Most of the area’s top indoor track and field athletes made their way to Utica College’s Hutton Dome Wednesday night to battle for top honors in the Section III state qualifying meet.
Automatic berths in the March 2 state championships at Staten Island’s Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex were on the line, and wins were attained by several local stars.
Fayetteville-Manlius had plenty of success in distance races, including the girls 4×400 relay, where Samantha Pynn, Fiona Mejico, Brenna Jolly and Susan Bansbach prevailed in four minutes, 7.25 seconds over Cicero-North Syracuse (4:11.59) for that top spot.
The Hornets were also victorious in the 4×800 relay, having Chloe Bullough, Lejla Borcilo, Grace Kaercher and Maddy Duggleby go 9:17.87, beating Liverpool (9:28.01) by more than 10 seconds.
Phoebe White won, too, going 2:53.79 to pull away from C-NS’s Kate Putman (2:57.71) in that race as, in the 1,500-meter run, Christian Brothers Academy junior Olivia Morganti roared to victory in 4:40.97.
Claire Walters tore to a time of 9:36.31 in the 3,000-meter run to advance to the state meet, even if she finished second to Tully star Brooke Rauber (9:33.67). Emily Cook was eighth in 10:50.83.
F-M’s boys team had Matt Tripp win a thrilling battle in the mile. With a time of 4:26.78, Tripp rallied in the last 200 meters to edge Adirondack’s Tyler Fauvelle (4:26.98) by two-tenths of a second.
Over in the 3,200-meter run, Peyton Geehrer finished second in 9:40.74, edging teammate Sam Otis (9:40.77) by three-hundredths of a second as both qualified for the state meet, just behind New Hartford’s Josh Farmer (9:37.45).
Jamesville-DeWitt had Laeticcia Bazile win the girls high jump. Bazile cleared 5 feet 2 inches, the same as C-NS’s Liliana Klemanski, but with fewer misses.
F-M’s Isabella Zuber was fourth in the long jump, going 17′ 1/2″ and fourth in the triple jump, going 36’5″. Bazile’s teammate, Denise Yaeger, finished seventh in the long jump with 16’1 3/4″.
J-D’s boys 4×400 relay team finished second as Fidel Martinez, Haberle Conlon, Josh Duby and Nick Mannion went 3:33.23, topped only by Baldwinsville’s winning 3:31.07. Eva Wisniewski tied for sixth in the pole vault, clearing 8’6″.
East Syracuse Minoa had Myles Riggins nearly win the 55-meter hurdles, improving from 8.08 seconds in the qualifying round to 8.06 in the finals, second to Cazenovia’s Justin Gagnon (7.92) as F-M’s Ryan Serp was third in 8.11 seconds. Rocky El finished sixth in the triple jump, going 40’7″.
The Spartans also had Elijah Buck gain fifth place in the weight throw with a heave of 49’7 1/2″, with F-M’s Dan Sokolovic ninth (47’10 3/4″). Rhiannon Butchko tied for fifth in the high jump, clearing 4’10”.
J-D’s Nick Dekaney went 8.96 seconds in the boys 55 hurdles behind Serp and Riggins, with Monica Hernandez-Olivera ninth in the girls 55 hurdles in 9.60 seconds. CBA’s quartet of Joel Gaffney, Caleb Krueger, Zach Medicis and Riley Nash were fourth in the 4×800 relay in 8:23.02.
