ONONDAGA COUNTY – Less than a week after a strong showing at its own invitational meet, the East Syracuse Minoa track and field teams earned the upper hand in its rivalry with Jamesville-DeWitt.
In head-to-head meets Wednesday afternoon, the girls Spartans beat the Red Rams 77-64 and the ESM boys pulled out a 74-67 victory over J-D.
Akuot Kuany was a difference-maker for the girls Spartans, winning four individual events that started where she went 15.3 seconds to beat out the Rams’ Victoria Payne (15.5) in a quick 100-meter hurdles.
With a long jump of 16 feet 6 inches, Kuany beat Elliayna Deng’s 16’1”, while her triple jump of 35’2 1/4” topped Deng’s 33’11 1/2” and a high jump of 5’2” again put Kuany ahead of Deng, who topped 5 feet.
Payne countered for J-D by winning the 100-meter dash in 12.7 seconds to Deng’s 13.3 and, in the 200-meter dash, winning in 26.8 to edge Nicki Militi (26.9), though Militi stood out by winnng the 400-meter dash in 59.5.
Jaelyn Jordan helped ESM get away, winning the 800-meter run in 2:36.8 over J-D’s Norah Kirch (2:37.2), going 1-2 with Rachael Burt at 3,000 meters (both in 12:09) and, with Leah Rehm and Bailey Rehm, winning the 4×800 relay in 10:36.4.
Sweeping all three relays, the Spartans had Giana DiPietro, Isla Ellerton and Sophia Brooks join Bailey Rehm in the 4×400 (4:22.1) after Brooks, Neveah Hackett, Naomi Benjamin and Madelyn Copp took the 4×100 in 53.7 seconds.
In the throwing events, J-D’s Skylar Vaught went 112’7” in the discus to beat Kennedy Ridzi’s 108 feet, but it was Ridzi winning the shot put with 31 feet as ESM’s Elise Mancini cleared 8 feet in the pole vault, joined by the Rams’ Brielle Rivera.
A key for the ESM boys team was winning two of three relays. Jay-Neil McDuffie, Hashim Abdi, Mikah Combs and Anthony Bryant claimed the 4×100 as Joe Pedrosa-Garcia, Seamus DeSandre, Brandon Cerlanek and Austin Got went 8:42.6 in the 4×800.
Individually, McDuffie pulled away in the 110 hurdles in 15.0 seconds and was second (11.2) to Combs (11.0) in the 100-meter dash, while DeSandre (2:10.6) and Gott (2:11.3) went 1-2 in the 800-meter run. Ryan Sullivan cleared 6’2” to win the high jump, while Charles English won the pole vault, topping 10 feet.
J-D had two wins apiece from Kevin Vigneault sweeping the discus (127’11”) and shot put (45’1 1/2”) and Terrell Willis, who went 40 feet in the triple jump and had a top long jump of 19’11” to edge teammate Adam Rigdon’s 19’10”.
On the track, the Rams had Brayden Rivera take the 400 sprint in a quick 51.7 seconds as Shane Gargiulo went 1:00.9 in the 400 hurdles and Peter Drew won the 3,200 in 11:14.2. Rivera, Gargiulo, Ryan Carter and Amar Lopez took the 4×400 in 3:37.2.
While all this was going on, Fayetteville-Manlius went to West Genesee and took a pair of defeats to the Wildcats.
A close boys meet went 73-67 in WG’s favor, this despite the Hornets getting plenty of individual titles, including Nolan McGinn running the 1,600 in 4:49.50 to edge Will Ditre (4:49.51) before he went 2:16.39 in the 800 over Ditre’s 2:16.65. McGinn, James Ditre, Will Beecher and Dawit Alfaro Plaza ran the 4×800 in 9:40.36.
Jackson Burton, in 11.22 seconds, edged WG’s Dylan Frost (11.32) in the 100 sprint, while Fred Lutzen unleashed a discus throw of 122’7”, a rare Hornets win amid the Wildcats’ dominance of field events. Vincent Hunt took the 400 sprint in 54.09, edging the 54.12 from the Wildcats’ Rhison Williams.
Over in the girls meet, F-M lost, 92-45, but still had a series of individual winners. Izzie Sullivan took the 1,500 in 4:51.17 and Jordan Giannetti won the 3,000 in 10:42.17 while helping Claire McDonald, Maria Khalifeh and Sarah George go 10:10.85 to finish first in the 4×800.
Elsewhere, Ireoluwa Abolade got first in the 100 sprint in 13.91 seconds, while Michelle Ifeonu had a winning discus throw of 97’11” and Allison Pynn cleared 4’9” in the high jump.
