For two seasons, a broken foot kept Baldwinsville senior Sam Mahar from running track and field – a big problem when Mahar’s specialty was the sprints.
But Mahar more than made up for it this season, the senior eventually claiming a pair of medals in the 200-meter dash during last weekend’s New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships at Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Stadium.
In the qualifying round of the Division I (large school) 200 on Friday, Mahar went 22.33 seconds, the seventh-fastest time, which put him in Saturday morning’s final. Then, after waiting out a two-hour weather delay, Mahar improved to 22.19 seconds and rose to fifth place. Wilson Magnet’s Kelly Brown won in 21.49 seconds.
That was the Division I portion of the 200, but in the state Federation final later that afternoon, Mahar dipped under the 22-second mark, eventually posting 21.91 seconds to break his own school record for another fifth-place finish as Brown won again, improving to 21.45 seconds.
Mahar also was part of the Division I 100-meter dash field. And though he improved from 10.96 to 10..95 seconds in his qualifying heat, he settled for 12th place, missing the divisional final by 0.13 seconds. Again, Brown was victorious, going 10.72 seconds to take Division I and 10.75 in the Federation final.
Meanwhile, in the Division I boys 4×400 relay, B’ville’s quartet of juniors Evan Vannatta and Tyler Luciano, plus sophomores Greg Porceng and Kieran Sheridan, proved impressive, too, just missing the podium as they won their heat in a school-record time of 3:23.50 and finished seventh overall.
Huntington won in 3:15.63, and improved to 3:15 flat in the Federation final a day later, while the Bees remained quick in the event, but didn’t quite match Friday’s time, finishing in 3:23.94 for eighth place.
In the girls state meet, B’ville sophomore Adrianna Straughter made her debut at this big event, clearing 5 feet to finish 20th overall, and tied for 12th in Division I. Archbihsop Malloy’s Sarah Kowpak won the event, clearing 5’8”.
