West Genesee’s boys indoor track and field team would claim fifth place in a field of more than 20 squads during Wednesday’s Oscar Jensen Holiday Relays at Onondaga Community College’s SRC Arena.
The Wildcats had 35 points, while Westhill/Bishop Ludden slid into 10th place by earning 16.5 points. Cicero-North Syracuse roared to victory with 82 points.
Martin Leff could not keep up with Fayetteville-Manlius star Nick Ryan in the 3,200-meter run, but still finished second in 9:59.89 as he and Nate Conroy gained second (20:37.55) behind F-M (20:31.07) in the team portion.
Also for the Wildcats, Mark Reilly and Mike Lannon combined for third place in the 1,000-meter run in 5:48.47. Jordan-Elbridge’s Steve Slonosky and Jack Gugel were sixth in the 3,200, just as they were in the mile relay.
Peter James and Nico Ronaldo helped WG take second place in the pole vault, clearing 20 feet 6 inches between them. Ethan Osborne and Kal Strickland were fourth in the 800-meter run in 4:28.55, with Luke Potash and Wes Randall fourth (1:51.36) in the 400-meter dash.
Potash, by himself, was third (37.70 seconds) in the 300-meter dash, where he and Erich Cole took fifth on the team side as Westhill/Ludden’s tandem of Jack Honis and Mike Herholtz earned fourth place in 1:21.71.
Westhill/Ludden’s big moment came in the shot put, where Corey Wilkinson won individual honors with a toss of 45 feet. Tre Feisner was sixth, and their total throws of 84 feet 3 ½ inches beat CNS by more than three feet.
Christian St. Amour and Casey Bunce were sixth in the 600-meter run, just behind WG’s Pete Richardson and Dan Gabriel in fifth. Richardson and Jack Powell were sixth in the 55-meter dash.
On the girls end at the Jensen meet, only West Genesee, among the local teams, made a strong showing, as it got seventh place with 28 points. F-M won team honors with 70 points.
Laura Leff, fresh off her third-place finish in the cross country Foot Locker National Finals event in San Diego earlier this month, won the 3,000-meter run in 10:22.34 as she and Abby Kastick took the team title in 22:01.71.
Many of the Wildcats’ points were earned in the triple jump, where Brianna Richardson and Maureen McInerney combined for the victory, their leaps of 60 feet 1 ½ inches proving enough to get past Skaneateles (58 feet 5 ¼ inches) and the rest of the field.
Kelly Powell and Amy Hannahan were fifth in the 400 sprint in 2:13.01, with Hannahan helping Rebecca Rothenberg to fifth (6:50.89) in the 1,000. Westhill/Ludden’s Betsy Black ran to fourth place in the 1,500-meter event in 5:05.45. Richardson and Emily Iles claimed fourth in the 55 hurdles in 20.75 seconds.
J-E got six of its seven points when Danielle Clark and Amanda Brown rose to third place in the shot put with total throws of 49 feet 5 ¼ inches. Julia Conlan and Brianna Byrnes were sixth in the 600-meter run in 3:44.29.
Many top athletes were resting, and larger lineups are expected when the season resumes this Friday at SRC Arena with the George Constantino Memorial Meet.
