Local boys and girls outdoor track and field teams will be set to take their marks during their respective Section III class championship meets held at various sites this week.
The Rome Free Academy boys team will compete during the Class AA championships at Cicero-North Syracuse High School on Wednesday at 4 p.m., while the Lady Black Knights were scheduled to compete at C-NS this afternoon.
The Camden boys will be in the Class A meet held at Fulton High School on Friday at 4, while the Lady Blue Devils are hosting the Class A meet at Camden High School today. The Vernon-Verona-Sherrill boys team will compete in the Class B-1/B-2 finals on Friday at 5 at Canastota, as the girls Class B-1/B-2 finals will be held on Thursday at Marcellus.
Westmoreland, Holland Patent, South Lewis, and Adirondack will compete in the boys Class C-1/C-2 finals to be held at Morrisville-Eaton on Saturday at 11 a.m., while the girls championships are at Herkimer on Thursday.
The boys and girls Class D finals for the Remsen squads are scheduled Wednesday at 4 in Remsen.
The Section III state qualifier meet is Thursday, May 31 at C-NS High School, while the state meet is scheduled for June 8-9 at C-NS.
For the RFA boys team, senior Philip Caruso will compete in both the shot put and discus events, while senior Ryan Metott will compete in the discus event, sophomore Robert Alder during the shot put, sophomore Anthony Capron during the pole vault, junior George Brown in both the 100-meter dash and the long jump competitions, sophomore Leroy Brown 200 dash and long jump events, freshmen Justin Houle during the 400 run, and junior John Swancott for both the 110 hurdles and in the 400 hurdle events.
The four-person 3,200 relay team of senior Jeff Brown, senior Connor Butters, junior Erik Winberg, and junior Matt Silver will represent the Black Knights, along with the 400 relay team of freshmen Justin Houle, Leroy Brown, George Brown, and Capron.
Longtime RFA head coach Billie Mays, whose team won the regular season Tri-Valley League title with a 6-0 dual meet record and won the TVL championship meet last week at the Stadium, likes where his team is at heading into sectionals.
"We had a good season going undefeated in the TVL regular season and winning the overall TVL championship meet. We have a lot of young athletes that showed a lot of improvement throughout the season. Our senior group has come a long way and have helped our young athletes grow," he said.
Mays says he expects that his team will compete to their highest abilities and will be ready for their meet on Wednesday.
"Caruso and Metott are ranked in the top 3 of our section and have a tremendous opportunity to win. Also, our 3,200 relay team is in the top 3 and they have a opportunity to win. We do have some young competitors that have a chance to surprise some people," he said.
For the Camden boys, Kevin Jones will participate in the 100 and 200, as Steven Maxwell will compete in the 100; Brandon Arbes in the 800; Andrew Spagnuolo in the 1,600 run; Ward Seymour in 110 hurdles and pole vault events; Aaron Davis in pole vault; Robert DeWolfe during the high jump; Joe Muller in long jump;
Blake Hinman in the long jump event, and the 400 relay team of Dustin Lewis, Muller, Jones and Seymour will also participate during the meet.
For the VVS boys, Nick Stoltz will represent the school in both the 110 and 400 hurdles, with Brett Field in the shot put and discus events, and Nash Robb will be competing in four events, including the triple and long jumps, as well as, the 100 and 200 runs.
Vinnie Bailey will be participating for VVS in the mile run, and Matt McCoy will join Bailey in the 800. James Slaven will compete in the pole vault, and Eric Fahrety in the two-mile run.
The Holland Patent Golden Knights are no strangers to the sectional qualifiers.
They have won the Class B meet in 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011. Their league record was 3-3 in an extremely competitive TVL this spring.
Aaron Constantini will compete during both the 100 and 200 dashes, as Elliot Connors will compete in three events, including the 100 dash, the pole vault, and the long jump; J.T. Doolittle and Rob Chmielewski in the 100 dash event; Bryce Zayachek will participate in the 200 dash, 400 dash, and the 1,600 run; Erran Gates will compete in the 400 run, 800 run, the discus and in the pole vault events; Michael Lynskey in both the 400 dash and the shot put events; Bryce Zayachek in the 400; Dylan Blier in the 400 dash and in the 110 high hurdles; Kevin Sidoran will compete in the 800 run, 3,200 run, and in the pole vault event; Joe Carrock in the high jump; Todd Stevens in the 3,200 run and in the steeplechase; Barrett Celecki in both the 3,200 run, and steeplechase; Evan Smith in the 1,600 run; Matt Herringshaw in the 1,600 run and 3,200 run; Noah Roberts in both the 110 high hurdles and 400 hurdles; Colton Paulo in both the 110 high hurdles and 400 hurdles; Michael Shepard in both the 11 high hurdles, and the pole vault events; and Avery Herkel in the 400 hurdles event.
