In two miles and less than 10 minutes, the Fayetteville-Manlius girls indoor track and field team got to display its greatness once more.
The Hornets’ overwhelming victory in the 4×800 relay highlighted a strong effort by local athletes at Saturday’s New York State Public High School Athletic Association championship meet at Cornell University’s Barton Hall.
F-M’s quartet, composed of seniors Heather Martin and Katie Sischo and juniors Jillian Fanning and Katie Brislin, pulled away from the other teams throughout the race.
By the time the Hornets finished in nine minutes, 8.77 seconds, it had left runner-up Sachem East (9:24.24) more than 16 seconds behind. Mamaroneck was third in 9:29.17, more than 20 seconds back of the Hornets.
This came on top of Christie Rutledge, the Section III record-holder in the 3,000-meter run, claiming third place at the state meet in 10:02.03. Alexis Panisse (Benjamin Cardozo) won in 9:59.28.
In the 4×400 relay, F-M also medaled as Martin and Brislin joined Marri Ryu and Natalie Zazzara to earn fourth place in 4:06.82. Garden City took that race in 3:55.73.
Hannah Smith managed a 10th-place finish in the 1,000-meter run in 3:01.12 Olivia Ryan was 21st (1:40.62) in the 600-meter run and Annika Avery claimed 25th (5:03.70) in the 1,500-meter run.
For Jamesville-DeWitt, senior Maggie Fuller tied for seventh place in the high jump, clearing 5 feet 2 inches as Sweet Home’s Stephanie Izard (5 feet 6 inches) prevailed. In the pole vault, Fuller’s J-D teammate, Danielle Doss, was 18th, clearing 9 feet 9 inches.
In the boys state meet, F-M’s Nick Ryan earned a medal as he gained fifth place in the 3,200-meter run in 9:15.98. CBA’s Brendan Smith was unable to finish the race as Ryan’s teammate, Bryce Millar, was 23rd in 9:55.87.
Austin Perez, Charlie Beeler, Langston Lightcap and Said Shakuri worked together in the 4×400 relay, where their time of 3:36.40 put them 11th, unable to reach the finals, where Boys and Girls got the victory in a clocking of 3:24.67.
East Syracuse-Minoa’s Mike Coogan had a strong showing in the 600-meter run, taking 11th place in 1:24.52 as Strymar Livingston (Columbus) won in 1:20.02. CBA’s Kevin Frasier was sixth in his opening-round heat in the 300-meter dash (36.69 seconds) and 23rd overall.
