CENTRAL NEW YORK – In recent years, the Fayetteville-Manlius boys track and field team has evolved into a unit less dependent on its strong distance runners and finding standouts in both sprints and field events.’
This building paid off last Wednesday afternoon in the season opener against Cicero-North Syracuse, where the Hornets leaned on the likes of Nolan McGinn and Nikita Domashenko and produced a 79-61 victory over the Northstars.
McGinn swept all individual distance runs. He broke 10 minutes in the 3,200-meter run, finishing in 9:56.77 before a 1,600-meter run where, in 4:36.57, he went 1-2 with teammate Will Ditre’s 4:36.74.
In the 800, again it was McGinn prevailing in 2:01.04 and Ditre close behind in 2:01.86. Finally, in the 4×800 relay McGinn, Ditre, Will Beecher and Vincent Hunt tore to victory in 8:23.87 to C-NS’s 8:25.27.
Domashenko nearly broke 11 seconds in the 100-meter dash but settled for a victory in 11:07 as Jackson Burton (11.47) was third. In the 200-meter dash, Domashenko pulled away to win in 22.57, more than a second clear of the field, Burton (24.15) again earning third place as Hunt won the 400-meter dash in 52.80.
Matt Hiney and Joe Sullivan both cleared 5 feet 4 inches in the high jump to equal the Northstars’ Matt Jordan. Alex Shim pulled away to take the 400 hurdles in 1:02.35, more than three seconds ahead of the 1:05.79 from Ben Rose.
A swift 4×400 relay saw Hunt, Beecher, Domashenko and Dawit Plaza win in 3:39 flat, and the relay sweep was completed when Domashenko, Burton, Shim and Donovan Wonders ran the 4×100 in 44.84 seconds to C-NS’s 47.17.
Over in the girls meet, C-NS beat F-M 95-41, but Izzie Sullivan still won three events for the Hornets, starting with a 4×800 where she paired with Maria Khalifeh, Jordan Giannetti and Claire McDonald to go 9:57.23.
Later, in the 1,500-meter run Sullivan roared to a win in 4:49.82, the only time under five minutes, leading to an 800 run in 2:26.84 and a 3,000 where she was first in 10:28.77 and Giannetti (10:45.10) was second. F-M also saw Michelle Ifeonu throw the discus 80 feet to prevail in that event as Valentina Lellis prevailed in the shot put with a heave of 26 feet.
A day earlier, it was Jamesville-DeWitt making its season debut against Fulton, with the boys Red Rams winning big 110-30 and the girls edging the Red Dragons 70-68.
Kevin Vigneault led the J-D boys, sweeping both the discus (128’3”) and shot put (44’ 3/4”), while Jaden Addai had a triple jump of 41’8” and Terrell Willis went 20’8” in the long jump.
On the track, Will Westpfal went 11.4 seconds to win the 100 sprint, with Brayden Rivera taking the 200 in 22.3 and Shane Garguilo going 1:01.4 in the 400 hurdles. Jisan Lamichhane took the 1,600 in 4:57 flat, Chris Groat ran the 800 in 2:04.8.
Victoria Payne won twice for the J-D girls, tearing to a time of 15.2 seconds in the 100 hurdles and then adding a 200 victory in 26.6. Ellyana Deng had a triple jump of 32’6” as Skylar Vaught threw the shot put 32’3 3/4” and Brielle Rivera cleared 8’6” in the pole vault. Mary Jane Scott beat the field in the 400 hurdles in 1:17.4 and Meghana Reddy went 2:34.5 in the 800.
East Syracuse Minoa prevailed 85-55 over Oswego on the boys side of its season-opening meet, while the girls Spartans routed the Buccaneers 106-26 to complete the sweep.
Bishop Grimes had a pair of close meets against Fabius-Pompey, taking a 72-62 defeat on the boys side and falling 67-63 on the girls side, but still having plenty of individual standouts.
Deng Ayeil gave the boys Cobras wins in the 110 hurdles (19.5 seconds) and 400 hurdles (1:03.9), while Antonio Fletcher threw the shot put 40’5 1/2” and cleared 6 feet in the high jump. Moving to the girls meet, Grimes’ Telhia Hosea won both the 100 sprint (13.3 seconds) and 100 hurdles (19.0) and then added a third title in the 200 in 28.7.
Christian Brothers Academy competed in Saturday’s Tully Coed Invitational, seeing Daunte Bacheyie go 11.63 seconds to win the 100 sprint, Darien Williams tear to a time of 21.98 in the 200 and Brayden Johnson take the 400 hurdles in 59.85 ahead of teammate James Cass (1:03.37) in second. Bacheyie also finished third in the 200.
Quinten Lewis got second in the long jump, going 19’6 1/4”, half an inch behind the 19’6 3/4” from Canastota’s Kole Otts, while Xavier Caesar finished third in the 400 sprint in 53.18.
