Saving its best regular-season work for the final act, the Marcellus boys indoor track and field team zoomed up to third place during the morning session of last Saturday’s Fred Kirschenheiter Memorial Invitational at SRC Arena.
All told, the Mustangs earned 72 points, tops among small schools and only trailing Liverpool (138.5 points) and Baldwinsville (121 points) overall. The Marcellus girls team also had a strong showing with 42 points to gain fifth place among 12 teams.
Sam Stearns was victorious in the pole vault, the only competitor to clear 11 feet 6 inches as Liverpool’s James Gaffney was second, topping 11 feet. Sean Raymond tied for the best effort in the high jump, clearing 6 feet with Faith Heritage’s Caleb Drew, but doing so with more misses, so Drew won and Raymond got second place. He also was fourth in the long jump, going 19 feet.
Mike Provvidenti, who was eighth in the long jump behind Raymond, needed 1:28.47 to finish third in the 600-meter run, ahead of Matt Strempel (1:29.46) in fifth place, with Provvidenti also fourth in the 300-meter dash in 37.81 seconds. Ethan Mosure was third in the 3,200-meter run in 10:25.50, with Joe Riccardi fourth in 10:29.22.
The best Marcellus relay finish came in the 4×800, where Strempel, Joe Riccardi, John Riccardi and Michael Welch (who was eighth in the high jump) gained third place in 8:37.83. Luke Norstad got to fifth place in the shot put with a top heave of 38’2 ½” and also was seventh (37’8 ½”) in the weight throw.
For the Marcellus girls, 10.5 points were earned in the high jump as Grace Coon was third, clearing 4’10” with fewer misses than Mary-Catherine Coon, who was fourth. Hannah Ryan was fifth in the pole vault, clearing 7’6”, with Courtney Otis and Julianna Szczech in the next two spots as they cleared 7 feet.
Also, the Mustangs were fifth in the 4×400 as Jasmine Brockway, Caroline Carlic, Emma Garn and Emma Holzarth posted 4:44.79. Mary-Catherine Coon joined Macie Salzach, Alaura Cushman and Lilly Powell for sixth place in the 4×200 relay in 1:57.99. Sydney French had a seventh-place triple jump of 28’3 ¾”.
Crystal Silliman made her way to third place in the 600 in 1:51.50. Mary-Catherine Coon had a fourth-place time of 7.77 seconds in the 55-meter dash. Liliana Cushman gained seventh place in the 1,500-meter run in 5:30.03, while Morgan Gould, who got ninth place in the 1,500, was eighth in the 1,000 in 3:27.19.
A night earlier, at Utica College’s Hutton Dome, Westhill-Bishop Ludden took part in the fifth Mohawk Valley Indoor Track Association meet of the winter, earning 52 points to finish fourth in the girls standings and 29 points to tie for sixth in the boys event.
Bella Lavigne contended in the weight throw, making it to second place with a heave of 28’2” behind Dolgeville’s M.J. Dellabarca-Barnes (33’3”), and also was second in the pole vault, clearing 8 feet as Ashley Heffernan (7’6”) finished fourth. Abby Feyerabend cleared 4’8” in the high jump to finish eighth.
Alaina Kenny needed 3:19.10 to take third place in the 1,000, with Kylie Nowicki sixth in 3:21.63. Alyssa Holstein rose to fourth place in the 55 hurdles in 9.60 seconds. Jayanna Monds, who was 10th in the 55 sprint, moved up to fifth place in the 300 in 45.26 seconds.
Kendra McCaull, Zoe Fortin, Carmella Carr and Reilly Geer were fourth in the 4×400 in 4;33.93, with the Warriors taking fifth (10:49.26) in the 4×800. Fortin also took eighth place in the triple jump (30’10”) and was 11th in the long jump.
On the boys side, Westhill-Ludden’s best relay finish came in the 4×200, where Tom Howard, Evan Watt, Cal Niezabytowski and Conner Schwartz took third place in 1:40.08 as Rome Free Academy prevailed in 1:35.75.
Cade Van Ornam made it to fourth place in the 1,000 in 2:50.29, while Tom Howard was fifth in the 300 in 38.12 seconds. Ben Eassa had a fifth-place triple jump of 38’2” and was sixth place in the 600 in 1:39.01. Jake Suddaby got a sixth-place mile time of 4:48.87 as Brendan Rewakowski finished eighth in 5:00.92. The Warriors also finished sixth in the 4×400 relay in 4:13.66.
