Part of the enthusiasm for the Fayetteville-Manlius track and field teams this spring is the chance to compete at home on a brand-new oval surface.
The Hornets debuted on that surface Wednesday afternoon, against Central Square, and won big on both ends, topping the Red Hawks 105-35 in the girls meet and 90-51 in the boys meet.
Four different F-M girls earned two individual titles. Heather Martin was the most versatile, backing up her top time of 1:02.1 in the 400-meter hurdles by unleashing a top long jump of 14 feet 7 ¾ inches.
Jillian Fanning, in a time of 2:29.2, beat Hannah Smith (2:30.1) and Katie Brislin (2:31.0) in the 800-meter run after she had pulled way to claim the 1,500-meter run in 4:54.2. Natalie Zazzara covered the 100-meter dash in 13.4 seconds and the 200-meter dash in 27.9 seconds, leaving Martin (29.0 seconds) the runner-up in the latter event.
Finally, Caitlin Ferro handled the 100-meter hurdles in a top time of 19.3 seconds before going to the 400 hurdles and, in 1:16.3, beating the field by more than five seconds.
F-M also swept the relays. Zazzara, Martin, Molly Quinlan and Alexis Perez ran the 4×100 in 55 seconds flat, with Brislin, Katie Sischo and Olivia Ryan joining Zazzara in the 4×400 (4:25.3). Ryan, Brislin, Mary Barger and Hannah Smith had a time of 10:28.4 in the 4×800.
Other than this group, Christie Rutledge stepped up to win the 3,000-meter run in 10:22.90, with Anna Castro clearing 4’6” in the high jump and Savannah Pidkaminy clearing 6’6” in the pole vault.
Though the boys meet was closer, F-M still had total control, especially since Nick Ryan swept all three of the longest distance running events.
Ryan covered the mile in 4:27.2, leaving Bryce Millar (4:32.8) and Ben Thomas (4:32.9) behind, and also beat Thomas when he claimed the 800 in 2:04.3. To cap it off, in the 3,200-meter run Ryan tore to victory in 9:43.50, more than 45 seconds better than Thomas.
Austin Perez had his own big moments, holding off Central Square’s Malcolm Anderson, 11.5 seconds to 11.7, in the 100 sprint and also beating Anderson in the 200 in 23.4 seconds. In a tight 400, Perez (53.0 seconds) was second to teammate Charlie Beeler, who won in 52.9 seconds.
Of course, Beeler’s big moment came in the 400 hurdles, where he won in 59.6 seconds after Kyle Harbour, in 18.4 seconds, edged the Red Hawks’ Jack Cymbryla (18.5) in the 110 high hurdles. Jules Wellner won the pole vault as he cleared 9’6”.
Between them, Central Square teammates Dan Fehrman (long jump, triple jump, high jump) and Chris Buckingham (shot put, discus) won five field events.
But F-M swept the 4×100 (47.5 seconds), 4×400 (3:43.0) and 4×800 (9:03.80) with help from Perez, Beeler, Ryan, Millar, Thomas, Said Shukri, Langston Lightcap, Tanner Carter, Sean Bright, Ryan Greer Austin Blitz and Colin Fitzgibbons.
