Indoor track and field teams from Liverpool and Cicero-North Syracuse took all the top honors during Tuesday’s George Constantino Memorial Invitational at SUNY-Cortland.
The girls meet proved close, with the Northstars and Warriors both amassing points before CNS, with 71 points, settled into first place and Liverpool, with 64 points, took second place.
Maria LaMontagne (4:53.44) and Nicole Watterud (4:58.58) went 1-2 among individuals in the 1,500-meter run. Katie Laris and Jackie Halstead joined in and CNS won in 20:10.54, with Liverpool’s quartet of Rachel Putman, Ashley Letteney,
Kyla Bills and Ali Whiting second in 21:34.47.
The other win involved Jessica Wheeler and Justine Seliger, who got together in the 55-meter hurdles and, with times of 19.66 seconds, beat runner-up Nottingham by a full second.
CNS also landed a third in the 4×800 relay, where Shannon Bausinger, Jessica Jelfo, Sarah Shannon and Dana Rinaldi finished in 10:38.42.
Katie Osborne and Laura Tolbert gave CNS a second-place finish in the triple jump (61 feet 3/4 inch), with Osborne second among individuals in the long jump (15 feet 7 inches) as she and Hannah Szumolz finished third with 28 feet 1 3/4 inches.
Mariah Thomson and Kaleigh Carroll were third in the shot put, tossing it 57 feet 9 inches, and the Northstars were also third in the 4×400 and 2,000 sprint medley relays, plus fifth in the 4×200 relay.
With Meagan Turner and Megan Earle on hand, Liverpool won the high jump, Turner and Earle combining to clear 9 feet 2 inches. Tatiana Gladney and Shania Williams produced another Liverpool title in the shot put, combining for throws of 58 feet 8 3/4 inches to beat Auburn by more than half a foot.
Liverpool also took the 4×200 relay, where Connie Torres, Armani Moore, Shanice Leach and Hannah Anthes finished in 1:57.10, the only sub-two minute effort. Anthes and Putman joined Shae Shenandoah and Farrah Terranova to get second in the 4×400 relay (4:30.61).
Moore and Shanice Leach were second in the long jump, going 28 feet 10 3/4 inches, while Shae Shenandoah and Breanna Burns cleared 14 feet in the pole vault, which meant second place because Homer had the same height, but had fewer misses. CNS (7 feet 6 inches) was third.
In the boys meet, it was Liverpool taking over with 70 points, well clear of everyone in the field – including CNS, who edged out Baldwinsville, 44 points to 40, for second place.
Joe Spernyak won the individual 55-meter hurdles in 8.01 seconds and, with Justin McGriff, held off Skaneateles 17.25 seconds to 17.34 to win that event. CNS was fifth in 19.68 seconds. Spernyak and Zach Harris combined to clear 10 feet 8 inches to win the high jump by two inches over Marcellus, with CNS claiming third place.
McGriff wasn’t done, either, as he had the top triple jump of 41 feet 4 1/4 inches, as he and Ryan Ronk won that event with 76 feet 11 inches between them.
In the 1,500 sprint medley, Keewan Rondinello, Kam Arnold, Jordan Stenson and Zavon Watkins gave Liverpool another victory in 4:53.02. The Northstars’ quartet of Jared Walther, Ryan Connor, Matt Ryle and Chris Buchanan was second in 4:57.56.
Rondinello, Watkins and Arnold returned in the 4×800, helping LaQuan Kitchen as they won that race in 8:51.92 and, again, CNS, with Buchanan, Walther, Derek Heiser and Josh Sinay, had to settle for second place in 8:55.68.
Kitchen was second among individuals in the long jump (18 feet 5 1/4 inches) as he and Steve Fiorello got second with a total 35 feet 7 inches, with CNS (34 feet 8 inches) settling for fourth place.
Liverpool also beat the field in the 4×200, where Stenson, Fiorello, Ronk and Damien Brown prevailed in 1:40.10, leaving CNS (1:43.08) far behind in fourth place. CNS also was fourth in the mile relay as the Warriors took fifth in the shot put.
