SYRACUSE –
Each of the Jamesvile-DeWitt and East Syracuse Minoa indoor track and field teams flourished during Wednesday’s Section III Class A championships at SRC Arena.
J-D swept to the team titles, earning 116 points in the boys meet and 83 points in the girls meet. In each instance, ESM finished second, the boys Spartans getting 94 poins and the girls 75 points.
Again, though, it was ESM’s boys duo of Michael Parks and Rocky El making the most individual noise.
In the 55-meter hurdles, Parks, in 7.48 seconds, broke his own school record and posted the fastest time in the state this winter, with El second in 7.72. Also, Parks was victorious in the high jump, clearing 6 feet.
Moving to the triple jump, El again dominated the event, his best leap of 43 feet 8 inches beating the field by nearly two full feet as J-D’s Caleb Smith was third with 41’3 1/2”.
Nick Dekaney, third in the 55 hurdles in 7.73, got J-D a win in the 55-meter dash, his 6.75 seconds just ahead of El’s 6.78 as Dante Santos (7.05) was seventh.
Caleb Smith beat the field in the 300-meter dash in 36.98 seconds, also
In the 4×800 relay, the Rams’ quartet of Ashton Corona, James Hillers, Sam Smith and Chris Donaghue prevailed in 8:53.20, while ESM (9:12.45) settled for fourth place. Later, in the 4×200, Dekaney, Mike Meskos, Mario Smith and Brayden Rivera got first place in 1:37.49, again with the Spartans (1:41.08) fourth.
Corona take second in the 3,200-meter run in 10:24.18, with Connor Clarkson fourth in 10:33.82. James Hillers ran 1,000 meters in 2:45.75 for second place, with Sam Smith third in 2:47.50 to go with a fourth in the 600-meter run in 1:29.75.
In the 1,600, Hillers finished third in 4:57.97, with Clarkson (4:57.98) edging Corona (4:58.01) for fourth place and Anthony Cawley (5:01.79) in sixth place. Cade Fowler had a fifth-place weight throw of 42’10”.
ESM would win the 4×400 relay as Aidan Hirt, LeShaun Benjamin, Joe Pedrosa-Garcia and Sol Scofield posted 3:44.88 to edge Whitesboro’s 3:45.30 as J-D got third place in 3:49.44.
Kevin Hasty threw the shot put 40’3 1/4” to get third placel. Hirt was third in the 300 in 37.74 seconds. Caleb Byrd, in 2:47.95, was fifth in the 1,000, while Scofield was fifth in the 600 in 1:31.68, edging Byrd (1:31.72) for that spot.
As part of its winning effort, J-D’s girls swept the relays, starting with the 4×400, where Lindsay Hildreth, Olivia Lemondes, Norah Kirch and Nicolette Militi go 4:26.40 to beat the field by nearly eight seconds.
Kirch, Hildreth, Militi and Emma Deehan paired up to win the 4×800 in 10:43.12, with ESM (11:32.89) fifth. And in the closing 4×200, Sydney Balotin, Madeline Carter, Jaden Clemons-Butenko and Kaitlyn Laubenstein got the victory in 1:54.21, while the Spartans were third in 1:58.36.
Carter was second in the 300 in 46.59 seconds, with Clemons-Butenko (46.82) fifth. Kirch took third in the 600 in 1:52.01, with Deehan fourth in 1:55.27 and Hildreth (1:55.72) fifth. Anna Smith landed in fifth place in the 1,000.
Lucy Heflin, clearing 8’6”, got third place in the pole vault, with Balotin earning a third-place long jump of 16 feet ahead of Maeve Murphy (15’3 3/4”) in fifth place.
The ESM girls also went 1-2 in the 55 hurdles, Kaleigh Maloof prevailing in 9.54 seconds and Arianna Brennen second in 9.69 as J-D had Brooke Hulbert (10.36) in fifth place. Maloof added a third-place triple jump of 31’9 1/2”, with Laubenstein in sixth place.
Rhiannon Butchko won the high jump, the only athlete to clear 5 feet. Brennen, who was sixth in the long jump, was third, topping 4’10”, and Hulbert (4’8”) took fourth place.
Rylie King went 7.781 seconds in the 55 sprint to edge the Rams’ Sydney Balotin (7.788) for second place as Carter (7.88) was fifth. Lilia Pena took third in the 300 in 46.63.
Rachael Ladd got third place in the 1,000 in 3:21.35 and was fifth (5:29.29) in the 1,500-meter run. ESM also was fourth in the 4×400 in 4:40.36.
