Yes, it helped the Westhill track and field teams to compete in Thursday’s Section III Class B-1 championships on its home track. What helped more was the way both Warriors sides found their way to the top of the standings.
By emphasizing field events and specific races where it could pile up points, the Warriors prevailed with 132 points on the girls side and 117 points on the boys side, each time with Camden finishing second.
Westhill’s girls dominated the 100-meter hurdles, sweeping the top four spots. Alyssa Holstein, in 15.98 seconds, prevailed, with Quinn Mannion, in 17.15 seconds, edging Ashley Heffernan (17.25) and Lauren Marshall (17.28).
Heffernan, competing in the pole vault, cleared 9 feet 6 inches, as did Noelle Coolican as they took the second and third spot, with Mannion and Ella Markham tying for fifth place. Abby Feyerabend was second in the high jump, just ahead of Solvay’s Kyra Crossett, though both cleared 4’10”:
Ashley Bolesh went 59.92 seconds to get second place in the 400-meter dash. Liz Kessler got third place in the 1,500-meter run in 5:04.34 and was fourth in the 800-meter run as Katherine Evans got fifth place.
Haylei Coolican was third in the 3,000-meter run in 11:29.34and fifth in the 2,000-meter steeplechase. Lauren Holstein finished fourth in the pentathlon with 1,955 points as Angie Mesa-Espinosa was fifth in the 200-meter dash and, with Bolesh, Molly Bobbett and Megan O’Reilly, was third (4:15.80) in the 4×400 relay.
Ben Eassa and Evan Watt led the Westhill boys, Eassa prevailing in the long jump with a leap of 21’ ¾” and getting second place in the triple jump with 42’9” as Watt was third with 42’2”.
Watt cleared 12 feet in the pole vault, putting him in second place as Eassa was third with 10’6” and Luke Puglisi was fifth. Watt also was second in the 400 hurdles, posting a time of 1:00.28, with Dan Washburn second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 10:29.37.
Brendan Rewakowski, in 4:32.19, was a close second to Homer’s Teddy Mercer (4:31.93) in the mile, with Jake Suddaby fifth. Cal Niezabytowski finished fourth in the 400 sprint and, with Rewakowski, Cade Van Ornam and Clayton Markham, grabbed fourth place in the 4×400 in 3:43.59.
Evan Ballard was third in the discus, throwing it 117’6”, and got fourth place in the shot put. Michael Laszlo and Luke Kelly were third and fourth, respectively, in the pentathlon, as Owen Hoyne was fourth in the 110 hurdles in 16.93 second and the Warriors took fourth (8:42.10) in the 4×800 relay.
Solvay and Marcellus were also at the sectional B-1 meet, with the boys Bearcats tying Vernon-Verona-Sherrill for third with 53 points as the Mustangs got 31 points for eighth place.
The Bearcats won the 4×100 relay as Lamar Flood, Jaimen Bliss, Dylon Ewers and Russ Tarbell went 44.90 seconds, with no one else breaking the 46-second mark as Westhill (47.01) was fourth.
Ewers went on to win the high jump, clearing 6’1” as Flood was third with 5’10” and Hoyne was sixth. Bliss was second in the 400 sprint in 52.48 seconds.
Shahid Hutcherson blazed to second place in the 100-meter dash in 11.75 seconds. Ewers was fourth in the 400 hurdles, with Flood fifth and Hutcherson sixth in the 200. Tarbell got fifth place in the long jump.
Marcellus had Nick Patterson earn 12 of its points by going 20’4 ½” in the long jump, finishing second to Eassa, and adding a fourth-place triple jump of 41’6 ¾”.
The Mustangs’ Joe Riccardi went 9:58.54 for second place in the 3,200-meter run, with Suddaby third (10:34.05) and Jacob Fricano fifth for Westhill. Ethan Mosure took fourth place in the mile and Nick Roseboom was fourth in the steeplechase.
In the girls B-1 meet, Solvay had 44 points for fifth place, Ashley Bosco continuing her dominance in the shot put as she won with a throw of 40’7 ¼”, with Westhill’s Lennah Abraham fourth as Bosco added a fifth in the discus.
Rhiannon Ackerman needed 1,968 points to finish second in the pentathlon. Serenity Thomas got third in the 100-meter dash in 13.16 seconds and was fourth in the 400 hurdles, too.
Thomas, with Isis Mitchell, Phoebe Guadganolo and Destiny Hurry, finished second in the 4×100 in 53.64 seconds, edging out Westhill (54.05) in third place.
Marcellus got 10 points as Julianna Szczech was fourth (9 feet) and Courtney Otis fifth in the pole vault, the Mustangs fifth in the 4×800 in 11:02.16, just behind Westhill (10:43.24) in fourth place. Macie Szalach was fifth in the 400 hurdles.
