All is now in place for track and field athletes from Cicero-North Syracuse and Liverpool to go after New York State Public High School Athletic Association titles this weekend at Bragman Stadium.
Of them, C-NS junior Jeremiah Willis has, perhaps, the most to gain, attempting to add to the gold medals he’s already won at state outdoor and indoor meets in the last 12 months.
During Thursday’s sectional state qualifier, Willis was part of three winning efforts, starting in the 4×100 relay where he joined Joe Williams, Malcolm Christian and Connor Hayes to prevail in 43.44 seconds.
In the final of the 100-meter dash, Willis, in 11.14 seconds, held off Watertown’s Austen Eisenmann (11.18) for the top spot. A third win came with a top triple jump of 47 feet 7 ¾ inches.
As for Joe Williams, he ran into a breeze and still finished in 14.29 seconds to win the 110 high hurdles over Ryan Williams, who was second in 16.26 seconds to go with a third (52.34 seconds) in the 400-meter dash. Joe Williams also won the long jump, going 22’3 ¾” for a rare victory over Willis (21’10 ¾”) in that event.
Jason Hughes had 2,774 points in the pentathlon, second in Division I behind Baldwinsville’s Nate Jaquint (2,987). R.J. Davis was third in the Division I 3,200-meter run in 10:07.32, holding off Liverpool’s Jake McGowan (10:08.82) for that spot.
The C-NS girls pair of victories came in field events, including the triple jump where it went 1-2 as Sierra Davis, going 38’1 ¾”, just beat out Brooke Blaisdell’s 37’10 ½” as Shayla Webb was fourth with 37’6”. Liliana Klemanski topped 5’3” to prevail in the high jump.
Also, the Northstars’ Mia Pestle landed in second place in the 1,500-meter run in 4:44.97 behind West Genesee’s Carly Benson (4:37.26). C-NS also finished sixth in the girls 4×100 in 52.16 seconds as Savannah Kuhr got fourth place in the 100 hurdles in 17.27 seconds.
On the girls side for Liverpool, Marissa Baskin won twice. In the 100, she needed 12.88 seconds to hold off Baldwinsville’s Lauren Addario (13.02) for the top spot as Haven Hicks was eighth in 13.52 seconds.
Moving to the long jump, Baskin’s top leap of 18’5” beat the field as C-NS’s Brooke Blaisdell got second place with 17’6 ¾”, with Sierra Davis sixth (16’7”). Baskin got seventh place in the triple jump with 35’3 ½”.
Jenna Schulz was second in the 3,000-meter run in 10:09.12, with C-NS’s Allison Newton fifth in Division I in 11:13.50. Sarah LaValley threw the discus 118’1” to qualify for the state meet, second to Rome Free Academy’s Sarah Crockett (126’1”).
Madison Neuner needed 6:59.57 to earn a victory in the 2,000-meter steeplechase, while Nataile Kurz was third in 7:22.72and Sydney Carlson was third in the 1,500 in 4:54.05. Imahni Sinclair was second in the shot put with 32’10 ½” behind Crockett’s 38’9 ½”.
Anne Gullo, in 1:01.66, got third place in the 400 sprint as C-NS’s Ashlyn Slate (1:02.97) was sixth, with Gullo fourth in the 200-meter dash in 27.08 seconds. Lauren Fradette (17.40 seconds) beat out Kali Hayes (17.42) for sixth place in the 100 hurdles, with Fradette also eighth in the long jump.
Nathan Reeves gave the Liverpool boys a victory in the mile, advancing to the state meet as his time of 4:26.01 beat the field by nearly four seconds as Carter Rodriguez posted 4:38.97.
Then Reeves won the Division I 800-meter run in 2:02.61 over C-NS’s David Ware, who posted 2:09.58. Arthur Bittel threw the shot put 48’1 ¼” to finish second behind East Syracuse Minoa’s Gabe Holloman, who won with 48’5 ½”. Ryan Dewan was fourth in the triple jump with 42’6” and sixth in the long jump, going 20’1”
Liverpool’s 4×400 relay team of Nazir Murray, Kevin Harge, Conor Fahy and Talmari Turner went 3:23.32 and was edged at the line by Jamesville-DeWitt, who had that exact same time. Turner also got sixth place in the 100 in 11.79 seconds.
Nick Brancato, in 10:07.26, was second to Fayetteville-Manlius’ Peyton Geehrer (10:00.73) in the 3,000-meter steeplechase as Spencer Ruediger got third place in 10:21.30.
