Area high school girls track and field teams enjoyed the warm sunshine early last week and engaged in a series of matches against league foes.
It included West Genesee in a three-team showdown against powers Fayetteville-Manlius and Liverpool at LHS Stadium. The Wildcats would drop both contests, falling 85.5-54.4 to the Hornets and 75-65 to the Warriors.
Amid F-M’s typical domination of distance races, WG did see Caitlin Mills edge the Hornets’ Cady Barns, 13.39 seconds to 13.41, in the 100-meter dash, while Kelsey Fox took the 200-meter dash in 27.26 seconds.
What’s more, Fox and Mills, paired with Amina Mambambu and Sandy Gardino, would beat the field in the 4×100 relay in 50.47 seconds, and Mills dominated the high jump, clearing 4 feet 10 inches, half a foot ahead of her challengers.
Etana Davis threw the discus 88 feet 2 ¼ inches, going 1-2-3 with Julia Logana and Lizzy Garrison as Logana, with a shot put toss of 32’2”, beat Davis (29’2”) for the top spot.
Just before this, Westhill kept rolling last Tuesday with a 113-28 romp over Homer. Ciarra Rudnick won the 100 (13.3 seconds) and 200 (27.8 seconds) sprints for the Warriors, with Ashley Heffernan tying Noelle Coolican in the pole vault, both clearing 9 feet, and claiming the long jump (15’8”) to edge Hannibal’s Maddy Cole (15’7”).
Lennah Abraham swept the discus (90’11 ½”) and shot put (29’9”). Abby Feyerabend topped 4’8” in the high jump and Lauren Marshall went 32’9” in the triple jump. Alyssa Holstein won the 100 hurdles in 16.1 seconds. Ashley Bolesh went 1:12.6 to claim the 400 hurdles.
Westhill also had Kylie Nowicki go 5:37.3 to take the 1,500, Alaina Kenny win the 800 in 2:44.4 and Liz Kessler beat the field in the 3,000 in 11:48.9. The Warriors were first in the 4×100 (53.9 seconds), 4×400 (4:33.2) and 4×800 (10:57.7) relays.
A day earlier, Jordan-Elbridge held on to beat Altmar-Parish-Williamstown 73-66, with two race wins apiece from Theresa Dristle and Ashlee Eaton, plus two wins from Kyler Langhorn.
Dristle took first in the 1,500 in 5:31.4, also claiming the 3,000 in 11:46.5, while running a leg in the Eagles’ victorious 4×800 in a clocking of 13:52 flat.
Eaton claimed the 100 (13.3 seconds) and 200 (28.2 seconds) sprints, also helping Langhorn, Lindsay Jackson and Mia DeLap take the 4×100 in 55.4 seconds.
On her own, Langhorn was first in the 400 hurdles in 1:13.7 and went 31’2” to prevail in the triple jump. J-E also went 1-2 in the pole vault as Kyra White cleared 7 feet and Dristle was second.
That same day, Marcellus defeated Phoenix 82-58, going 1-2 in the distance runs as Meaghan Strempel took the 1,500 in 5:27.6 ahead of Olivia Bird (5:30.3) and Morgan Gould (12:37.9) pulled away from Meaghan Strempel (12:59.3) in the 3,000.
Alaura Cushman edged the Firebirds’ Tianna Martin, 14.0 seconds to 14.1, in the 100 sprint as Macie Szalach claimed the 400 hurdles in 1:15.6. Bird, Strempel, Gould and Audrey Plogman won the 4×800 in 12:24.1 as Cushman, Bird, Carolyn Carlic and Violet Moncavage took the 4×400 in 4:40.9.
Sophia Shaw matched Phoenix’s Hannah Gilbert as they cleared 4’8” in the pole vault and Emma Stuart going 77’3” in the discus.
Two days later, Marcellus won again, handling CBA 92-43, with Szalach winning three times as she took the 100 hurdles in 18.2 seconds, cleared 7’6” in the pole vault and went 27’6” to take the triple jump.
Shaw improved to 4’10” in the high jump, with Stuart throwing the discus 79’9” and Amy Francesconi going 14 feet in the long jump while also taking the 400 hurdles in 1:26.5. Carlic won the 400 sprint in 1:08.5 and the Mustangs swept the 4×100 (57.9), 4×400 (4:34.3) and 4×800 (10:47.8) relays.
J-E beat Institute of Technology Central 85-51, with DeLap winning the shot put and Jackson the discus. Dristle, in 12:30, edged Fichter (12:31) in the 3,000, though Fichter did win the 400 hurdles in 1:21.0. Daly and Langhorn helped the Eagles take the 4×400 in 4:54.2.
WG and Westhill went to Friday’s Cicero-North Syracuse Invitational, where the Wildcats saw Gardino, Abby Kuppinger, Phoebe Andreson and Mikeayla DeJesus finish second (52.25 seconds) to Skaneateles (51.18) in the 4×100.
Natalie Buckhout, Lauren Puchta, Faith Knox and Liz Morey were third in the 4×800 in 10:33.58. Mills finished fourth in the 400 hurdles in 1:10.64 as Davis threw the discus 88 feet to finish sixth.
The Warriors had Noelle Coolican get third place in the pole vault, clearing 9’6”, with Heffernan fourth by topping 9 feet as she also was fourth (16’1 ¾”) in the long jump. Bolesh finished third in the 400 sprint in 1:01.11, just ahead of Kuppinger (1:01.21) in fourth place as Marshall was sixth (31’9”) in the triple jump.
