As part of the Skaneateles track and field team’s ride through Thursday’s Section III state qualifying meet at Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Stadium, six different athletes earned trips to the state championships at Vestal next weekend.
In the girls 4×800 relay, Carly Strods, Amanda Gray, Danielle Mazzeo and Grace Van der Ven nearly won the Division II (small school) race, posting a time of 9:38.61, just behind Marcellus (9:37.19) for the top spot, but more than 12 seconds faster than the state qualifying standard.
Sean Cooper, Tim Lewis and Calvin Davis also advanced in their respective specialties. Cooper earned a time of 15.76 seconds in the 110-meter high hurdles to finish in third behind Alec Silvera (Cooperstown, 15.06) and Sean McMonagle (Phoenix, 15.25). However, that 15.76 easily beat the 16.04 qualifying standard, so Cooper will go to the state meet.
So will Lewis, after matching the state standard in the high jump with a clearance of 6 feet 2 inches. Lewis tied for third, two inches behind Brandon Lane (Cooperstown) and Kevin Kress (Old Forge).
Davis joined in by tearing through the boys 800-meter run in 1:58.23, which was fourth in Division II, but still faster than the qualifying standard by 0.71 sceconds. In the 4×800 relay, Davis, Sam Kriever, Paul Hamilton and Mark Cannuciari gained fifth place in 8:36.68.
Back on the girls side, Caroline Walton just missed advancing in the shot put, finishing third with a toss of 34 feet 7 3/4 inches (the standard was 34 feet 9 inches). In the discus, Walton also took third with a heave of 99 feet 3 inches.
Gabby Eckles was fifth in the triple jump, going 34 feet 2 inches, and tied for seventh in the high jump as she cleared 4 feet 10 inches. Strods, Erin Tonzi, Cassie Berg and Victoria Sakal were seventh in the 4×400 relay in 4:14.79. Sakal, on her own, was fifth in the 400-meter dash in 1:01.70.