Just six days after getting nationwide exposure on NBC’s “Today Show”, Fayetteville-Manlius runners were back in the business of trying to win championships.
During last Saturday’s New York State Public High School Athletic Association meet at Cornell University’s Barton Hall, the Hornets’ Kyle Barber was a third-place finisher in the 1,000-meter run, missing a state championship by less than a second.
Having qualified with a time of two minutes, 30.62 seconds, Barber would improve by nearly two seconds, to 2:28.81, finishing inches behind Colonie’s Jacob Johnson (2:28.78), who won an earlier heat, and third overall since Arlington’s James Asselmeyer won in 2:28.20, just 0.61 seconds better than Barber’s time.
Bryce Millar was a favorite in the boys 3,200-meter run, but fell ill with the flu just one day before the state meet and was forced to scratch, also missing the 4×800 relay.
Ed Cheatham took Millar’s place on F-M’s 4×800, joining Barber, Jon Abbott and Hamza El Habbal, and the Hornets finished eighth, in 8:13.96, as Shenendehowa blazed to the state championship with a clocking of 7:56.72.
Moving to the girls side, F-M did best in that same event, the 4×800. Annika Avery, Olivia Ryan, Sophia Ryan and Jenna Farrell covered those two miles in 9:34.11, putting them in fifth place, though far off Cornwall’s winning time of 9:22.07.
Individually, in the 1,000-meter run, Olivia Ryan finished in a time of 3:00.37 and moved up to seventh place, while Rush-Henrietta’s Sammy Watson posted 2:55.33 to win it. Chris
CBA’s Anna Schug won her heat in the 300-meter dash qualifying rounds in 41.01 seconds and advanced to the finals, where in 41.04 seconds she took eighth place, Taft’s Arianne Strunkey getting the top spot in 39.26 seconds.
Samantha Levy and Sophia Ryan were in the 3,000-meter run, with Levy finishing 13th in 10:27.12 and Ryan getting 25th place in 10:47.25. Arlington’s Bella Burda dipped under the 10-minute mark to win in 9:58.10.
East Syracuse Minoa’s Natalie Marra finished third in her heat in the 1,500-meter run, and ninth overall, with a time of 4:48.10, more than a second better than her qualifying standard of 4:49.15. Avery (5:02.39) was further back as Friends Academy’s Paige Duca won in 4:36.42.
F-M also had Christabel Ezidiegwu in the triple jump, where she logged a best leap of 37 feet 1 ½ inches to get to 10th place as Marie-Jose Ebweabile (Cardozo) won with 41’1”. In the long jump, Ezidiegwu topped out at 16’7 ½” and finished 17th overall.
ESM also had Jeremy McGrath part of the boys 55-meter hurdles. Having gone 7.97 seconds during the season, McGrath went 8.09 seconds here, unable to get out of his opening heat in a race that Monsignor McClancy’s Sidney Gibbons won in 7.32 seconds.
Jamesville-DeWitt’s lone male state qualifier, Will Cote, took part in the long jump, where he attempted to improve on a season-best leap of 20’8 ¼”. In three attempts, Cote fouled once and peaked with 18’9 ¼”, getting 29th place, Xavier’s Charles Lambert winning with 23’3 ¾”.
