UTICA – for the second time in seven days, the Baldiwnsville boys indoor track and field team made it to the top of the standings in a large-scale meet.
Only this time, it was the Bees besting more than 20 challengers at the fifth Mohawk Valley Indoor Track Association meet of the winter held Friday night at Utica College’s Hutton Dome.
Earning 107 points, B’ville was well clear of second-place Utica Proctor’s total of 67 points, managing to win across the board, from sprints to distance races to relays to field events.
Sam Mellinger, Owen Weaver and Solomon Holden-Betts each won events on an individual and team basis, Mellinger and Weaver working together in the 4×400 relay along with Jack McAllister and Logan Hayes to tear to a time of three minutes, 31.34 seconds. No one else in the field even broke the 3:50 mark.
On his own, Mellinger was victorious in the 55-meter dash in 6.76 seconds to the 6.85 from Rome Free Academy’s Colin Gannon, while Weaver went to the long jump and, with a best leap of 20 feet 5 1/4 inches, went 1-2 with teammate Robert Thompson, who got second with 20’2 1/2″.
Meanwhile, Holden-Betts dominated the 1,600-meter run, his time of 4:36.73 more than 16 seconds clear of a field that included teammate Jeff Ragonese getting fourth place in 4:54.97. Then, in the 4×800 relay, Holden-Betts, Ragonese, McAllister and Adam Kozman roared to victory in 9:01.15.
Completing a relay sweep in the 4×200, B’ville saw Mellinger, Weaver and Hayes get joined by Amir Akins as the Bees, in 1:36.13, was well clear of Syracuse ITC’s second-place 1:40.49.
Hayes, in 38.01 seconds, was third in the 300-meter dash as Kellan Vannatta was ninth. McAllister earned third place in the 600-meter run in 1:29.03, with Kyle Sheckler (1:31.91) seventh.
In the shot put, Pat Pasho was third by heaving it 39’5″, with Adam Cuyler (35’1 1/2″) seventh. Logan Zapf got fourth place in the 55-meter hurdles in 8.89 seconds ahead of Jackson Creelman (9.11) in eighth.
Kozman took fourth place in the 3,200-meter run in 10:33.97, while Noah Covert was eighth in the 1,000-meter run in 3:02.28 and Amari Akins ninth in the weight throw by going 36’1″.
B’ville’s girls indoor track team also had a strong showing, tying Central Square for third place with 52 points, only trailing the 86 from RFA and 64.33 from Proctor as it won two of the three relays.
Just like the boys Bees, the girls were triumphant in the 4×400, where Avamarie Davis, Clare Horan, Madison Kennedy and Kelsey Dwyer went 4:23.03 to finish more than 13 seconds ahead of Proctor’s 4:36.23.
Later, in the 4×200, David, Dwyer, Kennedy and Mia Pozzi prevailed in 1:53.59 to RFA’s 1:59.92, and in the 4×800, Kamryn Barton, Sophia Cavalieri, Adrianna Orlando and Brianna Grosso were second in 11:00.17 to the winning 10:09.18 from South Lewis
In her specialty, the pole vault, school record-holder Sydney McKenney topped 10’6″ and finished third. McKenney also was eighth in the 55 hurdles in 10.41 seconds.
Kennedy ran the 600 in 1:50.17 to finish fourth as Barton was fifth in 1:51.19. Cavalieri claimed fourth place in the 1,000 in 3:23.44, with Rachel Pawelek sixth in the long jump by going 14’8 1/4″.
