Three of the area’s indoor track and field teams began 2020 by traveling east to Utica College’s Hutton Dome for the fourth Mohawk Valley Indoor Track Association meet of the winter.
And the big individual star was Skaneateles senior Emme Conan, who twice beat large fields in the girls sprint races. Conan ran the 55-meter dash in 7.50 seconds and got team honors in the relay format with Eva Vitsaxaki, who posted 8.13 seconds.
Then, in the 300-meter dash, Conan, in a time of 43.06 seconds, was nearly a full second clear of South Jefferson’s Kaylee Haynes (43.82) and the field and paired with Brooke Linfield for third place on the team side.
To cap off her day, Vitsaxaki and Emme Conan paired with Grace Conan and Tess Peterson to tie West Genesee’s quartet of Sandy Gardino, Abby Kuppinger, Mikeayla DeJesus and Caitlin Mills, both finishing in 1:52.15.
The Skaneateles girls overall had 50 points to finish fourth in a 25-team field, with WG right behind by earning 49.5 points for fifth place. Marcellus was 11th with 28.33 points as Rome Free Academy won with 63 points.
To win the high jump, Peterson and Maddie Wright cleared 9 feet 2 inches. Sarah Tallerico and Lillian Coleman helped Skaneateles get third place in the 1,000-meter run in 6:50.30. The Lakers were also fourth in the 4×800 relay in 11:02.08.
WG had DeJesus, Kuppinger, Alana Eastman and Mia Mitchell go 4:32.31 in the 4×400 relay, second to South Lewis’ 4:31.21. Natalie Buckhout and Faith Knox teamed for second place in the 1,500-meter run in 10:59.63, with Kuppinger and Riley Flynn second in the 300 in 1:34.20.
Olivia Becker and Rachel Reynolds take third place in the 55-meter hurdles in 20.39 seconds, with Mills and Natalie Keiling tying for third in the 55 sprint (15.98 seconds) behind Skaneateles.
Marcellus tied for second in the high jump, Heidi Steigerwald and Lindsey Balsam clearing 8’8″ between them. the Mustangs were sixth in the 4×400, with Anella Bolster and Alyssa McShane fifth in the 1,500, along with McShane and Brianna Lucchetti fifth in the 600-meter run
Moving to the boys side at MVITA, Skaneateles was fifth here, too, earning 42 points. WG earned eighth place with 34 points and Marcellus had 24.66 points for 10th place.
Caleb Bender, Joe Norris, Matt Persampieri and Tony DiRubbo were second (8:47.82) to Vernon-Verona-Sherrill (8:45.95) in the 4×800 relay, with WG fourth in 9:11.73, but improving to third in the 4×400 in 3:44.55. Bender and DiRubbo were second in the 1,000 in 5:40.13, just behind the 5:39.47 from Remsen.
Will Girzadas and Nolan Gryzlo earned third place in the 3,200-meter run (22:44.90) for Skaneateles. Emil Sander took third in the 55 sprint in 6.96 seconds, with Marcellus’ Ryan White (7.01) fifth to go with his second in the 300 in 1:20.73. Sander cleared 5’4″ in the high jump for fourth-place points.
The Wildcats featured Matt Bartolotta’s win in the 1,600-meter run in 4:40.60 as he and Peter McMahon were second (9:47.23) to Skaneateles, who had Norris and Persampieri pair to win in 9:44.73. Robert Ciarla and Bryce Bort were third in the 300 in 1:20.17, with Connor Scott and Brandon Scott fourth in the triple jump.
Marcellus featured a third-place finish from Jonah Kwasnowski and Mason Grieb in the 55 hurdles in 18.46 seconds, with the Mustangs getting fifth place in the 4×200 relay.
A day later, at SRC Arena, Westhill had its girls team finish second to Fayetteville-Manlius with 104 points in the afternoon session of the John Arcaro Memorial Invitational, with the boys Warriors finishing fifth.
Angie Mesa-Espinosa, in 7.69 seconds, edged Ashley Heffernan (7.74) in the 55 sprint and they also finished third in the long jump, with Addie Lowery and Liz Kessler second in the 300 as Ashley Bolesh and Madison Scheirer finished second in the triple jump.
Scheirer and Corinne Allen cleared 9 feet in the high jump for second place, with Heffernan and Lauren Bendall topping 16 feet in the pole vault to finish second,
The Warriors were second in the 4×800 and 4×200 as Ryan Murphy and Colleen Patrie were third in the shot put before Murphy and Jordyn Ostuni took second in the weight throw with 51’2″.
On the boys end, Westhill’s 4×800 relay team of Jacob Fricano, Brian Kenny, Brandon Mulholland and Mike Ferrara won in 8:39.67. Jossiah Miggiani and Angelo Carr were second in the 1,000 in 5:53.48. Ben Helfeld and Geoff Cundall were second in the shot put, with Helfeld recording a second-place weight throw of 39’8″. Aaron Thornton cleared 9 feet in the pole vault.
Earlier, in the morning session, the Jordan-Elbridge boys finished fifth and the girls eighth, the boys Eagles winning the 4×800 in 8:43.64 and finishing third in the 4×400 as Kenny Williams was second in the 600 in 1:30.04.
Also, J-E’s Vassianna Klock won the girls 1,500 in 5:08.50 and was second in the 600 as Kyra White and Cassandra Gates were second in the pole vault.
