YOUNGSTOWN - With hundreds of Section 6's top athletes competing for the right to advance next weekend's New York State Public High School Athletic Association State Track & Field Championships, mother nature saw fit to toss in one more obstacle on Saturday.
"There were 35-mile per hour winds coming straight up the track (at Lewiston-Porter High School)," Maple Grove assistant coach Doc Rappole marvelled. "The flag at the field wasn't (waving), it was straight."
That makes what 19 area athletes accomplished on day two of the Section 6 Track & Field Championships all the more impressive.
Article Photos
Maple Grove’s Christina Walter, right, won the Division 2 100 and 200 meters on Saturday.
Photo by Tim Frank
Following the action on Saturday, Randolph will be competing in an area-high six events, Maple Grove and Southwestern three, Jamestown and Fredonia two, and Falconer, Silver Creek and Allegany-Limestone one apiece at the upcoming state meet to be held at Cicero-North Syracuse High School on June 8 and 9.
After Maple Grove's Corey Wefing stole the show on Friday by virtue of his performance in the 3,200 meters, teammate Christina Walter led the way a day later behind victories in the 100 (12.87) and the 200 (26.40).
In addition to dealing with the high winds, Walter's victories were especially noteworthy because she managed them despite not-so-perfect starts in each.
"She had a decent start in the 200, but her start in the 100 was abysmal," Rappole said with a laugh. "I told her that after the season is over we're going to work on her starts. But she's so quick though that it makes the race exciting. And given (the wind) she was running into, her times were unbelievable."
Along with Walter, the 4x800 relay team placed second and, due to having already recorded the section's top finishing time earlier in the season, will be headed to the state meet.
For Randolph, McKenna Maycock set a new school record on the way to capturing the pentathlon with 2,160 points. Joining Maycock at states will be Kassandra Erdmann in the discus, Anthony Schwartz, who won the 400 meters (50.24), Dane Dechow, who despite his second-place finish in the 110 high hurdles had already recorded a state qualifying time in the event, and both the boys 4x100 and 4x400 relay squads comprised of Jared Pitchford, Dechow, Jordan Dowiasz and Schwartz.
Southwestern's Brittany Feldman earned a state meet berth after a second-place finish in the high jump (5-1). Jennie Thies will be competing in both the triple jump (37-1) and the long jump (17-0) after winning those events this past weekend and Jeff Green will be looking to win his first state title after clearing 13 feet in the pole vault.
Jamestown's Cienna Simon placed third in the Division 1 100 hurdles competition but will still be making the trip to states because the event's winner, Kailyn Arcury of Williamsville South, will not be participating. For the Jamestown boys, Taylor Bennet is state meet bound after a second-place finish in the 400 hurdles.
Rounding out the list of state qualifiers are Fredonia's Lauren Reyda, who won both the 3,000 and 1,500 meters, and Dylan Cassidy, who was second in the 400 hurdles; Falconer's Shannon Murphy, who won the 2,000-meter steeplechase; Silver Creek's Hannah Seiders, who won the 400 hurdles; and Ashley Peterson of Allegany-Limestone. Peterson won the high jump.
DIVISION 1 GIRLS
100: Kala Allen (Williamsville East), Kailyn Arcury (Will. South), Kyri Jackson (Niagara Wheatfield). T - 12.57.
200: Allen (Will. East), Ashley Grazen (Lancaster),. Jazlyn Porter (Niagara Falls). T - 25.81.
400: Allen (Will. East), Kailyn Szymanski (Lockport), Amina Lewis (Amherst). T - 57.33.
1,500: Marissa Saenger (Clarence), Katelyn Tresino (Clarence), Danielle Dorogi (Will. North). T - 4:47.16.
110 h: Arcury (Will. South), Sabrina Bush (Sweet Home), Cienna Simon (Jamestown). T - 14.68.
400 h: Emily Irish-Ryan (Amherst), Brianna Colello (West Seneca West), Kristen George). T - 1:03.87.
400 relay: Lancaster (Grazen, Tiffany Cycon, Lauren Sullivan, Alli Mazur), Lockport, Williamsville South. T - 49.78.
1,600 relay: West Seneca West (Colello, Abigail, Jankowski, Katherine Connors, Kathlee Zimmer), Clarence, Williamsville North. T - 49.78.
3,200 relay: Clarence (Saenger, Jacqueline Hubne, Tresini, Kaitlin McCadden).
Pole vault: Jen Thill (Lancaster), Taylor Bates (Lake Shore), Megan Evans (Lockport). H - 11-0.
High jump: Hudson (Will. North), Faith Heal (Lockport), Abby Andrews (Orchard Pk.). D - 5-5.
Discus: Bernice Dumbelton (Starpoint), Keeley Ralyea (Lockport), Jess Dhaliwall (Grand Island). D - 124-4.
2000 steeplechase: Huben (Clarence), Krasinski (Frontier), Megan Karpie (Grand Island). T - 7:16.92.
Penthalon: Stephanie Izard (Sweet Home), Madasyn Matusiak (West Seneca East), Allison Corretore (Will. Noth). Pts. - 3,370.
DIVISION 1 BOYS
100: Wayne Gordon (Sweet Home), K'Shawn Sistrunk (Niagara Falls), Andy Smigiera (West Seneca West). T - 11:03.
200: Gordon (SH), Smigiera (WSE), Jeff Hejna (Iroquois). T - 22.99.
400: Brian Cummiskey (Clarence), Ezra Nwachikwu (Lockport), Lloyd Morris (Amherst). T - 49.62.
