Though part of a much smaller track and field team than most of the girls she competes against, Christian Brothers Academy sophomore Anna Schug finds herself just as good – if not better – than any of them.
To prove this, Schug went to last weekend’s state championship meet at Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Stadium and, by the time it was done, had earned the Division II (small school) state title in the 200-meter dash.
Schug won her preliminary race Friday in 25.09 seconds and entered the state final Saturday morning as the second-fastest qualifier behind Hornell’s Jocelyn Acor, who had posted 24.95 seconds.
But in the final, Acor struggled and Schug took full advantage, improving to 25.06 seconds, which gave her the victory as Acor finished second in 25.31 seconds and Long Island Lutheran’s Kennedy Kerr was third in 25.37 seconds.
Later that afternoon, Schug raced in the Federation 200-meter final and got fifth place, in 25.10 seconds, while New Rochelle’s Symone Darius tore to victory in 23.83 seconds.
Up in Division I, Fayetteville-Manlius put together a series of top-five finishes and trips to the medal podium, even if it could not win any of the races.
None got closer to a state title than Bryce Millar, in the boys 3,200-meter run. Engaged in a tense stretch duel with Rush-Henrietta’s Mickey Burke, Millar crossed the line in nine minutes, 4.28 seconds, less than half a second behind Burke, who won in 9:03.87.
Andrew Berge’ would make his way to fourth place in the mile in 4:10.52, not far from the winning 4:07.82 posted by Tappan Zee’s Luke Gavigan. Kyle Barber did well, too, in the 400-meter hurdles, earning fifth place in 54.81 seconds as Mount Vernon’s Rai Benjamin won and broke a state meet record with 51.86 seconds.
Pairing up, Millar, Barber, Berge’ and Jon Abbott would get to sixth place in the 4×800 relay in 7:51.94, beating out Liverpool (7:59.92) but still behind Warwick Valley’s winning time of 7:44.25. In the 4×400, Barber, Ed Cheathen, Hamza ElHabbal and Jules Ngadula finished 10th in 3:26.20.
Jamesville-DeWitt’s Zach Liebmann would contend in the pole vault, as he would clear 14 feet 6 inches to rise to sixth place. Fordham Prep’s James Duetmeyer cleared 16’6” and earned the state championship.
In the 800-meter run, F-M’s Jon Abbott and CBA’s Jack Brower ran in the same heat, with Abbott posting 1:58.29 and Brower 1:59.40 as Abbott took 17th place overall, five spots ahead of Brower, who did place ninth among the Division II runners.
On the girls side, the Hornets’ Annika Avery finished fourth in the 1,500-meter run in 4:37 flat, with Miller Place’s Tiana Guevara prevailing in 4:30.03.
Alana Pearl matched that fourth-place effort in the 2,000-meter steeplechase, finishing in 6:58.78, with Pearl River’s Kelly Hayes (6:49.47) on top, while Jenna Farrell was fifth in the Division I 3,000-meter run and eighth overall in 10:09.09.
Working together in the 4×800 relay, Pearl, Avery, Farrell and Jessica Howe claimed another medal as they rose to third place overall and second in Division I in 9:09.42, less than a second behind Division II champion Canton (9:08.51) as Corning, anchored by star freshman Jessica Lawson (who had beaten Farrell in the 3,000), won in 9:04.51.
Over in the girls triple jump, F-M’s Christabel Ezidiegwu got 12th place with a top effort of 36’1 ¾”. CBA’s Tom SanGiacomo was 19th in the boys Division II 100-meter dash in 11.51 seconds.
