Each of the nine Onondaga High School League Liberty division track and field teams gathered Monday at Marcellus for the league championship meet.
In both instances, the host Mustangs fared best among local sides, rising to third place in the boys meet with 72 points, trailing only CBA, who won with 132 points, and Hannibal, who was second with 108 points.
Ryan Manahan gave Marcellus an 800-meter victory in a swift one minute, 55.33 seconds, while Joe Fallon took the mile in 4:34.04. John Bell was second in the 3,200-meter run in 10:11.48.
Elsewhere, Rob Coon cleared 11 feet to gain second place in the pole vault, while Brian O’Connell was third (5’8”) in the high jump. Justin Garn claimed third in the 400-meter dash in 53.23 seconds. Nate Waite took fourth in the long jump (18’7”) as Dylan Felty was fifth in the 400 hurdles.
The Mustangs’ best relay finish was a second in the 4×100, where Coon, O’Connell, Waite and Matt Dempsey finished in 47.86 seconds. Marcellus also was third (3:36.62) in the 4×400.
Solvay, who was fourth in the team standings with 69 points, won that 4×400 as Matt Battaglia, Nate Carr, Nick Cometti and Eric Goodrich got a top time of 3:34.50.
Brian McLeod earned the victory in the high jump, clearing 6 feet, and didn’t stop there as he went 20’ ½” to beat the field in the long jump and added a third in the triple jump with 39’11”.
Cometti, on his own, won a tight 200-meter dash, edging CBA’s Dametrious Brown, 23.35 seconds to 23.38, and claimed second in the 100-meter dash in 11.48 seconds. Battaglia was fourth in the mile as Josh Marotti earned fourth in the 400 hurdles (1:04.39) and pole vault (10’6”) and Carr took sixth in the 800. Luke Randall was sixth in the shot put.
A third of Westhill/Bishop Ludden’s total of 48 points stemmed from seeing Corey Wilkinson toss the shot put 50 feet 1 ½ inches to win that event and going 136’2” in the discus to finish second.
Jack Honis also prevailed, going 15.44 seconds to beat the field in the 110 high hurdles. Christian St. Amour, Casey Bunce, Peter Lynch and Mike Herholtz finished second in the 4×800 relay in 8:39.77. Tre Feisinger was fourth in the discus (115’9”) and fifth in the shot put as Herholtz added a fifth in the pole vault.
Jordan-Elbridge got 24 points, as Steve Slonosky needed 10:57.50 for second place in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Anthony Faiola, Jacob Patterson, Bill DiRenzo and Austin Whittico were third in the 4×100 (48.69 seconds) as Jack Gugel joined Faiola, Patterson and DiRenzo for fourth in the 4×800. Tyler Jackson took third in the pentathlon.
Looking at the girls meet, as Cazenovia (195 points) rolled to the team title, Marcellus claimed local honors with 57 points for fourth place, as Westhill/Ludden (53 points) and J-E (49.5 points) were close behind.
Rachel Garn, who has Section III’s fastest time of the season in the 2,000-meter steeplechase, again dominated here, winning in 7:17.34 as J-E’s Julia Conlan (7:56.85) was third and Westhill/Ludden’s Erin Morrell was fifth. Garn also won the 800 in 2:25.40, leaving Cazenovia’s Caroline Marshall (2:27.28) in the runner-up spot.
Also for the Mustangs, Sarah Francesconi cleared 4’8” for second place in the high jump, with Solvay’s Courtney Napolitano third. Abbie Fallon was third in the 100 sprint (13.60 seconds), and the Mustangs earned fifth in the 4×100 and 4×400 relays. Suzanna Sylcox was third in the discus and fifth in the shot put.
For Westhill/Ludden, Kayla Wild swept the throwing events. In the shot put, she threw it 29’2 ½”, beating J-E’s Megan Greenwood (28’7 ¼”) for the top spot, while in the discus a throw of 83’3” was enough for Wild to beat another Eagles competitor, Danielle Clark, who was second with 81’9”.
Westhill/Ludden went to the top in the 4×800 relay as Betsy Black, Jessica Curry, Caroline Coates and Emily Washburn won in 9:54.41, just ahead of Skaneateles (9:57.56) as Marcellus finished fourth.
Erin Christenen took fourth in the high jump. Annibel Coolican took fifth in the 1,500-meter run in 5:11.72, with Caroline Black fifth in the 3,000. Mary Kate Washburn added a fifth in the pole vault, tied with the Mustangs’ Emma Blystone.
J-E’s Rachel Scott earned a victory in the 400 hurdles, her time of 1:08.25 just ahead of Homer’s Erin Leach (1:08.29) as the Mustangs’ Mackenzie Felicia was fourth. Scott also was fourth in the 100 hurdles and helped Monica Espada, Brittany Hares and Brianna Byrnes to third in the 4×400 relay in 4:21.65, just ahead of Westhill/Ludden in fourth.
The Eagles’ Courtney Hourigan took fifth in the triple jump, Julia Conlan gained fifth place in the 1,500, while Byrnes was sixth in the 400 sprint and Sarah Knapp was sixth in the 3,000. Solvay saw Hailey Holcomb finish fourth in the 100 hurdles in 17.83 seconds.
