Even if the Fayetteville-Manlius indoor track and field team sees the winter season as a bridge between bigger endeavors in the fall and spring, that doesn’t mean the Hornets are immune to putting together spectacular performances.
Take, for example, Wednesday night’s Section III state qualifying meet at SRC Arena. Here, the girls Hornets, on an individual and team basis, assaulted the record books in a big way.
Senior Christie Rutledge would take over in the 3,000-meter run. Not just settling for a one-sided victory, Rutledge kept going until she crossed the line in nine minutes, 52.92 seconds, breaking a sectional mark Auburn’s Denise Bushallow, with a time of 9:55.41, set 27 years ago.
Not only that, but the Hornets set another sectional record in the 4×400 relay. Marri Ryu, Natalie Zazzara, Katie Brislin and Heather Martin roared to a time of 3:57.71, shattering the mark Rome Free Academy set in 2008 (4:02.97) by more than five seconds.
F-M swept through most of the distance events, including the 4×800 relay, where Martin, Katie Sischo, Katie Brislin and Jillian Fanning pulled away from the field and won in a clocking of 9:10.12.
Annika Avery pulled away to win the 1,500-meter run in 4:46.56, while in the 1,000-meter run Hannah Smith won a dramatic battle with Marcellus’ Rachel Garn, Smith posting 3:01.21 to Garn’s 3:01.39.
Olivia Ryan added a second-place finish in the 600-meter run in 1:40.07 as Jenna Farrell and Alana Pearl took fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 3,000 behind Rutledge’s record effort.
Elsewhere in the girls meet, Jamesville-DeWitt’s Danielle Doss won the pole vault, the only athlete to clear 9 feet 6 inches. Maggie Fuller took second in the high jump, clearing 5 feet 4 inches.
J-D’s quartet of Sierra Vasiliou, Ally Fox, Katy Pieri and Liz Pieri finished third in the 4×200 relay in 1:50.40, while Doss joined Fox and the Pieri sisters for third (4:07.40) in the 4×400. Patrece Martin took third (33 feet 11 ¼ inches) in the triple jump, while Vasiliou earned fourth place in the long jump with 16 feet 10 ½ inches.
Fox, in 7.62 seconds, rose to third place in the 55-meter dash as Liz Pieri was fifth (43.14 seconds) in the 300-meter dash. East Syracuse-Minoa’s Amanda Wall worked her way to third place in the long jump, going 16 feet 10 ½ inches, and was also fifth (33 feet 7 ¾ inches).
Meanwhile, in the boys state qualifier F-M’s Nick Ryan beat CBA’s Brendan Smith in the 3,200-meter run, Ryan prevailing in a time of 9:28.41 and Smith finishing second in 9:39.13, ahead of Bryce Millar (9:53.71) in third place.
Also for the Hornets, Ben Thomas won the mile in 4:31.61, and in the 600 Langston Lightcap won in 1:24.95, leaving ESM’s Mike Coogan (1:26.04) in second place. Austin Perez edged Rome Free Academy’s Josh Reed, 35.92 seconds to 36.01, in the 300 sprint, where CBA’s Kevin Frasier was fourth.
Lightcap, Perez, Charlie Beeler and Said Shakuri ran a strong 4×400 relay, finishing second in 3:28.86, but Liverpool won in 3:26.40 and broke a 33-year-old sectional record in the process. Ryan, Millar, Lightcap and Colin Fitzgibbons were second (8:18.18) in the 4×800.
J-D’s Ryan Peters took third in the shot put, throwing it 44 feet 11 ¾ inches. Will Sterriker gained fourth place in the 55 hurdles (7.99 seconds), while Taumeras Howard took sixth in the 55 sprint.
Many of these top athletes will head to Cornell University’s Barton Hall for this Saturday’s New York State Public High School Athletic Association championship meet, which starts at 9 a.m.
