For those still seeking berths at next weekend’s New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships at Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Stadium, one chance remained to get to the big show.
It came at C-NS during Friday’s Section III state qualifier, where several local athletes won, including Fayetteville-Manlius senior Samantha Levy in the two longest individual girls races and Jamesville-DeWitt sophomore standout Alexandria Payne in the pentathlon.
To start with, Levy pulled away and, in the 2,000-meter steeplechase, prevailed in 7:00.67. Later, in the 3,000-meter run, Levy prevailed in 9:49.62 as J-D’s Hannah Butler got second place in 9;58.86 and East Syracuse Minos saw Natalie Marra finish third in Division I (fourth overall) in 10:11.40.
Over five events in the pentathlon, Payne picked up 3,111 points, nearly 600 points ahead of Division I (large schools) runner-up Brittany House, from C-NS, who had 2,525 points as F-M’s Sydney O’Dell had 2,366 points and Payne’s teammate, Ciarra Norris, had 2,112 points.
F-M also had Susan Bansbach nearly win the 400-meter dash, going 59.38 seconds to finish just behind Rome Free Academy’s Kayla Barber (59.32 seconds) as Sophie Ryan was second in the 800-meter run in 2:19.02 behind West Genesee’s Carly Benson (2:16.91). Cady Barns was third in the triple jump, going 35 feet 9 inches, and sixth in the long jump with 16’3 ½”.
For the boys Hornets, the lone win came in the triple jump, where Chibu Ezidiegwu, with a top leap of 45 feet 3 ¼ inches, beat out Oswego’s Dawson Izyk (45’2 3/4”) by half an inch. Patrick Perry was fourth in the 3,200-meter run in 9:25.41.
A big moment for ESM came in the tense finals of the 110 high hurdles. Jeremy McGrath and C-NS’s Ed Mahana nearly hit the finish line together – but McGrath, in 14.77 seconds, edged Mahana (14.78) by one-hundredth of a second, though both advanced to the state meet. McGrath was also third in the long jump with a top attempt of 21’11”.
Mia Montgomery, with a triple jump of 36’10 ¼”, finished second to C-NS’s Shayla Webb, who won with 37’9”. Isaiah Brooks was third in the Division I boys pentathlon with 2,780 points, just ahead of F-M’s Connor Florczyk (2,705 points) in the standings.
McGrath, Abdullah Mujcic, Cody LaRoche and Noah Hodge were fifth in the 4×100 relay in 44.64 seconds, where J-D was disqualified for passing out of the zone on the final turn. Mujcic was eighth in the 100-meter dash in 11.50 seconds.
Matt Young was third in the Division I 3,000-meter steeplechase in 10:01.54, while F-M’s Bryan Geehrer (10:15.88) followed as Geehrer also ran the mile in 4:58.28. Gavin Stevens was fourth in the discus, throwing it 122’10”, while Ny’Zhier Jefferson had a sixth-place shot put toss of 43’1 ½’.
Aside from Payne’s win, J-D also had Sophia Vinciguerra finish second in the 1,500-meter run in 5:00.45, trailing only Liverpoool’s Juliana Basla (4:47.53).
The Red Rams were third in the Division I part of the 4×800 relay as Kim Walsh, Rebecca Shen, Abby Palin and Amelia Gilbert posted 10:31.94. Amy Shen, Allish McDevitt, Alexia Carr and Mackenzie Maxam were sixth in the 4×100 in 52.60 seconds. Elena Haarer was fourth (1:01.84) and Casey Keane sixth (1:02.79) in the 400 sprint.
Mariah Williams was third in the discus, throwing it 96’10” as ESM’s Lindsey Crego was fourth, going 94’2”, with Gabrielle Tanksley third in the pole vault by clearing 9 feet. Among the J-D boys, Mike Potamianos, Joey Armenta, David Fikhman and Johann Ebert grabbed fourth place in the 4×400 relay in 3:30.44.
Meanwhile, in the Division II (small schools) state qualifier, Christian Brothers Academy had plenty of wins.
Tom SanGiacomo was victorious in the 200-meter dash, going 22.38 seconds to finish well clear of Cortland’s Ezra Engst-Mansilla (22.98 seconds) in the second spot. Dominic Morganti, in a time of 9:28.23, won the Division II portion of the 3,200-meter run and also is a state qualifier.
SanGiacomo also paired with Pat Carey, Zach Walsh and Brendan Kenney as CBA was victorious in the Division II 4×400 relay in 3:28.85, holding off Homer (3:30.89) at the line. Gavin Collins, Jake VanPatten, Brett VanPatten and Jaden Mitchell were fifth in the 4×100 relay in 45.88 seconds. Nikhil Reddy was fourth in the 800 in 2:02.49.
CBA’s Anna Schug won the girls Division II 200-meter dash in 25.52 seconds, well clear of Hamilton’s Sage Hurta (26.36 seconds) and the field. Elissa Kempisty would have a triple jump of 34’5”, just behind Cazenovia’s Maddy Gavitt (34’10”) for the top spot.
Nafysa Williams cleared 5’3” in the high jump to qualify for the state meet as she was second to Skaneateles’ Mia Grasso only because Grasso had fewer misses. Schug, Claire Bargabos, Olivia Morganti and Kate Lacasse were second (4:11.80) to Skaneateles (4:01.38) in the 4×400. Kiana Ferguson took sixth place in the 100 sprint in 13.09 seconds and was eighth (16’2 ¼”) in the long jump.
Bishop Grimes saw Nate Gay, Chris Larson, Mitch Collins and Deng Mawien run the 4×800 in 9:11.03, putting them fifth in Division II. Abigail Wilkinson was fifth in the girls 400-meter hurdles in 1:15.23 and helped Sara Hopkins, Liz Wolaver and Jordan Sloan take fifth (4;22.34) in the 4×400.
