LIVERPOOL- Whether it was elements or a high-profile rival, nothing was going to keep the Baldwinsville boys track and field team from making a strong opening impression.
In last Wednesday’s 2024 debut, the Bees went to Liverpool and pulled far away from the Warriors, prevailing by a score of 100-41 by showcasing talent in almost all of the disciplines, from sprints to distance runs to jumps and throws.
Chris Zellar led the way with a trio of victories. Zellar tore to a time of 23.98 seconds in the 200-meter dash to edge teammate TeiShawn Wade’s 24.0 and did the same in the 400-meter dash, his 52.16 ahead of Nate Glidden’s 52.26 and Cooper Christman’s 54.52 in a 1-2-3 Bees sweep.
And in a thrilling 800-meter run, Zellar went 2:00.24, just four-hundredths of a second ahead of the 2:00.28 from Liverpool’s Roman Murray as Zach Arria (2:01.74) was third.
Adam Kozman ran 3,200 meters in 10:08.69 to pull away for the victory. In the 1,600-meter run, B’ville went 1-2, Kozman’s 4:36.70 just behind the 4:36.10 from Owen Wilson, while Jackson Creelman took the 110 hurdles in 16.72, more than a second ahead of the field, with Wyatt Decker taking the 400 hurdles in 1:01.93, Rex Kirkegaard taking third in 1:05.46.
Kirkegaard did prevail in the high jump, clearing 5 feet 6 inches, while Doug Clark topped 10 feet in the pole vault and London Premo topped 8’6″. B’ville swept the throwing events, Gibson Boudov taking the discus with 115’6″ ahead of Dimitri Ioannidis’ 109’4″ as, in the shot put, Ioannidis threw it 42’2″, one inch behind Kallen Kennedy’s 42’3″.
Elsewhere, Logan Zapf finished second in the triple jump, going 39′ 1/4″, with Declan Pridmore second in the long jump at 18’11 3/4″ as Liverpool’s NyQuez Madison won both events. Cooper Christman went 38’10” in the triple jump as Anthony Noda was third in the 100-meter dash in 11.67 seconds.
Over in the girls meet, B’ville took an 81-49 defeat to Liverpool, this despite a trio of top-two sweeps on the track.
Rachel Becker, in 17.88 seconds, took the 100-meter hurdles ahead of Adelyn Ameigh-Coggen’s 19.04, while also winning the 400 hurdles in 1:10.67 to edge Mariah LeGrow (1:10.72) by five-hundredths of a second.= Kamryn Barton nearly broke the one-minute mark in the 400 sprint, winning in 1:00.61 as Ashlyn Davis (1:04.27) got second place.
Leah Bahamonde won both the shot put (29’1″) and discus (78 feet), with Kate DeFio topping 7’6″ to win the pole vault and Nela Loftin impressing in the triple jump, her 33’6 1/2″ more than three feet ahead of any rival. Two others Bees had runner-up finishes, Yolanda Wei going 5:06.90 in the 1,500-meter run and Ella DeFio second in the 3,000-meter run in 11:12.07.
B’ville followed up quite well, too, hosting Fayetteville-Manlius Wednesday and taking out the Hornets 93-46 on the girls side to go with its win for the boys Bees.
Loftin and Bahamonde both won two field events. In the high jump, Loftin cleared 4’8”, equaled by F-M’s Allison Pynn, but no one topped her in the triple jump, her 32’8 1/2” ahead of Natalie Bartkowiak’s 30’6 3/4”.
After a throw of 95’8” in the discus, Lahamonde added a top shot put of 31’5” as DeFio improved to 8 feet and won the pole vault for the second straight meet.
On the oval, Barton was first in the 400 sprint in 1:02.24, added a 27.31 seconds in the 200 to beat Clavijo’s 27.45 and, with LeGrow, Brianna Grosso and Aanyiya Johnson, toook the 4×400 in 4:22.13.
On her own, LeGrow won the 400 hurdles in 1:13.24 to edge Becker’s 1:13.54, though Becker won the 100 hurdles in 17.70 and Clavijo won the 100 sprint in 13.36 to Amarie Williams’ 11.45. In the 4×100, Clavijo, Williams, Bartkowiak and Aaniya Johnson prevailed in 52.17.
B’ville’s boys routed F-M 100-40, sweeping the 4×100 (44.62 seconds), 4×400 (3:31.05) and 4×800 (8:14.16) relays in quick times and getting a lot of other titles, too.
Clark improved to 10’6” to beat out Owen Johnson (10 feet) in the pole vault, with Kennedy going 43’11” in the shot put and Wyatt Decker’s 39’4 1/4” in the triple jump beating out Zapf (38’9”), who won the 110 hurdles in 16.31 seconds. Decker took the 400 hurdles in 1:01.43 and Zellar tore to 51.77 in the 400 sprint.
