All of the top Skaneateles track and field athletes gathered at Cicero-North Syracuse Thursday for the Section III state qualifier, looking for berths in next weekend’s state championships at Caledonia-Mumford.
Caroline Walton challenged in both girls throwing events. In the shot put, she tossed it 35 feet 9 3/4 inches, topped by Dolgeville’s Nichole Bliss, who won with 37 feet 5 inches. And in the discus, Walton’s heave of 99 feet 10 inches was just behind Hannibal’s Mary Lenhart (101 feet 6 inches), just as in the Section III Class B-1 meet a week earlier.
Gabby Eckles, by clearing 5 feet 1 inch in the high jump, beat everyone except Clinton’s Eliza Bell, who was one inch better (5 feet 2 inches), while Kaela Fituak improved to 9 feet 6 inches the pole vault, but settled for third as Sara Young (South Lewis) won with 10 feet 6 inches.
In the girls Division II 4×400 relay, Skaneateles was third as Taylor Woodruff, Anna Barnett, Erin Tonzi and Aine Rooney claimed third place in 4:16.43. Tonzi, Madeline Adams, Danielle Mazzeo and Julia Poorman worked their way to fourth place in the 4×800 relay in 9:56.19.
Going to the boys side, Sean Cooper, in the finals of the Division II 110 high hurdles, finished in 15.64 seconds, braving the high winds and cold temperatures to finish third behind Cooperstown teammates Chris Wehner (15.28) and Alec Silviera (15.60). Tim Lewis was sixth in the long jump, going 19 feet 2 inches, but could not clear a height in the high jump amid the gusty winds.