In different locales on consecutive days, track and field teams from Cicero-North Syracuse strove for victories and top finishes, and found both.
The boys Northstars were a contender in last Friday’s New Hartford Invitational, finishing third in a 27-team field with 60 points, just behind the host Spartans (65.5 points) as Section II power Niskayuna won the meet with 82 points.
Mark Hentges provided a big moment in the pole vault, as he cleared 13 feet 9 inches to not just win the event over Clinton’s Liam Pierce (13 feet), but also post the best Section III effort of the season in that event.
C-NS nearly won two relays. In the 4×400, Allen Garnes, Zach Kennedy, Jared George and Matt Williams posted three minutes, 32.81 seconds, not far from New Hartford’s winning time of 3:32.18. George was fifth (52.85 seconds) and Garnes eighth in the 400-meter dash.
In the 4×800, Paul Dehm, Cameron Verrette, Eric Bowen and Evan Tracy were second in 8:33.92, again with the host Spartans (8:27.01) claiming the top spot.
Ed Mahana contended in the 400-meter hurdles, going 58.77 seconds to finish second to Oneida’s Rory McCarthy (57.17 seconds), but only got to 10th place in the 110 high hurdles, not reaching the finals.
George Reader made it to third place in the high jump, clearing 5’10”, while also taking fifth place in the long jump (19’6 ¼”) and unleashing a fifth-place triple jump of 40’ ½”.
Tyler Mosher was third in the shot put, throwing it 46’2 ½”, while Ross Mathewson (45’11”) was close behind in fourth place, and Mathewson also got to fourth in the discus with a heave of 126’11”.
C-NS also got sixth place in the distance medley relay (11:38.45) as Garnes, Kennedy, Zach Wagner and Joe Tricarico took part, and the Northstars were seventh in the 4×200 and 1,600 sprint medley relays and eighth in the 4×100. Wagner, by himself, was eighth in the mile in 4:48.18.
Also heading east on Saturday, the C-NS girls team tied Baldwinsville for second place in a 31-team field at Rome Free Academy’s Copper City Classic, the Northstars and Bees each earning 49 points as host RFA roared to victory with 94.5 points.
Taylor Parry emerged with a first-place finish in the 2,000-meter steeplechase. In a time of seven minutes, 49.40 seconds, Parry pulled away from Adirondack’s Meghann Tanner (7:55.50) and the rest of the other 25 runners in the field.
Javielle Fanizzi earned a victory in the long jump, going 17 feet 6 inches to beat the runner-up, Remsen’s Alycia Atwell-Chwazik (16’6 ½”), by nearly a foot. Moving to the triple jump, Fanizzi’s best attempt of 33’11 ½” left her in fourth place as Shayla Webb (32’9 ¼”) was eighth.
In the 800-meter run, Jilliann Norris posted 2:23.95 and won the battle for second place behind Hamilton star Sage Hurta, who won in 2:09.84. Mia Pestle was third in the 1,500-meter run in 4:52.50, with Norris seventh in 5:03.53.
Brittany House, competing in the pentathlon, earned 2,285 points and took fourth place, while Cassandra Baldwin got 12th place. Sasha Pulaski made it to sixth place in the 100-meter dash in 13.23 seconds as Destiny Monica was seventh (31’1”) in the shot put
In the 4×400 relay, Kristen Schug, Lauren Witek, Abbey Szumloz and Marie LeRoy went 4:24.65 to get to fourth place. Annia Marullo, Giovanna Pascarella, Hailee Kolakowski and Haley Pestle were sixth in the 4×800 relay in 11:27.57.
While C-NS was sweeping Corcoran (126-10 boys, 101-31 girls), Liverpool was doing the same to West Genesee, beating the Wildcats 108-33 in the boys meet and 78-63 in the girls meet.
For the boys Warriors, Nazir Murphy emerged as a standout, winning the 110 high hurdles in 16.8 seconds and claiming the 400-meter hurdles in 1:01.5.
Dylan McCarthy (800 meters, 2:00.8), Connor Buck (mile, 4:43.6) and Ty Brownlow (3,200 meters, 10:03.5) swept the distance runs. Brandon Mayfield won the 100-meter dash in a season-best 11.2 seconds, with Peter Gonzalez going 23.3 seconds in the 200-meter dash and Dan Muldoon blazing to a 400-meter title in 50.9 seconds.
Not only that, but the Warriors swept the relays, too. Murray, Mayfield, Donald Frost and Khalil Wailes won the 4×100 in 45.7 seconds, with Muldoon, Ben Petrella, Stephen Schulz and Nick LeClair going 8:57.6 in the 4×800. Liverpool also took the 4×400 in 3:33 flat with Muldoon and LeClair involved in the race.
David Lewis, clearing 10 feet 6 inches, won the pole vault. Frost had a top triple jump of 37’8 ½” as Nate Guarente topped 5’8” for another victory in the high jump.
For the girls Warriors, Ore Akinpelu led the way, earning three victories as she ran 100 meters in 12.5 seconds, 200 meters in 26.9 seconds and claimed the 400-meter hurdles in 1:07.6.
As if that wasn’t enough, Akinpelu paired with Yasmeen Griffin, Danelle Sims and Morgan Chewning-Kulick to take the 4×400 relay in 4:00.1, the only one of three relays Liverpool would claim. Griffin, on her own, won the 400-meter dash in 1:00.8.
Juliana Basla took first place in the 3,000-meter run in 11:06.7. Kelly Townley matched WG’s Abby Uczen by clearing 9 feet 6 inches in the pole vault, while Meghan Milazzo cleared 5’2” in the high jump and Alexis Bittel went 32’3” in the triple jump. Erin Lavalley threw the discus 85’6” as the Wildcats’ Carly Benson prevailed in the 1,500-meter run (4:52.1) and 800-meter run (2:27.6).
