Between the success of its relay sprinters and the work done by the likes of Raenah Campbell and Mia Grasso, the Skaneateles girls track and field team had plenty to celebrate at the end of last Friday’s Section III state qualifying meet at Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Stadium.
Early in the meet, the Lakers again emerged triumphant in the Division II (small school) portion of the 4×100 relay. Grasso, pairing with Angela Krause, Maddie Peterson and Emme Conan, finished in 50.05 seconds, nearly matching the school record it set earlier this year and holding off Jordan-Elbridge (50.40 seconds) to prevail.
Campbell qualified for the finals of the 100-meter hurdles in 15.99 seconds and then improved on that time to 15.78 seconds in the finals, beating a field that included Brady Iles, who finished third in 16.89 seconds after qualifying eighth.
Already with a state meet-qualifying time for the 400-meter hurdles, Campbell here finished second in 1:06.07 as Grasso, in one minute, 4.82 seconds, earned the victory over Campbell by more than a second. Grasso also was second in the high jump, clearing 5 feet as Cooperstown’s Julie Ford won with 5’3”.
Krause, in the 100-meter dash, just missed the qualifying standard as, in 12.85 seconds, she was second to Institute of Technology Central’s Fannie Kumeh, who won in 12.70 seconds. Conan was 11th in 13.20 seconds.
Later in the meet, in the 200-meter dash, it was Peterson’s turn for a runner-up finish. She and Camden’s Allison Koch nearly hit the line together, but Peterson (26.886 seconds) edged Koch (26.888) by two-thousandths of a second as Tully’s Jessica Donald won in 26.33 seconds. Krause finished fifth in 26.99 seconds.
Julia Willcox ran 1,500 meters in 4:57.22, making her way to third place as Natalie Condon got ninth place in 5:11.44. Then Willcox got a fifth-place time of 2:24.62 in the 800-meter run. Ali Grant finished 13th in the discus with a throw of 80’8”.
In the boys discus, Skaneateles thrower Chase Corcoran finished second. Corcoran’s top toss of 136 feet was topped only by Altmar-Parish-Williamstown’s Takota Jacobson, who won with 136’2”, but because Corcoran threw 146’7″ earlier this season, more than two feet beyond the qualifying standard, he will go to the state meet, too.
Now those top Skaneateles athletes will make their way to Union-Endicott High School, where the New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships get underway on Friday and conclude on Saturday.
