Now make it half a decade where the Skaneateles girls track and field team has brought home a Section III championship.
The Lakers’ fifth consecutive sectional title was earned Thursday in the Class B-1 sectional meet at Westhill High School, where with 125 points Skaneateles pulled away from a pack fighting for second place as Vernon-Verona-Sherrill (74 points) held off Cazenovia (72 points) and Westhill-Bishop Ludden (70 points) for the runner-up spot.
Raenah Campbell won three times to pace the Lakers. It began in the 100-meter hurdles, where Campbell, in 16.03 seconds, beat the field by nearly a full second as Brady Iles was seventh in 17.59 seconds.
Moving to the 400-meter hurdles, Campbell would roll to first place in 1:06.22, part of an 18-point Lakers effort since Iles took third place in 1:11.90 and Sierra Sander rose to fifth place in 1:13.90. Finally, in the 200-meter dash, Campbell, in 26.80 seconds, held off Angela Krause, whose time of 26.70 seconds created a 1-2 Lakers finish.
In between those races, Skaneateles again owned the 4×100 relay thanks to the quartet of Maddie Peterson, Angela Krause, Emme Conan and Mia Grasso, who in 50.38 seconds finished more than two seconds ahead of second-place Phoenix (52.47).
Right after that, Grasso won, too, needing 1:00.64 to edge Phoenix’s Gianna DeRoberts (1:01.36) in the 400-meter dash as Shannan Roberts was fifth in 1:03.61. Then Ali Grant prevailed in the discus with a throw of 88 feet 3 inches as Katherine Carlile was third with 84’10” and Becca Rottger (81 feet) was fifth.
Krause got second place (13.21 seconds) behind Institute of Technology Central’s Fannie Kumeh (12.90) in the 100-meter dash, with Peterson gaining fourth place in 13.30 seconds, Conan eighth (13.57) and Angelina Reese 11th (13.84). Krause also finished seventh in the triple jump, going 31’4 ¼”.
Julia Willcox made it to second place in the 1,500-meter run in 4:53.55, just behind Westhill-Ludden’s Liz Kessler (4:52.66), with Willcox also taking fourth place in the 800-meter run in 2:27.74. In the 4×400 relay, Willcox, Iles, Roberts and Campbell were second in 4:18.46, just behind Phoenix’s winning 4:17.27.
Natalie Condon was third in the 3,000-meter run in 11:18.86, with Nicole DeRosa eighth. Maddy Brogan was sixth (8:32.24) and Georgia McSwain eighth (8:38.52) in the 2,000-meter steeplechase. Condon, DeRosa, Georgia McSwain and Katie Olsen were seventh in the 4×800 relay in 11:00.73.
Rottger threw the shot put 27’9” to finish seventh as Grant was eighth with a throw of 27’6 ½”. Lyda Buck was 13th in the pole vault, clearing 7 feet.
A day earlier, the Skaneateles boys track and field team would make its own strong showing during the sectional Class B-2 championships at Canastota High School, earning 57 points to finish fifth in a 10-team field. Clinton earned 159 points and won by a big margin over host Canastota (84 point) in second place.
Chase Corcoran made it to second place in the discus, his top throw of 131 feet 3 inches just behind Altmar-Parish-Williamstown’s Takota Jacobson, who won with 134’8”.. Also, in the shot put, Corcoran was fourth with a toss of 40’7”.
The Lakers nearly won the 4×100 as Cross Bianchi, Matt Leveroni, Joe Capozza and Max Moss finished in 46.51 seconds, edged out at the line by Canastota, who won in 46.42 seconds.
In the 3,200-meter run, Luke Rathgeb roared to second place in 10:34.03, not far from the winning 10:29.49 posted by Clinton’s Andrew Ford. Rathgeb also was fifth in the mile in 4:45.27, just ahead of Sam McClintic (4:59.38) in sixth place, and capped off his great effort by finishing fifth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 11:11.04.
Brahm Malcolm finished third in the 110 high hurdles in 16.70 seconds, with Nicola Kunz fifth in 18.92 seconds. Kunz also was ninth in the 400 hurdles in 1:08.46 as Malcolm, clearing 5’4”, was seventh in the high jump, with Kunz (5’2”) in ninth place.
Alex Vanriper had a fourth-place long jump of 18’7”, with Malcolm 10th and Ben Blackwell eighth. Bianchi finished fifth in the 100 sprint in 12.13 seconds, with Leveroni eighth in 12.42 seconds. In the 200, Bianchi again took fifth place in 24.58 seconds, just ahead of Capozza (24.71 seconds) in seventh place as Blackwell was 12th.
Leveroni, paired with Calvin Blackwell, Ben Kringer and Alex Wulff, got fourth place in the 4×800 in 9:05.41.Wulff took ninth place in the 800 in 2:14.11, with McClintic`15th and Tony DiRubbo 16th.
Ryan Willcox finished fourth in the five-event pentathlon, earning 1,847 points. Capozza was 11th in the 400 sprint, with Kringer 12th and Calvin Blackwell 13th. Kringer and Capozza joined the Blackwell brothers to get seventh place in the 4×400 in 3:54.97.
