Less than a week after the Liverpool boys and Cicero-North Syracuse girls were triumphant in the Section III Class AA championships, more success was found in Wednesday night’s sectional state qualifying meet.
Competing at Utica College’s Hutton Dome, the Warriors and Northstars both flourished with a series of victories that will bring them to Staten Island’s Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex for the March 2 state championships.
Already a two-time indoor state champion, C-NS senior Jeremiah Willis returns to Staten Island after wins in the triple jump, where he went 49 feet 1/2 inch, and the long jump, where he won with 23 feet 1 inch.
Liverpool’s Antwan Kelley, announcing himself as a state title contender in the boys weight throw, heaved it 62’1″ on his second attempt. Jacob Barnes also advanced to the state meet, finishing third with 51’1 1/2″. Barnes was second in the shot put with 44’11” as C-NS’s Andrew Culver was third with 43’7 3/4″.
On the track, the Warriors won the boys 4×800 relay, having Spencer Ruediger, T.J. Praschunus, Nathan Reeves and Cameron O’Connell go 8:07.43 to finish more than four seconds ahead of Baldwinsville’s 8:12.10. Reeves also finished third in the mile in 4:27.12, qualifying for the state meet in that race, too.
Liverpool’s girls were victorious in the 4×200 relay, seeing Haven Hicks, Amina Sinclair, Tahje McDonald and Anne Gullo going 1:48.15 to hold off Baldwinsville (1:48.53), with C-NS sixth in 1:53.80.
Hicks, on her own, won a tight 55-meter dash, her time of 7.34 seconds edging out Syracuse ITC’s Fannie Kumeh (7.36) and Baldwinsville’s Lauren Addario (7.37).
Imahni Sinclair qualified for the state meet in the weight throw by going 46’9″, and was second in the shot put by going 36’9 1/4″, both times trailing Rome Free Academy’s Sarah Crockett.
In the 55-meter hurles, Liverpool’s Kali Hayes finished second in 8.83 seconds to Corcoran’s Kiari Hameed (8.78), with C-NS having Lexi Gaetz (9.31) edge Savannah Kuhr (9.34) for fifth place.
Jenna Schulz qualified for the state meet in the 3,000-meter run, her time of 10:16.53 behind Tully’s Brooke Rauber and Fayetteville-Manlius’ Claire Walters, with C-NS’ Allison Newton seventh in 10:49.77 as the Warriors had Gabby McCarthy ninth (10:53.32) and Emily Neuner 11th.
Schulz also paired with Windsor Ardner, Claire Carlson and Sydney Carlson to go 9:28.01 in the 4×800 relay and qualify for the state meet, finishing second to Fayetteville-Manlius (9:17.87) as C-NS was fifth in 10:09.60.
Talmari Turner, Conor Fahy, Kevin Harge and Dawson Newbern were third in the 4×400 relay in 3:39.22, with Nick Brancato getting fourth place in the 3,200-meter run in 9:44.68 and Jake McGowan (9:50.76) fifth.
The C-NS girls saw Kate Putman qualify for the state meet in the 1,000 in 2:57.71, just ahead of Sydney Carlson, whose third-place 3:00.97 also put her in the state meet. Putman also was seventh in the 600-meter run in 1:50.34, just behind teammate Sarah Davis (1:46.54) in sixth place.
Brooke Blaisdell qualified for the state meet in two events. In the long jump, she shared top honors with Rome Free Academy’s Olivia Griggs, both going 17’8 1/2″, and Blaisdell had a second-place triple jump of 37’5 1/2″ to advance in that event, too, just behind Baldwinsville’s Lauren Addario, who went 37’9″.
Liliana Klemanski tied Jamesville-DeWitt’s Laeticcia Bazile in the high jump, both clearing 5’2″, but Bazile had fewer misses, so Klemanski was second, yet still advanced to the staet meet based on results earlier in the season. a
Liverpool’s Amina Sinclair cleared 4’10” for fourth place in the high jump. Lexi Gaetz was eighth, with Lilly Capria and Madelyn Wheeler tied for ninth as they all cleared 4’8″.
In the girls 4×400, C-NS had Sarah Davis, Amanda Reilly, Mackenzie Mahoney and Hannah Boyle got to second place in 4:11.59, trailing only Fayetteville-Manlius (4:07.25) as Liverpool finished seventh in 4:42.59.
Nathan Poirier, in 2:38.34, was a close second to Baldwinsville’s Sam Kellner (2:38.11) in the boys 1,000 to earn a state meet berth, while Christian Carlin got fourth place in the 600 in 1:27.08 and the Northstars were fourth (1:36.55) in the 4×200. Carlin was later named to Section III’s intersectional relay team for the state meet.
Ryan Dupra, topping 5’10”, was fifth in the high jump, with Liverpool’s Bennett Robb tied for sixth by clearing 5’8″. Isaiah Wright was fifth in the 55-meter hurdles in 8.19 seconds, seventh in the long jump with 19’11 1/2″ and ninth in the triple jump with 38’7 1/2″.
