On both the boys and girls sides, the Skaneateles track and field teams made a big impact during Friday’s Section III state qualifying meet at Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Stadium.
As a result, the Lakers will be well-represented on the Division II (small school) side during next weekend’s New York State Public High School Athletic Association championship meet at the University at Albany.
On the boys side, Skaneateles was victorious in the Division II 4×800 relay. Seniors Connor Hill, Griffin Lawson and Cooper Watt, paired with ninth-grader Kai Soderberg, posted a time of 8:17.38 that beat out Tully (8:21.35) for the berth in the state meet. Soderberg, Watt, Tommy Hagen and Zach Blair were fourth in the 4×400 relay in 3:38.08.
Hill didn’t stop there, moving to the 400-meter dash and, in 49.64 seconds, blowing away a field where no else even broke 51 seconds, New York Mills’ Andrew Suprenant (51.33 seconds) taking the runner-up spot.
The girls Lakers were victorious in the 4×400 relay, where junior Olivia Gage and sophomore Shannan Roberts paired up with freshmen Mia Grasso and Maddie Peterson to win in four minutes, 1.46 seconds, well clear of second-place Homer (4:07.85) and the field.
Roberts made her way to second place in the 400-meter dash in 1:00.81, with CBA’s Anna Schug (56.62 seconds) prevailing, while Grasso was fourth (1:09.19) in the 400-meter hurdles. Kaitlyn Neal went 10:13.11 in the 3,000-meter run, second to Jordan-Elbridge’s Abby Gugel, who won in 10:10.87.
Also, sophomore Julia Willcox challenged in the 1,500-meter run, finshing in 4:55.86 to get second place behind Hamilton star Sage Hurta, who won in 4:51.90. Peterson was fifth in the 200-meter dash in 26.51 seconds, with Gage seventh (26.93 seconds) and Marrinan 10th (27.25 seconds).
In a close 4×100 relay, Amanda Wetmore, Cecilia Marrinan, Katelyn Ellison and Angela Krause went 50.64 seconds, a runner-up to CBA, who won in 50 seconds flat. Ellison and Krause each posted 13.48 seconds in the 100-meter dash heats, unable to reach the finals. Katherine Carlile had a ninth-place discus throw of 89 feet 5 inches.
