Based on the success it had in field events, including a 1-2-3 sweep of the pole vault, plus the trio of titles gained by Jeremiah Willis, the Cicero-North Syracuse boys indoor track and field team climbed to the top of the standings in Friday night’s CNY Counties League championship meet at Utica College’s Hutton Dome.
The Northstars finished with 123.5 points, just enough to fend off Baldwinsville, who was second with 113.5 points. Meanwhile, Liverpool, despite a string of wins in running events, settled for third place with 80 points.
In reality, the pole vault made the difference. C-NS’s Ward Couillard won, clearing 11 feet, while Ryan Bristow topped that same height but settled for second place as Alex Hepel cleared 10’6” for third place.
Those 24 points earned by the Northstars contradicted B’ville’s 1.5 points from a tie for fifth between Jaeho Lee and Liverpool’s Tyler Goss, the pair both clearing 9’6” as the Warriors’ James Gaffney, clearing 10”6”, finished alone in fourth place.
As part of his trifecta, Willis flew 21 feet 7 inches to win the long jump, with no other competitor getting to 20 feet. In the triple jump, Willis, with his top attempt of 43’6 ¼”, beat out Liverpool’s Paul Dewan, who was second with 41’5 ¾” after a seventh-place effort (18’4 ¾”) in the long jump.
Willis also flourished on the oval, winning the 300-meter dash in 36.13 seconds, joined by Anthony Pauli, who finished fourth in 37.20 seconds, and Matt Kilian, who was sixth in 38.20 seconds. Killian also was seventh in the 55-meter dash.
C-NS could also pile up points on the oval, as it did in the 600-meter run where Allen Garnes finished third in 1:25.63, with David Ware fourth in 1:28.92 and A.J. Wells (1:31.30) finished fifth, amounting to 10 points.
Joe Williams, who was fifth in the triple jump (39’9 ½”), got 10 points of his own when he blazed to a win in the 55-meter hurdles in 7.83 seconds as no one else broke the eight-second mark. Williams also cleared 5’6” to get third place since he had fewer misses than Jason Hughes, who was fourth, while Zak Kennedy (5’4”) was sixth.
Wells, Kennedy, Ryan Williams and Calvin Garnes got to third place in the 4×400 relay in 3:44.67, where Liverpool was fifth in 3:53.50. Brandon Martin was fourth in the 3,200-meter run in 10:14.30, with Joe Tricarico seventh.
Liverpool saw Stephen Schulz go 2:33.13 to win the 1,000-meter run, chased by, among others, C-NS’s Nathan Poirier, who was third in 2:42.80 as the Warriors’ T.J. Praschunus finished fifth in 2:44.92, two spots ahead of the Northstars’ Sam Barber in seventh place.
Josh Hickmott, in the mile, ran 4:27.73 to edge West Genesee’s David Leff (4:27.82) at the line, with Poirier sixth in 4;43.62 ahead of Warriors’ teammates Nathan Reeves (4;44.86) and Emil Videman (4:46.44).
Schulz, Hickmott, Praschunus and Cullen McLaughlin were second (8:23.55) to Baldwinsville (8:20.38) in the 4×800 relay, both of them chased by C-NS as Barber, Ware, Brandon Martin and Allen Garnes got third place in 8:27.58.
Brandon Mayfield won the 55-meter dash in 6.60 seconds ahead of Henninger’s Jawill Brown (6.70 seconds), and Khalil Wailes contended in the 300, finishing third in 37;01 seconds behind Willis. In the 4×400, Mayfield, Paul Dewan, Amandeep Sekhon and Justin Chrisjohn were sixth in 1:44.79 as the Northstars, who expected to contend, got disqualified passing out of the zone between the second and third legs.
Arthur Bittel threw the shot put 44’5 ½” to finish third as C-NS’s Adam Mosher was fourth (41’4”) and Cameron Pisa was eighth. Bittel returned to get fourth place in the weight throw with 38’2” behind teammate Antwan Kelly (39’2”) as the Northstars’ Kaleb Woodcock was fifth, going 36’4”.
