It’s difficult to imagine it ever getting better for the Chittenango boys track and field team than earning the Section III Class B-1 championship right at home.
When the Bears hosted the sectional B-1 meet on Thursday, it ended up in a close battle with Camden for the team title, and with 114 points did just enough to edge the Blue Devils (112 points) and claim the sectional banner.
Chittenango won the 4×800 relay as Dave Gratien, Caleb Prenoveau, Nate Lampman and Tristam LaFountaine posted eight minutes, 28.90 seconds, well clear of Westhill (8:37.24) and the field.
Later, in the 3,200-meter run, Ersilio Cerminaro gained the title in 10:15.02 over Camden’s Simon Seidl (10:17.32), with Gratien grabbing third place in 10:24.77. Cerminaro also finished third in the mile in 4:33.94 as Dylan Price (4:39.85) was sixth, with Gratien third in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 10:58.2 as Cerminaro (11:07.9) was fifth.
Devin Myers was second in the 110 high hurdles in 15.73 seconds, with Jeremy Warters third in 16.50 seconds. It was the same in the 400 hurdles, Myers second in 58.50 seconds to Camden’s Josh Mayden (58.27) as Warters was third in 59.22 seconds.
Later, in the triple jump, Myers went 40 feet 8 ¾ inches, second to the 41’1” from South Jefferson’s Spencer Zeltman as Myers added a fifth-place long jump of 19’3 ¾”.
Prenoveau, in 53.52 seconds, edged out Jacobi Dwyer (53.56) for third place in the 400-meter dash, with LaFountaine sixth in 55.02 seconds as Prenoveau got fourth place in the 800-meter run in 2:01.52, with Price seventh in 2:07.35.
In the 4×400 relay, Prenoveau, LaFountaine, Dwyer and Parker Tedford were second in 3:34.57 behind Vernon-Verona-Sherrill (3:31.35) after Tedford got fourth place in the 200-meter dash in 23.75 seconds.
Jan Hartman proved a key figure for Chittenango, too, as he earned 2,380 points to claim second place in the pentathlon, just behind Homer’s Ryan McLaughlin (2,413) and three spots ahead of Camden’s Nick Bronk, a six-point difference.
The Bears were seventh in the 4×100 relay in 47 seconds flat as Dakota Diable took eighth place in the shot put (39’1 ½”) and ninth place in the discus (105’8”), with Callum Reed eighth in the discus by throwing it 106 feet.
Meanwhile, the Chittenango girls track team finished fifth in the Class B-1 sectional meet with 39 points as Westhill (110 points) held off Camden (114 points) to finish in front.
Completing a boys-girls sweep of the 4×800, the Bears had Chelsea Lamphere, McKayla Capeling, McKenzie Dombroski and Kiara Waite edge Camden, 10:08.24 to the Blue Devils’ 10:09.60.
Maryanna Garcia, in 1:00.12, was second to Syracuse ITC’s Karizma Brathwaite (58.94) in the 400 sprint, adding a sixth-place finish in the 200 in 27.20 seconds. Delaney Dawkins rose to second place in the high jump, clearing 4’8”.
Mia Morgillo finished third in the pentathlon with 2,098 points as Garcia, Tamia Williams, Delaney Dawkins and Marilla Bongiovanni were third in the 4×100 in 52.71 seconds, Bongiovanni taking 10th place in the long jump. Waite was seventh in the 800 in 2:37.82, with Emily Moon seventh in the triple jump by going 32’1 ½”.
