Not only was some neighborhood pride at stake when the Westhill-Bishop Ludden and Marcellus track and field teams squared off last Wednesday afternoon, so were regular-season titles in the Onondaga High School League Liberty American division.

The Warriors would win on both sides of it, prevailing 77-64 on the boys side and, in the girls meet, pulling away to beat the Mustangs 88-53.

Tom Howard and Sean Corbett led the effort for the Westhill-Ludden boys. Howard gained first place in the 100-meter dash in 11.4 seconds and then took the 200-meter dash 23.3 seconds before pairing with Evan Watt, Vaughn Crimi and Connor Schwartz to win the 4×100 relay in 46 seconds flat.

Corbett’s sweep of throwing events included a shot put toss of 44 feet 1 inch to beat teammate Evan Ballard (36’10 ½”) and a discus throw of 109’8” that beat out Marcellus rival Nick Distefano, who threw it 102’4”.

Owen Hoyne (16.3 seconds) beat Watt (17.4 seconds) as they went 1-2 for Westhill-Ludden in the 110 high hurdles, with Watt stepping up to win the 400 hurdles in 1:01.4 over the Mustangs’ Andy Marsh, who was second in 1:02.4.

For Marcellus, Joe Riccardi was victorious in the mile in 4:49.3 over Westhill-Ludden’s Jake Suddaby (4;53.6) and also claimed the 3,200-meter run in 10:24.1, while Matt Strempel won the 800-meter run in 2:07.5 over the Warriors’ Cade VanOrnam (2:10.9).

Riccardi, Matt Strempel, Riley Burns and Sean Raymond got Marcellus a first-place finish in the 4×800 relay in 9:08.9, but Westhill-Ludden countered in the 4×400 by having Schwartz, Howard, Ben Eassa and Cal Niezabytowski get first place in 3;39.3.

Mike Provvidenti, second in the 200 to Howard, edged teammate Michael Welch, 54.3 seconds to 54.4, in the 400-meter dash.  Caleb Wetherell went 40’1 ¾” to beat Eassa (39’7”) in the triple jump, while Raymond cleared 5’8” in the high jump, beating Hoyne (5’6”), and Sam Stearns cleared 12 feet in the pole vault ahead of Watt, who went 11’6”.

Moving to the girls meet, Zoe Fortin was the big star for Westhill-Ludden. Having claimed the 400 sprint in 1:04 flat, Fortin moved on to take the long jump with a leap of 15’9 ½” and then have a winning triple jump of 32’6”. Fortin also helped the Warriors’ 4×400 relay team take first place in 4:32.9.

The Warriors’ Alyssa Holstein prevailed twice, going 16.4 seconds in the 100 hurdles and then winning the 400 hurdles in 1:15.3. Haylei Coolican cleared 9’6” to win the pole vault, while Kayla Helfeld had a winning shot put toss of 26’11 ½”.

Annibel Coolican won the 3,000-meter run in 11:15.40 as Liz Kessler took the 800 in 2:29.3. Coolican was part of Westhill-Ludden’s 4×800 relay side that gained first place in 10:47.3.

For Marcellus, success was a bit more scattered. Mary-Catherine Coon did match Fortin with three wins, running the 100 in 13.4 seconds and the 200 in 27.9 seconds before clearing 4’8” in the high jump, while Olivia Bird took first in the 1,500-meter run in 5:22.9. Michaela Godbold had a winning discus throw of 71’3”.