Just before its CNY Counties League opener against West Genesee, the Liverpool track and field teams nearly swept the top spots at Monday’s Tully Spring Break Invitational.
On the girls end, Liverpool picked up 76 points, enough to hold off Homer (64 points) and Mexico (62 points) at the top, while the boys Warriors had 81 points, topping everyone except Hannibal, who won with 89 points.
Ore Akinpelu delivered a win in the 400-meter dash in 1:01.67, with Madeline Murphy (1:10.46) in fifth place. Akinpelu teamed with Jessica Turner, Emily Butler and Kyla Bills for third (11:01.57) in the 4×800 relay.
Butler was second in the 3,000-meter run, edging out third-place Morgan Mahoney, 11:29.99 to 11:30.05, while Lindsey Thiel was sixth in the 1,500-meter run. Alexus Gersbacher got sixth in the 200-meter dash and Turner took sixth in the high jump.
Only Nicole Barrett (7 feet 6 inches) and Shae Shenandoah (7’) cleared heights in the pole vault, providing Liverpool a 1-2 finish. Kathryn Dalton stepped up for fourth place in the triple jump, going 26’ ½ “.
Mary Reed was fourth in the discus, heaving it 83’ 9”, with Nelliah Watkins getting fifth place in the shot put with 26’ 9”. Jazmine Herbert claimed third (13.62 seconds) in the 100-meter dash as Bills took third in the 800-meter run in 2:34.99.
Liverpool gathered up 24 boys points with its 1-2-3 sweep in the 400-meter dash. Zavon Watkins took top honors in a time of 50.41 seconds, edging out Ryheim Lawes (50.44 seconds) as Keewan Rondinello was third in 53.02 seconds.
Zavon Watkins would win the boys 800, his time of 2:07.15 more than a second ahead of Hannibal’s Ben Griffin (2:08.25). Liverpool also won the 4×400, where Steve Fiorello, Ryheim Lawes, Keewan Rondinello and Brandon Horton, in 3:44.09, beat the field by more than three seconds.
Dan Muldoon, Connor Buck, Alex Christensen and Anthony Ostuni were third in the 4×800 in 9:15.16. This came after Christensen ran the mile in 4:48.63, second to Griffin (4:47.63), and Adam Zinger ran 3,200 meters in 10:43.28, which put him in second place, too.
Nick Leedom, with a throw of 44’ 8”, got second in the shot put. Chris Granell threw the discus 120’7” for fourth place, as Ryan Ronk was fifth (11.93 seconds) in the 100 and Brandon Horton earned sixth in the triple jump.
In the unique 4×100 relay for throwers, Liverpool’s quartet of Leedom, Chris Gillmore, Konrad Wenneberg and Mark Williamson were fourth in 58.62 seconds.
