Tough competition within the OHSL Liberty division positioned the Jordan-Elbridge girls track and field team well for Thursday’s Section III Class B-2 championship meet at Marcellus High School.
Without powers Cazenovia and Skaneateles to worry about (they were in the B-1 division), the Eagles earned 67 points for fourth place in a nine-team field. Adirondack, with 125 points, took the top spot.
Courtney Hourigan was victorious in the five-event pentathlon. Winning both the 100 hurdles and long jump, Hourigan, with 1,993 points, just had enough to hold off Lowville’s Ashley Capone by six points for the top spot.
Abby Gugel and Brianna Byrnes both would win twice. Together, in the 4×800 relay Gugel and Byrnes, joined by Julia Conlan and Lauren Hubbs, prevailed in a time of 10:26.67, almost four seconds better than runner-up Adirondack.
Individually, Gugel, in 7:54.70, won the 2,000-meter steeplechase as Conlan (8:16.36) took third place. Byrnes prevailed in the 800-meter run in 2:31.67, with Lowville’s Erin Fayle (2:33.43) in the runner-up spot.
J-E also won the 4×400 relay, watching as Byrnes, teamed with Rachel Scott, Monica Espada and Brittany Hares, finished in 4:20.62, leaving Altmar-Parish-Williamstown (4:24.46) and the rest of the field behind.
Emma Cooney contributed a third-place shot put toss of 31 feet 9 3/4 inches. Hubbs was sixth in the 400-meter dash, just behind Hares (1:08.64) in fifth place. Espada took sixth in the 400 hurdles.
Moving to Class B-1, the dominance of Cazenovia (165 points) and runner-up Skaneateles (88 points) did not leave much for the locals as host Marcellus settled for eighth place with 26.5 points.
Still, Rachel Garn tore to victory in the 800, her time of 2:18.19 more than nine seconds better than Hannibal’s Mandy Mikalsen.
Garn, Maggie Dunn, Mary Morocco and Tori Stopen earned second in the 4×800 in 10:14.60 as Morocco, on her own, took third in the 1,500 in 5:08.73.
Sarah Francesconi, clearing 4’6″, tied Solvay’s Courtney Napolitano for fifth in the high jump, while Makenzie Felicia was sixth in the 400 hurdles.
The Bearcats also saw Abby Frateschi share fifth in the pole vault, clearing 7’6″, while Tina Clemente took fifth in the 400 sprint in 1:03.46. Hailey Holcomb earned sixth place in the 100 hurdles.
