For all the times it had won during the spring, both inside and outside league competition, the Fayetteville-Manlius girls track and field team knew the ultimate prize was the Section III Class AA championship.
And the Hornets earned it again Wednesday at Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Stadium, the same venue where the New York State Public High School Athletic Association meet will take place June 8-9.
F-M picked up 119 points, just enough to withstand the challenge from Liverpool, who was second with 107 points, and it took contributions beyond its usual core of distance runners.
Still, the Hornets won two relays, including the 4×800, where Phoebe White, Alex Villalba, Rebecca Walters and Claire Walters posted nine minutes, 22.25 seconds to prevail before a 4×400 which saw White, Cady Barns, Susan Bansbach and Fiona Mejico prevail in 4:01.54.
Claire Walters, who was second in the 3,000-meter run in 10:09.46, was victorious in the 1,500-meter run in 4:41.76 and got second place in the 2,000-meter steeplechase in 7:11 flat as Rebecca Walters was fourth.
White was fourth in the 1,500 before she went to the top in the 800-meter run in 2:17.43 ahead of Rebecca Walters (2:18.40) in second place. Grace Kaercher was fifth in the 3,000.
Gwen Shepardson was second in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:07.51, with Mejico fourth in 1:08.95 as Shepardson got third place in the 100 hurdles in 15.82 seconds. Katie Berge’ was fourth in the pentathlon with 1,926 points.
Bansbach got second place in the 400-meter dash in 59.42 seconds and third in the 200-meter dash in 26.55 seconds, while Barns was fourth in the triple jump (36’1”) and Isabel Zuber fifth (35’6 ½”) as Zuber (17’ ¾”) beat out Barns (16’5 ¾”) for fifth place in the long jump.
In the boys sectional AA meet, F-M got 37 points to finish fifth out of 11 sides, only winning in the 3,200-meter run, where Garrett Brennan’s time of 9:40.62 beat the field by more than 19 seconds. Eli Capri got second place in the 3,000 steeplechase in 10:21.30.
Brennan, Nolan Chiles, Max Perry and Jack Duncanson were second in the 4×800 in 8:12.96 to Central Square’s 8:07.28. Sam Otis was third in the mile in 4:33.48 as Peyton Geehrer (4:35.94) finished sixth.
Perry took eighth place in the 800, with Dan Sokolovic eight in the shot put and Sawyer Dereszynski eighth in the discus. F-M was sixth in the 4×400 in 3:34.76.
In the sectional Class B-2 championships at Canastota, Christian Brothers Academy finished sixth out of 11 teams in the girls meet with 47 points, while the boys also finished sixth with 46 points.
Olivia Morganti won the girls 2,000 steeplechase in 6:53.36, the only time under seven minutes. Cory Knox was second in the 100 hurdles in 17.38 seconds, also getting second place in the 400 hurdles in 1:08.91.
Lea Kyle needed 11:09.59 to grab third place in the 3,000, with Skye Ryan third in the shot put with a toss of 29’9” as she also was fourth in the discus. Bri Pucci finished fourth in the 1,500 as Claire Bargabos took sixth place.
CBA’s boys won the 4×800 relay as Dan Melvin, Zach Medicis, Caleb Krueger and Paul Gaffney went 8:13.92 to beat the field by more than 20 seconds. Gaffney also was second in the 800 in 2:03.97 as Krueger finished fifth. The Brothers were fifth in the 4×400.
Right after that, Avion Othman won the 100 sprint in 11.47 seconds, also getting second in the 200 in 24.14 seconds. Riley Nash was third in the 3,200 in 10:29.80.
A day earlier, Manlius-Pebble Hill took part in the sectional Class D meet at New York Mills, where it earned 21 points to finish 11th in the girls team standings. Maggie Sexton-Dwyer earned most of the Trojans’ points, as she needed 1:15.81 to finish second in the 400 hurdles.
Sexton-Dwyer walso fourth in the 100 hurdles in 19.50 seconds, sixth in the triple jump by going 29’2” and helped Sarah Hogan, Anna Videto and Phoebe Ambrose finish fifth in the 4×400 in 4:41.06. Taylor Germain was fourth in the high jump, clearing 4’4”.
Hogan, Videto, Carli Arbon and Angelina Shenandoah and Anna Videto were fifth in the 4×800 in 11:50.04. Videto was eighth in the 1,500 and Hogan 10th in the 400 as the Trojans got seventh place in the 4×100.
All of MPH’s boys points came from the 3,200, where Gavin Cardamone finished fifth in 11:15.40 and Mathias Deldicque was right behind, earning sixth place in 11:15.68. The Trojans were eighth in the 4×400 in 4:07.67.
