STATEN ISLAND – Athletes from Liverpool and Cicero-North Syracuse both expected to earn plenty of accolades during Saturday’s New York State Public High School Athletic Association indoor track and field championships.
Yet what happened at Staten Island’s Ocean Breeze Complex managed to exceed expectations, whether it was the Northstars’ Kate Putman claiming two victories and Hannah Boyle nearly doing the same, or Jalen Graham bringing home a state title for the Warriors in the weight throw.
Putman’s efforts peaked in the 1,500-meter run. Seeded second going into the race, all the C-NS junior did was take the lead just past the midway point and then pull away, pumping her fist as she crossed the finish line.
In four minutes, 26.69 seconds, Putman set a new Section III record and earned the public and Federation state titles, finishing more than six seconds ahead of Saratoga Springs’ Emily Bush (4:33.23) in second place.
And that wasn’t all. Moving to the 4×800 relay, Kate Putman joined her junior teammate, Boyle, along with freshmen Gabby Putman and Katy Harbold, to bring home another state championship.
Harbold ran first and went 2:24.35 before Kate Putman, with her fast second leg, caught up to Saratoga. Then Gabby Putman kept pace during her 800 meters until Boyle, in the anchor leg, went 2:11.29.
The Northstars finished in 9:03.87, shattering the meet record by nearly five seconds as Saratoga (9:07.40) also broke the meet mark and was second. Fayetteville-Manlius took fourth place.
Earlier, in the 1,000-meter run, Boyle had nearly won herself. She led most of the race, only to get caught in the stretch by Allegany/Olean’s Angelina Napoleon, who finished in 2:49.65 to Boyle’s second-place 2:49.96.
While all this was going on, Graham was completing his sensational season with a NYSPHSAA title in the boys weight throw.
Graham had gone 68 feet 8 ¾ inches during the season, second overall in the state to the top private-school competitor, Michael Pinckney from High School for Construction Trades in Queens, who had put up 80’2 3/4”.
Here on Staten Island, Graham would top out at 64’6”, but that was enough for public-school honors over Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Qualiar Newton (63’6 3/4”) as Pinckney went 74’9” for the Federation title.
And that wasn’t all for Graham, who threw the shot put 49’6 1/2” to improve upon his previous best by more than two feet and finish fifth overall, fourth in NYSPSHAA as Saratoga’s Jack Foster won with 55’6 1/2”.
Seeded fifth in the high jump having cleared 5’5”, C-NS’s Lilly Capria gave her team yet another medal when she cleared 5’6”, rising all the way to third place, just one inch behind the winning 5’7” from Webster Schroeder’s Camryn Cole.
C-NS had its 4×400 relay team of Molly McGrath, Grace Murray, Elianna Ballagh and Sophia Graham go 4:15.80 to qualify ninth, just missing out on the finals by 2.05 seconds. Marissa Doty took part in the 300-meter dash and was 19th in 42.22 seconds.
On the boys side for C-NS, Chris McAllister was in the distance medley relay, helping Section III finish fourth among NYSPHSAA sides in a time of 9:07.05. Gavin McAllister looked to improve upon his 11 feet in the pole vault but did not clear a height.
