For many different reasons, the Liverpool indoor track and field teams had a reason to feel proud at the end of Saturday’s state championship meet at Cornell University’s Barton Hall.
Chief among them was seeing Penn State-bound senior Zavon Watkins add another state title to his growing resume in the boys 1,000-meter run.
Competing in the second heat, Watkins pulled away and won in two minutes, 27.91 seconds, more than six seconds ahead of the field. In the last of the heats, Horseheads’ Brian Crimmins finished in 2:28.09, which left him in seconds, just 0.18 seconds behind Watkins.
Meanwhile, in the girls 4×200 relay, the Warriors’ quartet of Connie Torres, Ore Akinpelu, Tammy Brodie and Catherine Rowell qualified for the finals in 1:47.10. Then it improved to 1:46.97 in that championship race, setting a new school record and finishing fifth overall as Mount Vernon prevailed in 1:46.97.
On her own, Akinpelu was 11th in the 600-meter run in 1:37.93, a race where Garden City’s Emma Gallagher (1:32.37) landed in the top spot.
Cicero-North Syracuse’s Katie Osborne competed in three events at the state meet. Osborne cleared 5 feet 2 inches in the high jump and tied for 14th place, also getting 17th in the long jump (16 feet 1 inch) and 20th in the 55-meter hurdles in 8.95 seconds.
Also for the Northstars, Mariah Thomson threw the shot put 34 feet 7 ¼ inches, which put her in 15th place as Adrienne Alexander (Bishop Loughlin) won with 42 feet 8 inches. Jade Jenkins, with a top triple jump of 32 feet 8 ¾ inches, landed in 22nd place.
Back on the boys side, C-NS’s Mike Hyde claimed a tie for eighth place in the pole vault, clearing 13 feet 6 inches as Iona Prep’s Greg Gallagher (15 feet 6 inches) won the state title.
Hyde’s teammate, Frank Volino, was fifth in his qualifying heat of the 55-meter hurdles (8.01 seconds) and 22nd overall, while Anthony Lupia settled for 19th place in the mile in 4:30.80.
Liverpool’s 4×200 relay team of Steve Fiorello, Keewan Rondinello, Ryheim Lawes and Ryan Ronk advanced from the qualifying round in 1:34.17, but had trouble with baton passes in the finals and could not finish.
