Two memorable races, both involving Marcellus senior Ryan Manahan, challenging Fayetteville-Manlius superstar Nick Ryan, highlighted last Tuesday’s boys indoor track George Constantino Memorial Invitational.
For the first time this winter, the scene shifted from SRC Arena to Colgate University’s Sanford Field House, but the venue brought the same intense competition.
In the 600-meter run, Manahan would manage to hold off Ryan, posting a time of one minute, 25.22 seconds as Ryan (1:26.765) settled for second place. Justin Garn was sixth in 1:29.07.
The 1,000-meter run proved even closer, Manahan and Ryan nearly crossing the line together – but it was the Hornets’ star, in 2:32.94, holding off Manahan (2:32.96) by just 0.02 seconds.
In that same 1,000-meter race, West Genesee’s Nate Conroy (2:39.95) and Logan McAnulty (2:45.81) were fourth and sixth, respectively, part of the Wildcats earning 27 points to tie Nottingham for seventh place.
Manahan’s efforts carried Marcellus to a share of ninth place with Liverpool, each getting 21 points. Jordan-Elbridge had 14 points, with Solvay (13 points) and Westhill/Bishop Ludden (10 points) close behind among the local sides.
WG’s Pete Richardson, in 38.55 seconds, earned second place in the 300-meter dash behind Cicero-North Syracuse’s Shawn Webb (38.17 second), and also got to fourth in the 55-meter hurdles in 8.87 seconds. Jack Erhard earned a fourth-place time of 4:35.56 in the mile.
Elsewhere, the Wildcats had a solid effort in the 4×800 relay, where Mike Lannon, Nick Garty, Matt Romano and Mike Richards finished in 8:47.06 and earned third place.
For J-E, junior Jack Gugel had a chance to win the mile, beating 39 other runners, including Erhard, as he posted a time of 4:33.95, second only to F-M’s Colin Fitzgibbons, who won in 4:31.27.
Gugel teamed with Dylan Whittico, Austin Whittico and Bill Direnzo to finish third in the 4×400 relay in 3:43.43 as Westhill/Ludden (3:54.06) was sixth.
Corey Wilkinson gave Westhill/Ludden a victory in the shot put, as his throw of 48 feet 8 inches was four inches better than Oneida’s David Carroll.
Solvay, in the 55-meter dash, saw Nick Cometti, in 6.78 seconds, finish third, not far behind the winner, Nottingham’s Sterling Lowry (6.70 seconds) as Wilkinson was fifth in 6.95 seconds.
Also for the Bearcats, Brian McLeod took third in the triple jump, going 39’8”, adding a sixth (18’6 ½”) in the long jump. Marcellus saw Brian O’Connell take fifth in the high jump, clearing 5’7”.
The girls Constantino meet took place at SRC Arena a night later. West Genesee had the best local effort, tying Nottingham for seventh place with 22 points. Westhill/Ludden (16 points), Marcellus (14 points), J-E (four points) and Solvay (two points) followed.
Laura Leff, fresh off a 1,500-meter victory at the Southern Tier Invitational on Jan. 5, prevailed again four nights later, this time in the 600, where the Wildcats junior had a top time of 1:38.07, with J-D’s Rachel Fairbanks (1:39.83) the only other runner to break 1:40.
Abby Uczen also gave WG a victory, going to the pole vault where she was the only competitor to clear 10 feet. No one else did better than 8’6” as Liverpool’s Angela Kulpa finished second.
Elsewhere, Leff, teamed with Lindsay Weaver, Valerie Pirro and Allison Iles, got fifth place (4:31.31) in the 4×400, beat out by J-E’s quartet of Brianna Byrnes, Alexis Malvasso, Bethanie Emerick and Julie Hines, who was fourth in 4:30.92.
Westhill/Ludden’s Emily Mizer (1:44.14) was fourth in the 600, while her teammate, Annibel Coolican, took fifth in the 3,000-meter run in 11:11.98. Kayla Wild (30’7”) and Bella Sterly (30’6 ¾”) were third and fourth, respectively, in the shot put.
Rachel Garn had a strong showing for Marcellus in the 1,500, finishing in 4:55.02, which put her second behind F-M’s Mary Barger (4:53.36). In the 1,000, Garn took third place in 3:09.03. For Solvay, Hailey Holcomb had the best finish, a fifth (9.79) in the 55 hurdles.