For the Westmoreland boys, Devin Tophaven will represent the Bulldogs in the 400 hurdles, the high jump, and the 100 dash events, as Tyler Taverne will compete in the shot put, discus, and high jump events; Ryan Murling in the 100 dash, 200 dash, 400 dash events; Tyler Barnes in the 100 dash, 200 dash, and high jump events; Mike Jennings in the 100 dash and in the pole vault events; Joe Lolande in the 110 hurdles and the triple jump events; Dan Edick in the 400 dash; James Marchesani in the pole vault event; Austin Acee in the 100 dash; and Robert Heitzman during the discus event.
The RFA girls will compete in the Class AA championship meet at C-NS this afternoon, while Camden hosts the Class A title meet today at the high school. On Thursday, Holland Patent and Vernon-Verona-Sherrill will take part in the Class B-1/B-2 Championships at Marcellus High School at 4 p.m. Westmoreland and South Lewis will compete in the Class C1/C-2 finals at Herkimer starting on Thursday, and the Remsen girls host the Class D finals on Wednesday.
Freshman Mariah Mays will be Rome’s leading field event contender, competing in the discus throw and the shot put. She is ranked No. 1 in the class in the discus, and No. 2 in the shot put.
The Lady Knights will also have three girls taking part in the high jump, including Katie Gotch, Natasha Raffai and Class AA’s top ranked jumper Dana Husband. Husband will also participate in the 100 high hurdles with Mariah Johnson, who will also race in the 400 hurdles with Teresa Anken. The 400 dash will have both Teresa and Krista Anken, while the long jump has Jamie Marcinkowski and Gotch.
Other track contenders are Megan O’Connell in the 100 dash, Brianna Weir in the 800 run, and Allie Hawkins in the 1,500 race. Field event competitors are Krista Anken in the pole vault, Marcinkowski in the triple jump, Tricia Loso in the pentathlon, and Brianna Weir in the steeplechase.
The Lady Knights will compete in three relay races, as well. O’Connell, Johnson, Marcinkowski, Nicole Anken and Vita Puma will be in the 400 group, as Gotch, Nicole, Krista and Teresa Anken pair in the 1,600, and Hawkins, Weir, Teresa Anken and Jasmine Meerdink compete in the 3,200.
In other girls track action, Camden is hosting this afternoon’s Class A Championship at the high school with the team competing in seven events at the meet.
Eighth-grader Hayley Kelley will race in the 1,500 run, while freshman Gwen Proper and junior Michaela Soules take part in the 400 run. Soules will also compete in the high jump, as sophomore twin sisters Jenna and Elaina Sherwood are entered in the pentathlon.
The Camden 400 relay squad includes Proper, and sophomores Amanda Relyea, Lyndsy Davis and Karly Keil. Soules, Proper, Keil and junior Dallas McHarris make up the 1,600 relay, as Kelley, McHarris, Keil and senior Katrina Relyea group in the 3,200.
Holland Patent will have several key contenders to watch out for in the Class B Championships, including sophomore Cheyenne Petrillo-Lavier raced to a fourth place finish in the steeplechase during the Tri-Valley League Championships, and will also enter in the 400 run.
Other top TVL meet performers include Dalton Villeneuve in sixth during both 1,500 and 3,000 runs, Melissa Lennon in the 3,000, and Stephanie Schmidt in the 1,500. Heather Buczkowski will take part in the discus and shot put events.
Adirondack will also challenge for the Class B title with freshman Meghann Tanner competing in the 3,000 run, following her first place performance in the Center State Conference Division I championships, as well as in the 1,500 run. Dariene Rhoone will compete along side Maria Hennessey in the 800, and will take part in the 3,000 and 1,500 runs.
Shannon Sweirat will also race in the 1,500 and 3,000 races after taking fifth and third, respectively, at the Division I meet.
Westmoreland and South Lewis will both look to challenge for top honors at the Class C Championships at Herkimer beginning at 4:15 p.m.
The Lady Bulldogs will have senior Skyler Zawko leading the way in the four events, including the 100 and 200 dashes, as well as the long jump and triple jump. Sophomore Alison Brockway will also challenge in the long jump and the high jump, as junior Kelli Brasie goes for the wins in the 100 and 200 dashes and the long jump.
Other Westmoreland track contenders include sophomore Anne Quirk in the 800 run, junior Emily Gubbins in the 800 and 1,500 races, junior Jessica Riesel in the 1,500 and 3,000 races, freshman Monica Cook in the 100 and 400 hurdles, junior Jessica Harper and sophomore Morgan Murling both in the 400 dash, and senior Brittany Bonanza in the pentathlon.
Other field event contenders will feature junior Kendra McGregor in the shot put, discus and pole vault, and junior Alexa McGregor in the shot put and discus.
Relay teams for Westmoreland include Brasie, Brockway, senior Allyson Smith and sophomore Gabrille Duell in the 400 group, as well as Murling, Harper, Duell and Cook in the 1,600, and including Riesel, Gubbins, Quirk and junior Katie Evans in the 3,200.
South Lewis will be led by Victoria Campanian after she scored victories in the Frontier League Championships’ 800, 1,500 and 3,000 races.
Other top Frontier League contenders for South Lewis were eighth-grader Christina Platt in third during the 400 run, senior Alex Doney fourth in the 3,000 and fifth in the 1,500, and Sierra Corbett was sixth in the 1,500.
