Everyone on the Liverpool track and field teams is primed to take their respective shots at Cicero-North Syracuse on Wednesday, with the CNY Counties League National division titles at stake.
Led by Ryheim Lawes and Gaurab Bhattacharya, the boys Warriors head to Bragman Stadium with extra confidence following last Wednesday’s 77-64 conquest of Baldwinsville at the Bees’ home track of Pelcher-Arcaro Stadium.
Lawes claimed three events, sprinting 100 meters in 11.1 seconds and adding a 200-meter title in 21.7 seconds, one of the best in Section III this spring. He also won the long jump, going 19 feet 4 inches to claim first place.
As for Bhattacharya, he went 16.5 seconds in the 110 high hurdles and claimed the 400 hurdles in 1:03.4. Also on the oval, Alex Christensen was victorious in the 800-meter run, breaking the two-minute mark as he won in 1:58.8, while Brian Petrick took the 3,200-meter run in 9:57.8.
Liverpool also won four of six field events. Travis Chewning-Kulick cleared a season-best 13 feet in the pole vault, while Mark Vanmarter went 39’10” to claim the triple jump. Joe Duffus won the shot put, heaving it 43’5”.
The girls meet takes place at LHS Stadium, exactly where the Warriors put together an impressive effort in last Wednesday’s showdown with Baldwinsville, utilizing its depth and versatility to turn back the Bees 81-60.
Ore Akinpelu led the way, posting the fastest Section III time of the spring in the 400-meter hurdles with 1:04.97 and also winning the 200-meter dash in 26.41 seconds. She also helped Danelle Sims, Catherine Rowell and Yasmeen Griffin as Liverpool claimed the 4×400 relay in 4:09.83.
Griffin’s victory in the long jump (15 feet 8 ½ inches) aided the Warriors’ domination of field events. Angela Kulpa cleared 8 feet in the pole vault, while Alexus Gersbacher went 34’8” in the triple jump. Abby McNamara threw the discus 92’5” and Nelliah Watkins won the shot put with a top toss of 31’5 ½”.
Back on the oval, Morgan Mahoney, in 11:04.99, claimed the 3,000-meter run. Jazmine Herbert needed 12.82 seconds to win the 100-meter dash as Tammy Brodie took the 100 hurdles in 17 seconds flat. Brodie, Herbert, Gersbacher and Hejal Patel cruised to a victory in the 4×100 relay.
Liverpool’s boys went head-to-head with C-NS at Friday’s New Hartford Invitational, picking up 71 points to get into second place – only behind the Northstars’ total of 94.5 points.
Christensen had a tremendous performance in the 800, his time of 1:57.52 one of the best in Section III this spring and the only one under two minutes at this meet. Lawes added his own title in the 200, going 22.31 seconds to outrun Utica Proctor’s Chris Simmons (22.68 seconds) in the final.
LeClair, in 9:57.74, made his way to second place in the 3,200. Ben Petrella roared to second place in the mile in 4:32.06, with Connor Buck third in 4:34.51. Bhattacharya was fourth in the 110 hurdles in 16.61 seconds as the Warriors took fourth in the distance medley relay.
In field events, Vanmarter took third in the long jump, going a season-best 21’7”, while Chewning-Kulick got third in the pole vault, clearing 12’6”. Chris Granell claimed third in the discus, heaving it 131’7”, while Duffus was sixth in the shot put.
When Liverpool went to the Rome Girls Invitational at Rome Free Academy Stadium on Saturday, and finished just behind C-NS, 53 points to the Northstars’ 59, the Warriors settling into fourth place as Bethlehem (84.5 points) took the top spot.
Brodie pulled away from 15 other competitors to win the pentathlon, amassing 2,718 points, with Tricia Loso (RFA) in second, 320 points behind. She had the top high jump (5’2”) and long jump (16’6”) during the event, and in fact her long jump bettered the 16’2” by Utica Proctor’s Jasmine Brown in the individual event.
Akinpelu needed 59.02 seconds to pull away from Corcoran’s Patrice Williams (59.83) and the field in the 400 sprint, and she teamed with Rowell, Herbert and Gersbacher to win the 4×100 relay in 50.04 seconds to Baldwinsville’s 50.25.
Herbert finished third in the 100 in 13.11 seconds, with Gersbacher sixth, though Gersbacher did take third (34’8”) in the triple jump. Sims, in 26.96 seconds, edged out Rowell (27.30 seconds) as they were third and fourth, respectively, in the 200.
