Giving itself even more momentum going into the post-season, the Liverpool indoor track and field teams claimed both divisions of Friday night’s Utica Challenge Invitational at Utica College’s Hutton Dome.
Amid a field of more than 30 teams, the boys Warriors, with 69 points, held off Cicero-North Syracuse (62 points for its victory, while the Liverpool girls earned 62 points, three more than runner-up Niskayuna (Section II) as the Northstars got 40 points and finished seventh.
Setting the night’s tone in the first boys race, Liverpool’s Ty Brownlow was victorious in the 3,200-meter run in a meet-record time of nine minutes, 36.75 seconds. C-NS’s Brandon Martin was fourth in 10:11.09.
Then Josh Hickmott captured the 1,000-meter run for the Warriors in 2:37.77, holding of Schalmont’s Antonio Beltran (2:38.37) for top honors as T.J. Praschunas was eighth in 2:44.41.
Not stopping there, Hickmott also took second place in the 500-meter run in 1:12.15 as C-NS’s A.J. Wells (1:13.92) was fifth. Cullen McLaughlin added a third-place finish in the 800-meter run in 2:09.22, where the Northstars’ Sam Barber was 10th.
Brandon Mayfield went 6.59 seconds in the 55-meter dash, second behind Amsterdam’s Kevon Boucaud (6.54 seconds) as both broke the meet record. C-NS teammates Matt Kilian (6.88 seconds) and Anthony Pauli (6.89 seconds) were sixth and seventh, respectively.
Paul Dewan contended in the triple jump, his best leap of 40 feet 11 3/4 inches putting him in second place behind Ithaca’s Roan Baxter-Martin, who won with 41’9 1/4″.
The Warriors also finished sixth in the 4×400 relay in 3:47.58 as the Northstars were ninth in 3:50.51. In the 4×800, C-NS improved to fifth place in 8:39.30, two spots ahead of Liverpool, who finished in 8:48.72. Arthur Bittel was seventh in the shot put with a toss of 41’10”, while James Gaffney cleared 11 feet to tie for seventh in the pole vault.
Jeremiah Willis led the C-NS challenge, going 35.88 seconds to win the 300-meter dash over challengers that included Liverpool’s Khalil Wailes, who was third in 36.84 seconds. Then Willis, Kilian, Pauli and Zak Kennedy claimed the 4×200 relay in a meet-record 1:33.30 as Liverpool (1:37.21) took sixth place.
Also, the Northstars took the 600-meter run thanks to Calvin Garnes, whose time of 1:27.41 was just enough to fend off New Hartford’s Steven Malenowski (1:27.67) at the line. Nathan Poirier was sixth in the mile in 4:33.42.
Joe Williams sped to a time of 7.81 seconds in the 55-meter hurdles, second to Colonie’s Jeremiah House, whose 7.78 seconds set another meet mark. Jason Hughes was sixth in the high jump, clearing 5’6″, while Kaleb Woodcock was 10th in the weight throw (43’8 1/4″).
Liverpool’s girls team did not win any events, but gained significant points in most of them, starting in the 4×400, where Kierra Richardson, Sophia Prince, Anne Gullo and Windsor Ardner were second (4:18.05) to Niskayuna (4:11.16) with C-NS taking sixth place in 4:28.84. Gullo later finished ninth in the 300 in 44.90 seconds.
Moving to the 4×200, Liverpool had Richardson, Marissa Baskin, Natalie Tauro and Amina Sinclair go 1:49.35 to finish second behind Baldwinsville’s winning 1:48.93. Baskin gained fifth place in the long jump, going 15’10”, and also was fifth in the triple jump (34 feet) as Natalie Kurz was fourth in the 500 in 1:26.41.
On her own, Ardner nearly won the 800, going 2:26.03 for second place behind Niskayuna’s Amelia Kokernak (2:21.79). Ardner also got third place in the 1,000 in 3:08.86. Trinity Gray had a sixth-place weight throw of 32’4 1/2″ as Abby Haley was ninth in the 55 hurdles.
Meghan Milazzo, clearing 5 feet, tied for second in the high jump behind Solvay’s Katie Harrington, who won with 5’1″. Kelley Townley topped 10 feet in the pole vault and finished fourth, with Mackenzie Case (7’6″) in 11th place.
For the C-NS girls, Mia Pestle triumphed in the 1,500-meter run, her time of 4:58.89 beating out Amsterdam’s Olivia Lazarou (4:59.97) for first place as Liverpool’s Madison Neuner was sixth in 5:05.93.
Shayla Webb made it to fourth place in the triple jump, just ahead of Basking as she went 34’2 1/2″. Kierrah Butler had a fourth-place shot put toss of 33’7 1/4″, while Cassie Baldwin was seventh in the long jump, going 15’5 3/4″, and added a ninth-place finish in the high jump.
Annina Marullo, in 2:33.07, made it to fourth place in the 800, also helping the Northstars’ 4×800 team finish sixth in 10:32.20 as Abbey Szumloz (1:27.58) beat out Lauren Witek (1:31.83) for sixth place in the 500. Megan Trubia was ninth in the 3,000-meter run in 11:27.61, with Sarah Davis 10th in the 600 in 1:46.50.
