EAST SYRACUSE – A spring of 2020 without high school sports included no track and field meets, small or large scale, which affected hundreds of area students.
So all were glad to return to practice late in April, even though regular-season action will mostly be limited to league competition.
Jumping ahead of everyone else, East Syracuse Minoa had a three-team meet last Thursday against Cortland and Living Word Academy, sweeping all of it.
The boys Spartans beat the Purple Tigers 86-52, with the Lions getting 24 points, even though many ESM athletes were still not ready after a late finish to the football season.
Todd Durantini and Bennett Ferrari both won two events, with Durantini going 11.9 seconds in the 100-meter dash and later unleashing a top shot put throw of 35 feet 7 ½ inches.
Meanwhile, Ferrari cleared 7 feet in the pole vault and took the 400-meter dash in 56.4 seconds, with the pair helping Aidan Hirt and Michael Ojeda take the 4×100 relay in 47.6 seconds.
Hirt went 24.1 seconds to win the 200-meter dash, with Ojeda going 34’4” in the triple jump. Branden Warner had a first-place long jump of 17’5 1/2” as Joe Pedroso-Garcia won the 400 hurdles in 1:18.4.
ESM’s girls scored 104 points to Cortland’s 31 and Living Word’s 11, with Rachael Ladd prevailing in three events.
Ladd went 1:25.3 in the 400 hurdles, claimed the 1,500-meter run in 5:30.1 and went 12:08.0 at 3,000 meters, while Elena Vespi was first in the 800-meter run and took the 400-meter dash in 1:10.8, also helping the Spartans’ 4×400 relay team win in 5:03.6 and the 4×800 side post 12:08.6.
Kaleigh Maloff won the 100 hurdles in 18.13 seconds and had a top triple jump of 29’3”. Rhiannon Butchko, who helped the 4×100 relay team win in 54.1 seconds, cleared 4’10” in the high jump as Sophia Jackson threw the discus 73’5”, Aryanna Finkelstein tossed the shot put 26’6 1/2” and Rylie King was first in the 200 in 29.4 seconds.
Fayetteville-Manlius will have its first meet of the season Wednesday against Baldwinsville and Jamesville-DeWitt will visit Fulton that same day as Christian Brothers Academy takes on Homer.
