Dylan Whittico, Jack Gugel and Tyler Jackson led the way, and the rest of the Jordan-Elbridge boys track and field team followed, all the way to the Onondaga High School League Liberty division title.
In Monday’s OHSL Liberty meet at Marcellus, the Eagles overcame a strong challenge from Solvay and won with 106 points to the Bearcats’ 89. Westhill/Bishop Ludden, with 42 points, finished ninth, with the host Mustangs (36 points) settling for ninth place in the 10-team field.]
Whittico conquered the 400-meter hurdles, his time of 58.86 seconds the only one under the one-minute mark. J-E teammate Jacob Patterson (1:02.31) held off Solvay’s Josh Marotti (1:02.70) for fourth place.
Then, in the 200-meter final, Whittico, in 22.82 seconds, pulled away from Skaneateles’ Patrick Biver (22.32 seconds) and prevailed.
Also, Whittico was second in the 400-meter dash in 52.23 seconds to Biver (51.12 seconds), with Solvay’s Nate Carr third in 53.11 seconds. He also teamed with Austin Milton, Jacob Patterson and Nick Parkolap to get third place in the 4×400 relay in 3:40.18.
Gugel would beat the field in the mile, going 4:36.80 to prevail as Westhill/Ludden teammates Kyle Fitch (4;43.20) and Liam Rodgers (4:45.22) were third and fourth, respectively.
Then, in the 3,200-meter run, Gugel went 10:17.98 to beat out Hannibal’s Jason McFarland (10:21.74), while eighth-grader Hunter Brunelle gave the Eagles a fifth-place finish in 10:48.51. Gugel, Patterson, Parkolap and Russell Hines got to second in the 4×800 relay in 8:39.50, with Solvay fourth (9:04.39) and Westhill/Ludden fifth.
J-E’s Nate Hollis finished seventh in the mile, but did take fourth in the 800-meter run in 2:04.88, just behind Solvay’s Eric Goodrich (2:03.25) in third place. Goodrich, Nate Carr, Colton Francemone and Tony Matsyuk got to second place in the 4×400 in 3:39.42, ahead of J-E, but trailing Skaneateles, who won in 3:35.34.
Two Westhill/Ludden runners, Vincenzo Carr and Garnet Remillard, were third (10:40.38) and fourth (11:10.70), respectively, in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. J-E’s Austin Milton was fifth. Josh Owens was fourth in the 3,200 behind Gugel, and Brian Celeste gained sixth place for the Warriors.
Jackson was victorious in the five-event pentathlon, picking up 2,340 points to beat Hannibal’s Sean Lange by 116 points. Marcellus’ Sean Raymond was third, with 2,080 points, and Solvay’s Nick Ferri finished fifth.
Solvay’s Nick Cometti took the 100-meter dash in 11.33 seconds over Syracuse ITC’s Delee Williams (11.51 seconds), while Marcellus’ Will Coon (11.91 seconds) was fifth, but helped Evan Turner, Mike Provvidenti and Alex Zamojski go 47.04 seconds to finish third in the 4×100 relay, where the Bearcats finished fifth. Coon also took fifth in the 200.
Moving to the throwing events, Jacob Hook gave the Bearcats a victory in the shot put, heaving it 46 feet 6 ½ inches as teammate Frank Pucello was third with 42’10 ¼”, with Marcellus’ Wyatt Stehle (41’7 ½”)fourth and J-E’s Brad Marshall (41’6 ¼”) fifth.
The Eagles got valuable points in the discus, where Justin Quinn threw it 117’2” to finish second and Mikah Quigley (115’5”) was third. For Marcellus, Matt Raymond was fifth (114’2”).
Isaiah Lee helped Solvay win the triple jump with a top leap of 40’10 ¾”, nearly three feet ahead of Altmar-Parish-Williamstown’s Nick Carusone, who threw it 38’ ½”. Isaiah Lee took fourth (18’10 ½”) and Garrett Lee fifth (18’8 ½”) in the long jump.
Marcellus and Westhill/Ludden got their lone titles in field events. Mike Abbott’s clearance of 11’6” in the pole vault meant a Mustangs victory, with Patterson topping 10’6” to help J-E get third-place points and Mustangs teammate Tom Dailey (10’6”) in fifth place.
Meanwhile, in the high jump, Westhill/Ludden’s Jordan Roland, who was fifth in the 110 high hurdles and triple jump, cleared 6’1”, beating out Phoenix’s Shaun Turner (5’11”) for the title. Roland’s teammate, Chris Pullano, took sixth in the pole vault.
Marotti gave Solvay a second-place pole vault of 11 feet, with Dan Hatch (10’6”) fourth, and Marotti was fourth in the 110 high hurdles in 17.33 seconds, edging out Roland (17.41 seconds) for that spot.
