In what could only be described as an odd development, the Oneida and Vernon Verona Sherill girls track and field teams ended up tied with each other in last Wednesday’s three-way meet that also involved Holland Patent.
And by finishing with the same total of 70.5 points, the Indians and Red Devils ended up sharing the Tri-Valley League West division title with equal 4-2-1 marks — though both sides lost 77-64 to the Golden Knights in the same meet.
HP won most of the races, though VVS did pick them off a couple of times. Elaine Slaven ran the 200-meter dash in 28 seconds flat and Rachel Brown earned first place in the 100-meter hurdles in 16.8 seconds. Slaven would also win the high jump, clearing 4 feet 8 inches.
All of Oneida’s titles came in field events. Rachael Kline threw the shot put 32 feet 6 inches and Taylor Youngkrans heaved the discus 96 feet 5 inches, while Jordan Armstrong took first in the long jump (14 feet 6 1/2 inches) and Vivian Thurston cleared 7 feet 6 inches in the pole vault.
Meanwhile, the Oneida boys team lost to Holland Patent 93-48, despite Mike Rabbitt’s latest four-win effort. Rabbitt claimed first in the 110 high hurdles (16.1 seconds) and 400 hurdles in a swift 56.8 seconds, while also clearing 6 feet 2 inches in the high jump and going 19 feet 10 1/2 inches in the long jump.
Kyle Blessing earned first place in the discus, going 121 feet 10 inches, while Eric Riley unleashed a top triple jump of 41 feet 1/2 inch.
The VVS boys team had met New Hartford earlier in the week, losing on the boys side to the Spartans by a score of 81-60.
Tyler Curtis still swept through the 100-meter dash (11.0 seconds) and 200-meter dash (23.3 seconds), with Matt Femia taking the 800-meter run in 2:11.4 and helping the Red Devils win the 4×800 relay in 9:28.3.
Anthony Matt gave VVS a victory in the discus, tossing it 109 feet 6 inches, while Nash Robb prevailed in the long jump, going 19 feet. Jake Kamilow (high jump, shot put) and Aaron Tompkins (mile, 3,200-meter run) both had double wins on New Hartford’s behalf.