It turned into quite a three-team battle for the Section III Class B-2 indoor track and field championship Wednesday night at SRC Arena, with Skaneateles making a push for the top alongside Clinton and Cazenovia.
When it was done, Skaneateles had 84 points, not far from the fight at the front where Clinton, with 110 points, edged Cazenovia (107 points) for the sectional title.
Mia Grasso dominated the girls 600-meter run, prevailing in one minute, 38.90 seconds, more than three seconds ahead of CBA’s Olivia Morganti (1:42.12).
Then, in the 4×200 relay, Grasso, Emme Conan, Melissa Biver and Maddie Peterson pulled away and won in 1:50.31, with runner-up Cazenovia (1:57.38) more than seven seconds behind. In the high jump, Grasso finished second, clearing 4 feet 10 inches as Clinton’s Sarah Owens (4’11”) prevailed.
For her part, Conan needed 44.31 seconds to hold off Hannibal’s Alexis Cole (44.66) and win the 300-meter dash. Conan also took third place in the 55-meter dash in 7.64 seconds and Maddie Peterson was fifth in 7.86 seconds.
Melissa Biver, Jessica Patalino, Graeson Landsberg and Evangelia Vitsaxaki made it to third place in the 4×400 relay in 4:34.50, not far from Hannibal’s winning 4:29.13. Bella Capozza was fourth in the 55-meter hurdles in 10.12 seconds.
Natalie Condon needed 3:23.71 to gain third place in the 1,000-meter run and was fourth in the 1,500-meter run in 5:41.25. Condon, Georgia McSwain, Nicole Derosa and Elyse Osmun were third in the 4×800 relay in 11:18.05 as McSwain got fifth place in the 3,000-meter run in 12:01.90
Edan Howard earned fourth place in the weight throw, heaving it 28’11 3/4″ as Reagan Evans was fifth with 28’5 1/4″ and Nieve Morse was seventh in the shot put.
Meanwhile, in the boys sectional Class B-2 meet Skaneateles finished with 38 points, sixth in a 10-team field as Clinton (140 points) pulled away from the field.
Brahm Malcolm gave the Lakers a highlight when he tore through the 55 hurdles in 8.43 seconds to beat out Clinton’s Justin Stell (8.53 seconds) and claim the sectional title. Malcolm also finished sixth in the long jump, going 18 feet.
Luke Rathgeb gained third place in the 3,200-meter run in 10:06.40, with Caleb Bender running to sixth place in 10:34.81. In the mile, Rathgeb, in 5:01 flat, got fourth place as Bender was fifth in 5:01.45, less than a second behind.
John Ryan, Connor Gell, Jacob Nesbitt and Levi Carvalho were third in the 4×400 relay in 3:57.69 as Gell, Rathgeb, Sam McClintic and Matt Persampieri were fourth in the 4×800 in 9:40.53.
Ryan Willcox cleared 5’4″ for seventh place in the high jump. Cross Bianchi finished eighth in the 55 sprint in 7.12 seconds, but did better in the 4×400 as he paired with Carvalho, Ryan and Nesbitt for fourth place in 1:43.45.
