MIDDLETOWN – Athletes from three different area high schools arrived at last weekend’s New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships in Middletown favored to win medals – but only one did so.
It was Skaneateles sprinter Kyla Palmer, who entered as the top seed in the Division II (small school) 400-meter dash, her 55.46 seconds more than half a second ahead of the other contenders.
Palmer would not quite match that time here, but her 55.98 still gave her a second-place finish in Division II behind only the 55.65 from West Hempstead’s Victoria Guerrier.
Palmer also ran in the 200-meter dash, where she was fourth-seeded at 25.16 seconds going into the state meet. A time of 25.44 qualified her for the finals, where she finished in 25.30 and was second among NYSPHSAA runners and fourth overall. Only Valhalla’s Juilette Sullivan (25.15) did better on the public-school side.
As for Palmer’s Skaneateles teammate, Maddie Wright, she had topped 5 feet 3 inches in the high jump to qualify for the state meet and, here, she topped 4’9”, which tied for 40th overall.
West Genesee sent a strong boys contingent to the NYPSHSAA meet in Division I (large schools) led by Kev Scott, the fourth-ranked qualifier in the 100-meter dash in 10.69 seconds.
However, Scott only could manage 11.05 in the opening-round heat, putting him 19th and unable to reach the finals, which is what happened in the 200-meter dash to Chris Moser as he was 19th in 22.78.
As for Peter McMahon, he took part in the 3,200-meter run, where his time of 9:27.75 was more than 15 seconds off his best of the season and put him 20th overall, 14th among Division I runner
Running in the 4×100 relay, WG’s team of Moser, Will Fettig, Dom Burris and Dylan Frost posted 43.66 seconds for 14th place as Iona Prep went 41.55 to finish first.
Meanwhile, Westhill senior Ashley Bolesh was the no. 2 seed in the Division II 400-meter hurdles at 1:02.37, but was unable to finish her final at this state meet.
Kate Bendall (15.87) and Emma Murphy (15.95) were both top 10 contenders in the Division II 100-meter hurdles. Neither reached the finals, though, as Bendall was 15th in 17.06 and Murphy 16th in 17.10. Drew O’Reilly ran 9:54.59 to finish in the pack in the boys 3,200-meter run.
