and field athletes cleaned up in every discipline during last Wednesday night’s Section III state qualifier at SRC Arena.
As a result, many of these same stars are on their way to Cornell University’s Barton Hall to participate in the March 2 state indoor track championships.
At the start of her big week, West Genesee’s Laura Leff won the 1,500-meter run. Battling with Fayetteville-Manlius star Alana Pearl, Leff traded the lead with Pearl all race long before bolting to the front on the final turn to win in four minutes, 39.21 seconds, beating Pearl by 1.16 seconds.
Also for the Wildcats, Abby Uczen claimed the top spot in the pole vault, the only athlete in either division to clear 10 feet, doing so on her third try. This followed a Class AA meet where Uczen was unable to clear a height.
Brianna Richardson contended for WG in the 55-meter hurdles, finishing in 8.99 seconds, which was second in Division I (large schools) behind Homer’s Jekeytha Adkins (8.87 seconds). Richardson also was second in the triple jump (35’4 ¾”) behind Cicero-North Syracuse’s Javielle Fanizzi, who won with 36’ ½”.
Rachel Garn will represent Marcellus at the state meet on the Division II (small school) side, this after she claimed the 1,000-meter run in a time of 3:04.60, nearly two seconds faster than in the Class B meet a week earlier.
An exciting finish in the Division II 600-meter run came down to mere fractions. Jordan-Elbridge’s Brianna Byrnes and Cazenovia’s Samantha Gates hit the line together, but Byrnes, in 1:44.69, beat Gates (1:44.70) by one-hundredth of a second.
Another Eagles runner, Julie Hines, was third in the Division II 300-meter dash, though she hit the line at the exact same time (42.75 seconds) as Cazenovia’s Clare Costello, who got second because she was 0.004 seconds faster.
Also, Westhill/Ludden’s Emily Mizer was fourth in the Divison I 600-meter run in 1:42.05, while Annibel Coolican was fourth in Division I in the 3,000-meter run in 10:55.81. Caroline Coates, Erin Christensen, Erin Morrell and Genny Corcoran were fourth (10:09.73) in the 4×800 relay. Kayla Wild and Bella Sterly were sixth and eighth, respectively, in the shot put.
Moving to the boys state qualifier, Solvay’s Nick Cometti won the Division II portion of two sprints and nearly claimed the overall titles against large-school opposition.
Cometti, in the 55-meter dash, hit the line in 6.64 seconds, topped only by Nottingham’s Sterling Lowry (6.60), and it was closer in the 300, where Cometti, in 36.78 seconds, nearly caught C-NS’s Mark Broughton (36.77) at the tape as Westhill/Ludden’s Christian St. Amour (37.92) was fourth.
Marcellus senior Ryan Manahan won the overall race in the 1,000, beating the Division I sides with a time of 2:33.27 as Baldwinsville’s Alec Peinkofer (2:34.10) led the trailing pack that included WG’s Nate Conroy (2:41.41).
As if that wasn’t enough, Manahan, teamed with Nick Nye, Nate Waite and Will Coon, earned the Division II title in the 4×200 relay in 1:38.61, while Westhill/Ludden (1:38.16) was third in Division I behind Nottingham and Fowler.
Corey Wilkinson, who ran with St. Amour, Ben Rath and Peter Guy in the 4×200, won the overall title in the shot put, heaving it 50’5 ¼”, nearly four feet better than Liverpool’s Geoffrey Bell.
For J-E, Bill DiRenzo earned his ticket to the state meet by winning the Division II portion of the 600 in 1:27.46, second overall to Fayetteville-Manlius’ Charlie Beeler (1:26.58). Solvay’s Matt Battaglia was fourth (1:28.38), beating out the Wildcats’ Jack Erhard (1:29.34) in fifth.
DiRenzo’s teammate, Jack Gugel, had the fastest Division II showing in the mile, racing to the line in a time of 4:39.53. Both WG’s Pete Richardson and Westhill/Ludden’s Xavier Fleurinor missed the finals of the 55 hurdles, while Solvay’s Josh Marotti tied for sixth (11 feet) in the pole vault.
