Following a 2 ½ week hiatus, the area’s top high school indoor track and field athletes returned to SRC Arena Tuesday night to take part in the Section III state qualifying meet.
A big moment for Skaneateles took place in the boys 1,600-meter run, where Caleb Bender, the state Class C boys cross country champion, won in four minutes, 26.33 seconds over Adirondack’s Tyler Fauvelle (4:30.24) to advance to the March 7 state meet on Staten Island.
Westhill’s boys were victorious in the 4×800 relay, where Jacob Fricano, Brandon Mulholland, Brian Kenny and Mike Ferrara roared to a time of 8:20.06, more than nine seconds ahead of Baldwinsville’s second-place 8:29.46.
Also for Skaneateles, Emme Conan got to fifth place in the girls 55-meter dash, her 7.50 seconds in the qualifying round followed by a final where she posted 7.59 seconds. Conan got sixth place in the 300-meter dash in 43.60 seconds.
Westhill had the quartet of Angie Mesa, Lauren Bendall, Katherine Evans and Ashley Bolesh rise to second place in the girls 4×400 relay in 4:12.78, trailing only the winning 4:05.50 from Fayetteville-Manlius. Bolesh added a sixth-place finish in the triple jump, going 33 feet 9 ¼ inches.
Ashley Heffernan finish fifth in the girls 55-meter hurdles in 9.13 seconds after she qualified for the final in 8.91 seconds, which was third-fastest. Mesa was fourth in the 300 in 42.95 seconds and sixth in the 55 sprint in 7.61 seconds, with Heffernan sixth in the pole vault, clearing 9 feet.
The West Genesee boys saw Matt Bartolotta qualify for the state meet in the 1,600-meter run thanks to a time of 4:30.54, which put him third overall behind Bender and Fauvelle.
Also for the Wildcats 4×400 relay when Robert Ciarla, Chris Moser, Brandon Scott and Connor Scott went 3:40.58, second only to Fayetteville-Manlius (3:37.24) as Jordan-Elbridge was eighth in 3:49.92. The Wildcats took seventh in the boys 4×200 in 1:41.62.
For the West Genesee girls, Abby Kuppinger, Caitlin Mills, Sandy Gardino and Mikeayla DeJesus were fourth in the 4×200 relay in 1:50.73, with Skaneateles sixth in 1:53.38 and Westhill (1:54.29) in ninth place.
On his own, J-E’s Kenny Williams rose to fourth place in the 1,000-meter run in 2:42.05, and with Derek Quigley, Lee Jewell and Sean Dristle got to fourth in the 4×800 in 8:37.07 as Skaneateles (8:48.92) was seventh and WG eighth in 8:49.24. The Eagles’ Zach Barber was fifth in the triple jump, going 40′ 3/4”.
To lead the J-E girls, Vassianna Klock was seventh in the girls 1,000 in 3:09.62 and helped the Eagles to seventh in the 4×800 relay in 10:24.94. Westhill’s Ben Helfeld was 12th in the weight throw, going 45’7 1/2”.
Bishop Luddden freshman Beatrize Gugol had a sixth-place long jump of 16’5” and a seventh-place triple jump of 33’2”. Solvay had Erica Bagozzi clear 8’6” in the pole vault to secure eighth place, with X’Zavier Morris 10th in the boys shot put, going 39’10 1/4”.
Marcellus had Sophia Shaw tie Skaneateles’ Tess Peterson for 12th in the high jump, each clearing 4’8” as Peterson also took 12th in the high jump. Jonah Kwasnowski was 16th in the boys 55 hurdles.
