TROY- Many area indoor track and field teams tuned up for this weekend’s Section II class championship meets by participating in Sunday’s Engineer Games at RPI’s Robison Gym.
Shenendehowa led the way in the team standings. The boys team dominated the meet with 109.5 points, 62 points ahead of runner-up Ballston Spa, while the girls team defeated Shaker 76-42 to earn its title.
Colonie’s Tyler Johnson was one of the top individual performers at the meet. The senior won the 45-meter dash with a time of 5.77 seconds and claimed first place in the 300 dash with a time of 38.63 seconds .03 seconds ahead of Shen’s Seth Whitaker.
The 45 dash final was also hotly contested, as all six runners finished under six seconds. Scotia-Glenville’s Chris Amodeo placed second to Johnson with a time of 5.82 seconds, and Troy’s Mychal Travis finished third in a time of 5.89 seconds. Colonie’s Heath Furbeck was fourth in a time of 5.90 seconds.
Scotia-Glenville’s Pete Rowell and Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake’s Cody Buell won titles in the middle-distance events. Rowell took first place in the 600 with a time of 1:27.59, .7 seconds ahead of Shen’s Corey Clavet, while Buell won the 1,000 in a time of 2:35.75 four-tenths of a second ahead of Fonda’s Jeremy McAllister.
Shen had the advantage in the long distance events. Zac Suriano and Adam Quinn finished a respective first and third in the 1,600, while Steve Murdock and Zach Predmore swept the top two places in the 3,200. Suriano won the 1,600 in a time of 4:26.93, less than a second ahead of McAllister. Quinn placed third in the 1,600 with a time of 4:31.21.
Murdock ran away from the field in the 3,200 and won with a time of 9:18.80. Predmore placed second in a time of 9:37.89, and Ballston Spa’s Nick O’Neil was third in a time of 10:02.02.
Shen’s Josh Vale added two top-three finishes. He won the 50 hurdles in a time of 7.33 seconds and finished third in the pole vault by clearing 14 feet.
In other boys field events, Ballston Spa’s Drew Fitzgerald won the high jump by clearing 6 feet in fewer attempts than Hendrick Hudson’s Alex Raffio, while Shen’s Tyler Riberdy took first place in the triple jump with a distance of 43 feet, 7.25 inches. Mohonasen’s Joe Grassia won the shot put with a throw of 50 feet, 4.75 inches, and Scotia-Glenville’s Pete Hamm placed second in both the long and triple jumps.
Ballston Spa, Newburgh Free Academy and LaSalle won the boys relay events. The Ballston Spa team of Robert Carr, Matt Pastore, Eric Marciano and Brian Yingling finished first in the 800 relay with a time of 1:40.89. Newburgh Free Academy won the 1,600 relay in a time of 3:41.46, and LaSalle won the 3,200 relay in a time of 8:35.67.
On the girls’ side, Shen senior Liz Morehouse took the 45 dash title with a time of 6.36 seconds, while Shaker’s Diana Hummel won the 300 dash with a time of 44.25 seconds. Ballston Spa’s Jennifer Stodgell was second in the 300 dash with a time of 44.86 seconds, and Bethlehem’s Lauren Lochinski-Mills finished third with a time of 45.47 seconds.
Shen’s Julia Urbana claimed the 600 title with a time of 1:42.47, .44 seconds ahead of Broadalbin-Perth’s Alex Kuhl. BH-BL’s Larene Cameron was third in a time of 1:43.52, .04 seconds ahead of Scotia-Glenville’s Joya Clark.
Academy of Holy Names’ Lauren Recchia won the 1,000 with a time of 3:00.49, three seconds ahead of Shaker’s Seri Gordon. Scotia-Glenville’s Jillian King finished first in the 1,500 with a time of 4:40.37, and Colonie’s Mikala Anson took first place in the 3,000 with a time of 10:34.84.
Shen’s Angela Villanova and Michelle Quimby swept the top two places in the pole vault. Villanova won by clearing 10 feet in fewer attempts than her teammate. Niskayuna’s Patty Horan was third after clearing 9 feet, 6 inches.
Other top-three individual field event performances were turned in by Quimby in the triple jump (second place, 32 feet, 3 inches), Ballston Spa’s Kaitlyn Staulters (second, 37-4.25) and Nicole Laiacona (third, 35-6.5) in the shot put and Niskayuna’s Joanna Clark in the long jump (third, 15-2.5).
BH-BL won two of the three girls relays. The team of Kendra Adams, Meaghan Gregory, Amy Cuomo and Sarah Prince took first place in the 1,600 relay with a time of 4:16.98, while the 3,200 relay team of Adams, Gregory, Molly Pezzulo and Sam Roecker won with a time of 9:38.74.
Colonie’s 800 relay team of Najla Singleton-McKinnon, Nanditha Badami, Marisa Poleto and Alicia Williams took first place with a time of 1:52.24, .41 seconds ahead of Shen.
The Section II championship meets take place Saturday at the University at Albany. The class C-D meet starts at 8:30 a.m., with the class B meet following at 1:45 p.m. and the class A meet thereafter.“
