Really close to home, Liverpool’s Zavon Watkins had one more chance to add to his spectacular high school resume before heading off to Penn State.
Watkins took full advantage of it, winning the 800-meter run at this weekend’s state track and field championship meet, held at Bragman Stadium.
On the Cicero-North Syracuse oval where he had competed so many times before, Watkins went to the starting line in the 800 as the heavy favorite.
For a lap, Watkins hung in the pack, but on the second half he surged to the front and didn’t stop until he had recorded a top time of one minute, 51.21 seconds. Watkins beat the runner-up, Horseheads’ Brian Crimmins, by 1.27 seconds.
A day later, Watkins would also excel in the mile, getting to second place in 4:07.24. Yet that wasn’t enough to top his local rival, Fayetteville-Manlius senior Nick Ryan, who had won the 3,200-meter even the day before. Here, Ryan won in 4:05.24, a margin of precisely two seconds that broke both the state meet and Section III records.
As it turned out, Watkins’ schedule was shortened. He was supposed to compete with Liverpool teammates Keewan Rondinello, Ryheim Lawes and Steve Fiorello in the 4×400 relay, but the Warriors scratched, as it did in the 4×100, where Lawes, Fiorello, Rondinello and Ryan Ronk were supposed to run.
The hosts from C-NS got its best shot at a medal from Katie Osborne, in the pentathlon. Along the way, Osborne ran the 100-meter hurdles in 15.56 seconds and cleared 5 feet 2 1/2 inches in the high jump. She also had a second-place long jump of 16’5″.
However, struggles in the other events left Osborne to settle for fifth place among Division I (large school) competitors, getting 2,959 points. Sweet Home’s Stephanie Izard won with 3,374 points.
Liverpool freshman Ore Akinpelu had a solid ninth-place showing in the Division I 400-meter hurdles in 1:05.24. Akinpelu, teamed with Connie Torres, Jazmine Herbert and Catherine Rowell, were 12th in the 4×100 relay (49.64 seconds) as Herbert, on her own, was 16th in the 100-meter dash.
Also for the Northstars, Jessica Wheeler, by clearing 10 feet in the pole vault, fell into a tie for eighth place, while Nicole Watterud was 14th in the Division I 2,000-meter steeplechase (19th overall) in a clocking of 7:19.98.
The Warriors’ Nick Leedom threw the shot put 48′ 1/4″ and was 11th in Division I, while C-NS’s Khalil Stevens could only clear 5’9″ in the high jump.
In the Division I portion of the 400 hurdles, Rondinello had to scratch, but C-NS’s Frank Volino did run, and was 17th in 58.11 seconds. Mark Broughton was 13th (22.88 seconds) in the 200 sprint, unable to reach the finals.
