Before the February post-season gauntlet, the Liverpool boys indoor track and field team had one more chance to add to its win total – and did so.
Ryheim Lawes’ first-place finishes in the 55-meter dash and long jump helped the Warriors hold off Fayetteville-Manlius and prevail in Wednesday night’s Last Chance Qualifier at SRC Arena.
Liverpool picked up 64 points to F-M’s total of 62 points, while Cicero-North Syracuse also did quite well, rising up to third place with 48 points.
Lawes first struck in the 55 sprint, his time of 6.70 seconds going to the top as Solvay’s Nick Cometti (6.75 seconds) took the second spot. Then, in the long jump, Lawes went 19 feet 11 3/4 inches, leaving C-NS’s Morgan Austen (19’8 3/4″) to claim second place.
Austen did win, though, in the 55-meter hurdles, where in 7.92 seconds he was part of a 1-2 Northstars finish that included Pete Girardi taking second place in 8.07 seconds.
The Warriors got its own 1-2 sweep in the 1,000-meter run, where Dylan McCarthy put up a time of two minutes, 38.52 seconds, with Connor Buck getting second place in 2:39.93.
Alex Christensen took second place in the 600-meter run in 1:24.70, just behind F-M’s Kyle Barber, who won in 1:24.44, while Buck was fourth in the mile in 4:40.88. Nick LeClair was seventh in the 600-meter run as Jacob Rowell got seventh place in the 3,200-meter run.
During their latest shot-put duel, Liverpool’s Geoffrey Bell again got the best of C-NS’s Joe Castaldo, Bell’s top throw of 47’10” gaining first place as Castaldo, in 47’6 3/4″, was a close second. Mark Vanmarter gained fourth place in the triple jump, going 40’3 1/2″ as Girardi (39’3 1/2″) was fifth.
C-NS also had Connor Osborne finish second in the pole vault, clearing 11’6″, an effort only Phoenix’s Andy Padula (11’9″) could top. Colin Greenseich finished fifth in the 3,200-meter run in 10:10.59.
As this went on, the girls Last Chance Qualifier saw Liverpool pick up 33 points, again finishing second to F-M, who won with 66 points. C-NS also had a solid showing, getting 24 points to finish fifth.
Ore Akinpelu nearly won twice for the Warriors, including the 55 sprint, where in 7.56 seconds she settled for the runner-up spot behind CBA’s Anna Schug (7.51 seconds) as C-NS’s Sasha Pulaski (7.76 seconds) was fifth. Then, in the 600, Akinpelu put up a time of 1:40.09, putting her in second place, 0.48 seconds behind F-M’s Alana Pearl (1:39.61).
Morgan Mahoney also finished second, in the 1,500-meter run, breaking the five-minute mark (4:58.55) but trailing behind F-M’s Annika Avery, who won in 4:41.19 as Morgan Chewning-Kulick took seventh place. Jillian Stagnitta made her way to fifth place in the 3,000-meter run in 11:04.56, while Danelle Sims was sixth (44.30 seconds) in the 300 sprint.
C-NS’s Destiny Monica prevailed in the shot put, throwing it 33’1″ to beat a field that included Liverpool’s Nelliah Watkins (31’6″) in third place. Also for the Northstars, Nicole Herringshaw cleared 5’2″ in the high jump and finished third to Baldwinsville’s Emily Soeder and East Syracuse-Minoa’s Nina Zesky (both 5’3″).
Brittany House got fourth place in the 55 hurdles in 9.66 seconds, with teammate Chayanna Collins (9.74 seconds) in sixth place. Hannah Szumloz took sixth in the long jump (15’3 1/2″) as Julia King was seventh in the triple jump (32’5″). Jilliann Norris finished seventh in the 600
Also getting close to earning points, Liverpool’s Alexis Bittel was ninth in the triple jump, while Juliana Basla took eighth in the 1,000 and teammate Kristina Moore was ninth in the 1,500.
