What had proven a rough weekend for Skaneateles athletics, with both basketball teams and its ice hockey team knocked out of the Section III playoffs, was brightened by the effort of girls indoor track and field star Mia Grasso during Sunday’s sectional state qualifying meet at SRC Arena.
Contending for the title in the 300-meter dash, Grasso finished in 42.85 seconds, a time good enough for her to advance to this weekend’s New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships.
The trip to Staten Island’s Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex was secured as Grasso only trailed two large-school star – Baldwinsville’s Karen Ekure, who won in 42.55 seconds, and Jamesville-DeWitt’s Alexandria Payne, who posted 42.77 seconds.
Maddie Peterson also ran in the 300 for Skaneateles and was 10th overall in 45.57 seconds, while Emme Conan finished ninth in the 55-meter dash in 7.68 seconds, when it took 7.55 seconds to reach the finals.
Grasso, Conan, Peterson and Melissa Biver worked together in the 4×200 relay as Skaneateles finished fourth in 1:49.06, less than a second behind the winning 1:48.19 posted by B’ville.
And in the high jump, Grasso cleared 4 feet 10 inches, finishing sixth as Payne and Cicero-North Syracuse’s Liliana Klemanski went to the top of the standings, each of them clearing 5’1”.
Meanwhile, in the boys sectional state qualifier, the Lakers’ Brahm Malcolm went 8.45 seconds in the opening round of the 55-meter hurdles, finishing seventh overall and just out of the finals, which took 8.40 seconds to reach.
