a great 400 hurdles duel, Zach Hall edged VVS’s Robert Romeo, though both finished in 59.5 seconds.
Fahey and Guider were second and third, respectively, in the 400-meter dash as Romeo took second in the 110 high hurdles in 16.5 seconds. Matt Femia was second in the 800-meter run in 2:00.8 as Oneida’s Dan Margo threw the shot put 42 feet 6 1/2 inches for third place. Jimmy Moyer added a third in the 110 hurdles, just behind Romeo.
On the girls side at CBA, Oneida’s Taylor Youngkrans won the discus, tossing it 93 feet 2 inches, and was second to teammate Rachael Kline in the shot put, where Kline tossed it 32 feet 7 1/2 inches.
Jordan Armstrong gave the Indians another title in the long jump, going 15 feet 1/2 inch, while Viv Thurston and Sam Carinci were third and fifth, respectively, in the pole vault. Mackenzie Lynch was third in the 400 (1:04.6) and Sara Rifendifer took fourth in the 800. Oneida was second (10:40.5) to Bishop Grimes in the 4×800 relay.
VVS’s Rachel Brown would win the 100 hurdles in 16.6 seconds, where Kline took fifth. Elaine Slaven contributed a second-place time of 1:02.1 in the 400 and also got second in the high jump (5 feet) as Lauren MacDonald put up a time of 11:20.5 for second place in the 3,000-meter run.
Elsewhere for the Red Devils, Tammy Beal took third in the 400 hurdles (1:13.4) as Jenna Fiacco got third in the shot put with 27 feet 3 1/2 inches. Brown and Alyssa Durant were third and fourth, respectively, in the triple jump.
