SYRACUSE – Many area indoor track and field teams would flourish, on a collective and individual basis, during Wednesday’s Section III state qualifying meet at SRC Arena.
Leading this effort was East Syracuse Minoa sprinter Evanni McDuffie, who in 7.22 seconds beat out Bishop Grimes senior Rosalie Vincent (7.28) to win the 55-meter dash, both of them advancing to next month’s state meet as Vincent also took fifth place in the long jump with 16 feet 6 ¾ inches.
Later, in the 4×200 relay, McDuffie, paired with Amber Hayes, Anaharie Anderson and Kaleigh Maloof, dominated her anchor leg and, in 1:48.92, beat out Liverpool’s 1:50.22 to earn another state meet spot.
Also for the Spartans, Arianna Brennen was victorious in the high jump, clearing 5’3” with fewer misses than Rome Free Academy’s Imani Pugh.
Jamesville-DeWitt got another victory in the weight throw from Hailey Webber, whose personal-best 43’4 1/4” was nearly two feet ahead of Liverpool’s Allie Cary (41’4 1/2”), while Jillian Webber was third with 40’5” and Kenna Ridzi (36’4 1/2”) took ninth place.
This followed a shot put where Hailey Webber, second with 36’9 1/2”, and Jillian Webber, third with 33’6”, trailed the 37’6 1/2” from Cary and Ridzi was sixth with 31’3”.
Nikki Militi won among large-school runners in the 600, her 1:36.71 a national top-50 time trailing only the 1:35.62 from Skaneateles sectional record-holder Kyla Palmer. Victoria Payne took fifth in the 55 sprint in 7.49 seconds.
For the J-D boys, Connor Clarkson, in 2:47.18, grabbed fifth place in the 1,000-meter run, with Hudson Groat sixth in the 600 in 1:27.98 and Moudjiahid Cherif sixth in the 300-meter dash in 37.62 seconds.
Clarkson, Groat, Ryan Carter and Chris Donoghue were fourth in the 4×800 relay in 8:44.77 as Daviel Cruz was 11th in the weight throw with 48’3 3/4”
Fayeteville-Manlius stood out thanks to distance runner Izzie Sullivan, who in the girls 3,000-meter run broke the 10-minute mark, her 9:58.53 winning the race and putting her inside the national top 25 in the event.
Sullivan also placed second in the 1,500-meter run in 4:47.39 to Cicero-North Syracuse’s Kate Putman (4:43.01), who won that event the previous weekend at the Millrose Games in New York City. Maria Khalifeh took fourth in the 1,000 in 3:04.49.
F-M’s Alex Martinez got second place in the boys 3,200-meter run in 9:31.58 to earn a berth in the state meet as Balwinsville’s Solomon Holden-Betts prevailed in 9:17.81.
Nolan McGinn, in 4:25.64, finished third in the 1,500-meter run as Anthony Otis (4:32.36) edged Martinez (4:32.67) for fifth place. Mason Weires took fourth in the 600 in 1:26.57 and Jackson Burton was fourth in the triple jump with 41’7”.
The Hornets’ 4×200 relay team of Burton, Seth Albert, Nick Domashenko and Vincent Hunt finished third in 1:38.38, beating out the 1:38.90 from J-D’s Mahir Bechir, Nathan Cottet, Adam Rigdon and Dante Santos. Albert was 10th in the long jump with 19’1”, ahead of the 18’2 1/2” from the Rams’ Emile Antoine.
ESM’s boys finished second in the 4×400 relay as Sol Scofield, LeShaun Benjamin, Caleb Byrd and Aidan Hirt went 3:34.26 to beat everyone except B’ville’s winning 3:30.52.
Luke Mancini was third in the pole vault, clearing 11 feet, with Byrd topping 5’8” for third place in the high jump as J-D’s Andres Valladares was fifth with 5’8”. Mekai Carroll was fifth in the shot put with 42’10 1/2”.
Abdi Aden, in 8.18 seconds, edged teammate Jay-Neil McDuffie (8.26) for fifth place in the 55 hurdles. Sumit Kadariya reached the 55-meter dash final n a personal-best 6.74 seconds but false-started.
