Whether it was sprints, or long-distance races, or jumps, or throws, area high school track and field athletes would gain a host of victories from Friday’s Section III state meet open qualifier at Bragman Stadium.
Though many of these local stars had already earned berths at next weekend’s state Division I (large school) championships in Middletown, they still took an opportunity to improve on their previous best efforts – and did so in many instances.
Liverpool had two relay victories, starting with the boys 4×800, where Carter Rodriguez, Cameron O’Connell, Spencer Ruediger and Nathan Reeves tore to a winning time of seven minutes, 58.74 seconds, nearly seven seconds faster than its previous best this spring.
Marissa Baskin began her day by helping Anne Gullo, Haven Hicks and Riley Norris go under 49 seconds in the 4×100 relay for the first time this spring, winning in 48.61, a new sectional meet record.
Then, in the 100-meter dash, Baskin edged Hicks, 12.44 seconds to 12.53, before a long jump where she went 18 feet 9 inches, improving her season-best distance by 2 1/2 inches. Amina Sinclair, who has gone 5’6″ in the high jump this season, won here with 5’3″
Reeves, meanwhile, was victorious in the mile in a season-best 4:21.38 as Rodriguez finished in 4:48.90, while Madison Neuner, in the girls 2,000-meter steeplechase, prevailed in 6:57.03, with Emily Neuner third in 7:38.53.
Having thrown the discus 152 feet this season, Antwan Kelly moved up to 161 feet at this meet. In the girls 3,000-meter run, Jenna Schulz would not get caught, finishing in 10:07.20, more than 25 seconds ahead of the field as Sydney Carlson (10:47.59) beat out Emily Neuner (10:56.83) for third place.
The Warriors were second in the 4×800 in 9:14.50 as Ardner took second place in the 800-meter run in 2:21.31. Lauren Fradette was second in the pentathlon with 2,297 points and Kali Hayes was second in the 100 hurdles in 15.64 seconds. Gabby McCarthy finished fifth in the 1,500-meter run.
Imahni Sinclair had a second-place shot put toss of 36’5 1/4″ behind Rome Free Academy’s Sarah Crockett (44’2 1/2″). Jake McGowan was second in the Division I 3,200-meter run in 9:50.07.
Cicero-North Syracuse had Jeremiah Willis unleash a triple jump of 49 feet 5 1/2 inches as he looks to add one more state title to his collection before heading for the University of Louisville.
Nathan Poirier won the Division I portion of the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 9:50.91, beating out Liverpool’s Ryan Cartwright (9:54.61) and Nick Brancato (9:56.42) in the next two spots. Andrew Culver had a winning shot put toss of 46’11”, with Liverpool’s Jacob Barnes fourth with 44’11”.
Isaiah Wright was second in the 110 hurdles in 15.55 seconds, inches behind the 15.53 from East Syracuse Minoa’s Myles Riggins. Nate Osborne had a second-place pole vault of 12 feet behind the 14 feet from Central Square’s Quinn Ames.
Also, the Northstars were second in the girls 4×400 relay, with McKenna Slate, Hannah Boyle, Sarah Davis and Jamie Wagner posting 4:03.15 to the winning 4:01.64 from Fayetteville-Manlius. Boyle was fifth, Wagner seventh and Slate eighth in the 400-meter dash.
Brooke Blaisdell was victorious in the triple jump, going 39’1 1/4″ to beat out Baskin’s 38’4 3/4″, also finishing third in the long jump with 18’5″, four inches behind Baskin. Savannah Kuhr was third in the 100 hurdles in 16.55 seconds and Liliana Klemanski was third (5’1″) in the high jump.
Baldwinsville featured wins by several runners, including a sweep of the 400 hurdles, with Sam Kellner taking the boys title in 1:01.45 (he’s done 58.68 this spring) and Justus Holden-Betts winning the girls edition in 1:06.61 to beat out Hayes (1:09.03) and Kuhr (1:10.30).
Karen Ekure got her own title in the 200-meter dash, finishing in 25.80 seconds to hold off the Liverpool duo of Hicks (26.18) and Gullo (26.44). Ekure also helped the Bees take third in the 4×100 in 50.37 seconds.
Mike Letizia went 11.37 seconds in the 100 sprint to finish fourth had The Bees were second in the boys 4×400 in 3:31.61 and fourth in the 4×800. Lauren Addario was fourth in the girls triple jump with 36’6″, one inch ahead of C-NS’s Sierra Davis in fifth place.
