LIVERPOOL – Long a haven for top distance runners, the Fayetteville-Manlius girls track and field team took a slightly different approach to earn the Section III Class AA championship.
Winning at all kinds of distances and sweeping the three relays, the Hornets picked up 180 points in Tuesday’s sectional meet at Liverpool High School Stadium to easily top the field as Cicero-North Syracuse finished second with 107 points.
Maya McKenzie led the way thanks to her victories in two sprints. In the 100-meter dash, McKenzie posted 12.54 seconds, going 1-2 with teammate Samantha Pynn (12.82) as she also won the 200-meter dash in 26.28 seconds, with Fiona Mejico (27.68) in fourth.
Not only that, but McKenzie, paired with Pynn, Natalee Barber and Ijeoma Okoh, helped F-M take the 4×100 relay in 49.25 seconds as no one else broke the 52-second mark, and in the 4×400 relay McKenzie, Hannah Kaercher, Grace Kaercher and Maddy Duggleby won in 4:08.31, beating the field by nearly 12 seconds.
Barber gained a victory of her own in the 100-meter hurdles, going 15.60 seconds as Okoh got second place in 16.62 seconds, while Pynn got third place in both the long jump and triple jump.
In the distance events, the Hornets went 1-2 again in the 3,000-meter run as Izzie Sullivan won in 10:15.42 and Amelia Amack was second in 10:33.01. Debbie Lucchetti, in the 2,000-meter steeplechase, claimed a victory in 7:28.89 as Ani Sydorowych (7:33.82) claimed second place.
Duggleby, Mejico and the Kaercher sisters began the relay sweep by taking the 4×800 in 9:10.69, with Mejico moving on to get a second-place time of 58.56 seconds in the 400-meter dash as Grace Kaercher (59.39) was fourth.
Hannah Kaercher went 2:18.29 to finish second to C-NS’s Kate Putman (2:15.39) in the 800-meter run and also made it to second place in the 1,500-meter run in 4:35.44, with Sullivan (4:42.75) fourth.
Harper Stoppacher rose to second place in the high jump, clearing 5’1″ as Okoh (4’8″) was fifth. Wren Usiatynski topped 9 feet in the pole vault for another second-place Hornets finish.
When the boys sectional Class AA meet took place at C-NS’s Bragman Stadium a day later, it picked up 50 points, just four points out of a three-way tie for third among Liverpool, West Genesee and Rome Free Academy, with C-NS (121 points) and Baldwinsville (99 points) way out in front.
Two wins went to Peyton Geehrer, who tore through the 1,600 in 4:25.36, more than seven seconds ahead of WG’s Peter McMahon (4:32.44), and then won the 3,200 in 10:05.84 as teammate Tyler Ball got second place in 10;17.42.
Will Seamans went 2:07.08 in the 800, second to the 2:02.15 from Liverpool’s Ryan Hagan. Connor Ball was fourth in the 400 hurdles in 1:02.97, with Michael Magee (1:05.73) in sixth place as Daniel Patrick took fourth in the 3,000 steeplechase in 10:53.21.
Magee, Jack Altimonda, Chris Dame and Ben Hutz went 3:40.36 in the 4×400 to take fourth place, with Seamans, Patrick, Ben Perry and Mason Weires sixth in the 4×800 in 8:45.49.
