Having already set a Section III record, the Baldwinsville boys indoor track and field team’s 4×400 relay team went after more honors during last Saturday’s New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships at Staten Island’s Ocean Breeze Athletic Center.
Kieran Sheridan, Tyler Luciano, Greg Porceng and Evan Vannatta set that mark of three minutes, 24.81 seconds during the Feb. 18 state qualifier at Utica College’s Hutton Dome. Now, on the Staten Island venue that was hosting the state meet for the first time, the Bees entered as the fourth seed.
In a time of 3:26.20, B’ville easily qualified for the finals. Then Sheridan, Luciano, Porceng and Vannatta would finish in 3:25.48, not quite what it did two weeks earlier, but still taking the third-place medals. Elmont won with 3:22.85, less than two seconds ahead of the Bees, with Newburgh Free Academy second in 3:24.47.
Elsewhere, Sheridan competed in the boys 600-meter run and, in a time of 1:24.60, finish in 16th place. Adam Davis was part of the 1,000-meter run for B’ville and, in a time of 2:35.36, improved upon his season-best effort by nearly three seconds while getting 15th place. Lockport’s Treston White won in 1:21.18.
Nate Jaquint looked to improve upon his season-best clearance of 6 feet 1 inch in the high jump. But he could only manage 5’9” here, the same as Marcellus’ Sean Raymond as they tied for 17th place. Smithtown East’s Samuel Claxton topped 6’11” to beat the field by half a foot.
Meanwhile, in the girls state meet, B’ville had lots of athletes on hand, including Adrianna Straughter in two events, the 55-meter hurdles and high jump.
Having gone as fast as 8.85 seconds this winter in the 55 hurdles, Straughter could only get 9.21 seconds here and finish 22nd. In the high jump, Straughter cleared 5 feet, the same as Solvay’s Katie Harrington, with Straughter 18th, far off the winning 5’6” earned by Scarsdale’s Kendall Bensche.
Lauren Addario, competing in the 55-meter dash, tied for 14th place in 7.48 seconds, a tenth of a second from the 7.38 seconds that was needed to qualify for the finals. Eventually, St Anthony’s Halle Hazzard won in 6.86 seconds
Also, Danielle Marsell was part of the girls weight throw, where with a toss of 30’10 ½” she got to 30th place. Dominating the event, Shenendehowa’s Jillian Shippee, who also won the state shot put, tossed the weight 60’2 ½”, nearly five feet ahead of the field.