1,600: T. J. Hornberger (Lake Shore), Kalen Sullivan (WSW), Craig Kaiser (Lancaster). T - 4:24.99.
110 h: Brandon Borden (Amherst), Brian Bannister SH), Kevin Freedman (Grand Island). T - 15.75.
400 h: Bannister (Sweet Home), Taylor Bennett (Jamestown), Verdall Cole (Hutch-Tech). T - 54.71.
400 relay: Sweet Home (Jeff Hart, Bannister, Jordan Johnson, Gordon). T - 43:01.
1,600 relay: Clarence (James Willy, Dan Rogers, Ben Reinhardt, Cummiskey). T - 3:23.43.
3,200 relay: Clarence (Reinhardt, Alex Eaton, Dan Huben, Justin Bender). T - 8:09.86.
High jump: Brandon Joyce (Niagara Falls), Williams Adey (WSW), Ben Wutz (Iroquois). D - 6-8.
Shot put: Jordan Kihl (Lancaster), Devon Patterson (Will. South), Brandon Sicurella (Lancaster). D - 55-5.
Triple jump: Jailyn Twitty (Amherst), Jon Kuberka (Clarence), Alession Gullino (Will. North). D - 46-10.\
Pole vault: Tom Moran (Starpoint), Jared Brucker (Hamburg), Bubba Ralyea (Lockport). H - 13-6.
3,000 steeplechase: Nick Konotopskyj (Will. North), Justin Bender (Clarence). T - 10:00.35.
Pentathlon: Marcus Lobdell (Kenmore West), Kevin Sandmaier (Frontier), Madison Wesolowski (Iroquois). Pts. - 3,216.
DIVISION 2 GIRLS
100: Christina Walter (Maple Grove), Abby Squicciarini (Albion), Emilee McGee (JFK). T - 12.87.
200: Walter (MG), Chelsea Grupp (Holland), McGee (JFK). T - 26.40.
400: Grupp (Holland), Brittany Feldman (Southwestern), Shantel McCart (Clymer). T - 59.50.
1,500: Reyda (Fredonia), Caroline Benson (MG), Holly Eliason (Clymer). T - 4:54.12.
110 h: Kendall Pierce (Eden), Alyssa Handley (Alden), Samantha Maloy (Holland). T - 16.06.
400 relay: JFK (Jamie Dojka, Briana Gist, Allysa Owsian, McGee), Allegany-Limestone, Randolph. T -51.06.
1.600 relay: East Aurora (Hannah Hitchcock, Rebekah Zee, Hannah Rice, McLaughlin), Maple Grove, Medina. T - 4:05.29.
3,200: East Aurora (Hitchcock, Zee, Rice, McLaughlin), Maple Grove, Allegany-Limestone. T - 4:05.29.
Discus: Miranda Daucher (Alden), Kassandra Erdmann (Randolph), Mary Westman (C-LV). D - 106-11.
Pentathlon: McKenna Maycock (Randolph), Jenny Olson (Portville), Jillian Faltyn (Hollland), Pts. - 2.,160 (school record).
Long jump: Jennie Thies (Southwestern), Daucher (Alden), Becca Kasper (Olean). D - 17.
High jump: Ashley Petersion (A-L), Brittany Feldman (Southwestern), Julie Law (Lew-Port). D - 5-2.
2,000 steeplechase: Shannon Murphy (Falconer), Megan Baritot (East Aurora), Andie Hill (Salamanca). T - 7:15.51.
DIIVISION 2 BOYS
100: Tyler Plaud (Olean), Devin Gibosn (Cleveland Hill), Jordan Hall (Alden). T - 11:45.
200: Plaud (Olean), Gibson (CH), Miles Barker (CH). T - 23.07.
400: Anthony Schwartz (Randolph), Nate Andres (Pioneer), Russ Catalino (Akron). T - 50.24.
1,600: Jeremy Rushok (Akron), Nigel Cordulla (JFK), Tyler Scheving (Barker). T - 4:26.29.
110 h: Daryl Spencer (CH), Dane Dechow (Randolph), Ken Minorczyk (JFK). T - 14.84.
400 h: Spencer (CH), Dylan Cassidy (Fredonia), Jed Platt (Barker). 55.06.
400 relay: Randolph (Jared Pitchford, Jordan Dowiasz, Schwartz, Dechow), Cleveland Hill, Holland. T - 44.08.
1,600 relay: Randolph (Pitchford, Dowiasz, Schwartz, Dechow), Cleveland Hill, Holland. T - 3:30.97.
3,200 relay: East Aurora (Larkin Bohanan, Elliott Martynkiewicz, Brendan Keany, Seann Phillips), T - 8:10.4.
High jump: Tom Michaels (Springville), Ricky Kruse (Eden), Jacob Haight (Barker). H - 6-0.
Triple jump: Louis Henley (Akron), Nick Berning (Newfane), Tristan Steffan (JFK). D - 42-11.
Shot put: Mike Prevorse (Pioneer), Andrew Burgio (D), Evan Brand (Newfane). D - 54-10.
Pole vault: Green (Southwestern), Justyn Haines (Albion), Salvatore Seitz (Salamanca). H - 13-0.
3,000 steeplechase: Gene Baritot (East Aurora), Brian McNerney (Springville), Alex Marra (Ohio). T - 9:53.77.
Pentathlon: Trevin Barber (Allegany-Limestone), Dylan Krueger (Lew-Porter), Jordan Farrant (Holland). T - 10:19.91.