Strong performances by a host of local track and field athletes in Thursday’s Section III state qualifier at Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Stadium means that they’ll be back in that same venue next weekend in hot pursuit of state titles.
Fayetteville-Manlius had plenty of wins in distance events. Alana Pearl also pulled away in the 2,000-meter steeplechase, finishing in 7:06.45, more than 17 seconds ahead of any other runner.
Annika Avery went 4:37.49 in the 1,500-meter run and beat Liverpool’s Abby McNamara (4:51.92) by a wide margin, too. Jenna Farrell’s victory came in the 3,000-meter run, where she posted 10:11.15 as part of a 1-2 finish with Samantha Levy (10:15.62), with East Syracuse-Minoa’s Natalie Marra getting third place in 10:26.58.
Avery, Pear. Farrell and Jessica Howe needed 9:09.48 to pull away from the field and win the 4×800 relay, the only Division I side to contest the event as Homer (9:38.86) led the Division II chasers. Howe settled for second place in the 800-meter run in 2:22.57.
Avery, Olivia Ryan, Rachel Dise and Anna Perrotti finished a close second (3:59.31) to Baldwinsville (3:58.37) in the 4×400 relay. F-M took fourth in the Division I portion of the 4×100 in 51.84 seconds.
Ryan went on her own to take third in the 400-meter dash in 1:01.41, ahead of teammates Shauna Cheathen (1:01.83) and Perrotti (1:01.97), with Jamesville-DeWitt’s Catherine Keane in sixth place.
On the boys side, F-M’s Andrew Berge’ won the mile in 4:23.24, with East Syracuse-Minoa’s Jesse Perrone second (4:29.40) and Jamesville-DeWitt’s Patrick Dye (4:35.64) in fourth place. Bryce Millar, in 9:20.26, beat Liverpool’s Ben Petrella (9:23.39) by more than three seconds in the 3,200-meter run, while Jon Abbott added an 800-meter title in 1:59.31.
Millar and Berge’, joined by Jon Abbott and Kyle Barber, tore to a time of 7:44.63 to win the 4×800 relay over Liverpool (7:46.90), with ESM (8:22.31) in fifth place.
Kyle Barber, Hamza ElHabbal, Jules Ngadula and Ed Cheathen went 3:26.19 in the 4×400 relay, holding off New Hartford (3:28.20) for that top spot, as Barber finished a close second (55.23 seconds) to C-NS’s Pete Girardi (54.76 seconds) in the 400-meter hurdles.
J-D’s Zach Liebmann again won the pole vault, clearing 13 feet 6 inches, with ESM’s Caiden Moynihan third (12’6”) and F-M’s Justin Jones (11’6”) fifth.
The Red Rams’ Dylan Volk rose to second in the triple jump, going 42’11 ½”, and third in the long jump, going 20’4”.Liebmann and Volk, joined by Sean Mulvihill and Will Cote, finished second (45.13 seconds) to Indian River (43.66 seconds) in the 4×100 relay.
CBA’s Anna Schug needed 25.68 seconds to hold off Jordan-Elbridge’s Julie Hines (26.06 seconds) for first place in the Division II 200-meter dash.
Also, Schug helped Kiana Ferguson, Kate LaCasse and Ryleigh Peterson finish second in the 4×100 relay in 50.77 seconds, only behind Skaneateles, who won in a school-record 50.27 seconds. Megan Pierce was third in the 3,000 in 11:02.77 as Ferguson was ninth in the Division II 100-meter dash.
On the boys side for CBA, Jack Brower won the Division II (small schools) 800-meter run in 1:57.61, the fastest time in either division. Tom SanGiacomo nearly added a 100-meter title, but was second in 11.41 seconds, just behind Camden’s Kevin Jones (11.32 seconds) at the line. Connor Agnew took fifth in the shot put with a throw of 46’9”.
ESM’s Jeremy McGrath, in 15.94 seconds, took second to Girardi (15.35 seconds) in the 110 high hurdles. F-M’s Kyle Harbour (2,753 points) edged J-D’s Rob Murphy (2,746 points) for third place in the Division I pentathlon.
In a triple-jump duel, F-M’s Christabel Ezidiegwu, going 36’5 ¼”, beat J-D’s Patrece Martin, who was second with 35’11 ¼”, and ESM’s Mia Montgomery (35’3 ¼”), who was fourth. Martin added a fourth-place long jump of 16’2 ½’.
The Spartans’ Nina Zesky cleared 5 feet in the high jump to gain sixth place, but J-D’s Brooke DeRoberts tied West Genesee’s Abby Uczen for top clearance in the pole vault, each topping 9’3”, but DeRoberts did so with fewer misses, so she took the title.
J-D also saw Tangela Hightower finish second (93’2”) and Jesenia Haynes third (92’9”) in the discus behind Rome Free Academy star Mariah Mays, who threw it 146’2”. Allison Semmel added a third-place time of 16.76 seconds in the 100 hurdles.
