Though far from overpowering, the Cicero-North Syracuse boys indoor track and field team maintained its win streak.
During Monday night’s Bob Grieve Memorial Invitational at Onondaga Community College’s SRC Arena (postponed due to snow on Jan. 13), the Northstars picked up 44 points, but it was enough to hold off Fayetteville-Manlius (40 points) for first place.
Joe Castaldo gave C-NS a victory in the shot put, throwing it 45 feet 1 ½ inches, more than two feet clear of the rest of the field.
Bryson Mayes had a third-place triple jump of 39 feet 9 ½ inches and, in the high jump, was also third, clearing 5 feet 10 inches. Frank Volino got to second in the second in the 300-meter dash in 38.42 seconds, inches behind Tully’s Frank Delles (38.39), with Nick Mezatesta third in 39.20 seconds.
Neil Gill, Paul DeGennaro, Shayne Mitchell and Ken Ryan were fourth in the distance medley relay in 11:27.65. Cameron LaBarge cleared 11 feet 6 inches to finish fourth in the pole vault.
Liverpool claimed fifth place with 23 points, nearly half of them in the 1,600 sprint medley, where Zavon Watkins, Keewan Rondinello, Ryan Ronk and Jeff Conley pulled away and, in 3:37.71, beat runner-up Fayetteville-Manlius (3:47.72) by nearly 10 seconds.
Then Watkins, on his own, rolled to a victory in the 600-meter run in 1:23.45, nearly two seconds ahead of Hannibal’s Ben Griffin (1:25.35). Rondinello got to fifth in the 55-meter dash in 6.82 seconds.
In the girls Grieve meet, C-NS nearly matched the boys total and earned 40 points, but that only left them in fourth place as Cazenovia, who dominated Mohawk Valley Indoor Track Association meets this winter, won with 52 points.
For the Northstars, Katie Osborne dropped a close decision in the 55 hurdles, finishing in nine seconds flat, second to Cazenovia’s Paige Biviano (8.96 seconds).
In the triple jump, Osborne gained third place with a leap of 32 feet 10 ¼ inches, with Jessica Wheeler second in the pole vault because she cleared 9 feet with more misses than Jamesville-DeWitt’s Danielle Doss.
Maria LaMontagne, Katie Laris, Rachel Wisely and Nicole Watterud gave C-NS a third-place time of 13:14.74 in the distance medley relay.
Liverpool’s quartet of Morgan Mahoney, Kyla Bills, Stine Albers and Emily Butler were sixth in 13:50.86. Marissa Colburn got fifth in the 600 in 1:46.60, while Jade Jenkins gained fifth (15 feet 1 ½ inches) in the long jump.
Liverpool, eighth in the team standings with 18 points, saw Connie Torres, Ore Akinpelu, Yasmeen Griffin and Tammy Brodie take third in the 1,600 sprint medley in 4:22.96.
Jazmine Herbert grabbed fourth place in the 55 sprint in 7.68 seconds, while Catherine Rowell was sixth in the 300 and Nelliah Watkins was sixth in the shot put.
