The Engineer Games in Troy isn’t a big high school indoor track meet on a scale of the New Balance Games in New York City or the Yale Invitational in New Haven, Conn.
But it is still the only local high school indoor track meet, and as such it draws a large number of Section II teams. Sunday’s installment at RPI’s Robison Gymnasium featured nearly every Capital District squad not named Saratoga Springs.
There’s supposed to be 42 teams represented here today, said long-time Guilderland girls indoor track coach Dick Usher.
`It’s a highlight for a lot of the kids. For some of them, it might be their last race because our next meet is Sectionals (in two weeks),` Usher added.
Shenendehowa took the meet seriously. The Plainsmen won both the boys and girls titles with dominating performances. Shen’s boys team more than doubled runner-up Shaker’s point total to claim the title by a margin of 120-56, while the girls team defeated Saratoga County rival Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake 101-63.
`We didn’t put all of our top kids in there, but we’d like to do well,` Shen boys coach Don Paretta said midway through the meet. `This is a good prelude to Sectionals.`
The only negative at the meet was the slippery tartan track surface inside Robison Gymnasium. The poured concrete offered little or no traction, which led to several slips and falls by the competitors. Colonie’s Jim Kehrer ` one of the section’s top sprinters and jumpers ` slipped during the 50-meter hurdles qualifier and fell on one of his approaches in the high jump.
`It’s better (to happen) today than at the state qualifier,` said Colonie boys coach Mike Palmer. `We’re resting most of our big guys today anyway, but it’s still a lesson learned. They still have to perform.`
`(The surface is) terrible, but you still have good competition,` said Paretta, who also coaches track at RPI. `You just have to navigate the surface.`
Shen’s runners navigated the track well. The Plainsmen won three individual races and two relays on their way to the boys team title.
Tyler Riberdy led Shen with a victory in the 300-meter dash in a time of 38.60 seconds. Riberdy also ran on the Plainsmen’s first-place 1,600 relay team along with Patrell Brown, Charles Karam and Stuart Charbonneau.
Ryan Jones contributed a victory in the 600 with a time of 1:27.34, and Dan Harris added a win in the 1,600 with a time of 4:34.69 for Shen. The Plainsmen’s 3,200 relay team of Mike Danaher, Mitchell Todorov, Alex Belenz and Dan Burton won with a time of 8:35.16.
Shaker had one individual champion in the track events. R.J. Sniffen took first place in the 3,200 with a time of 9:49.59.
Shen fared well in the field events, as well. James Schwendtner led a top-three Plainsmen sweep in the shot put with a throw of 52 feet, .5 inches, and Jeff Reinker edged Bethlehem’s Jake Platel for the pole vault title by clearing 13 feet, 6 inches in fewer attempts.
Bethlehem’s Sam Smith needed a jump-off to defeat Kehrer in the high jump. After both jumpers failed to clear 6 feet, 2 inches, Smith cleared 6-1 on his second try to break the tie.
`Thank goodness it was over with,` said Smith, who also placed second in the triple jump. `We were both so tired at that point, we just wanted one of us to clear it. But we wanted to have fun.`
In the girls division, Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake had more first-place finishes than Shen, but Shen had more top-six performances than BH-BL to pull away for the team title.
BH-BL juniors Meaghan Gregory and Sam Roecker each won individual races. Gregory edged Seton Catholic’s Mary Kate Champagne by .22 seconds to win the 1,000 in a time of 3:01.02, while Roecker cruised to an eight-second victory over Shen’s Cara Janeczko in the 1,500 with a time of 4:42.17. Gregory also teamed up with Kendra Adams, Larene Cameron and Molly Pezzulo to win the 3,200 relay in a time of 9:40.28.
Cameron, Adams, Amy Cuomo and Callan Gray took first place in the 1,600 relay with a time of 4:13.43.
Shen’s victories came in the pole vault and the 800 relay. Michelle Quimby cleared 11 feet to win the pole vault, while the team of Illissa DiNuzzo, Allie Maguire, Kathleen Klein and Tanya DeRusso won the 800 relay in a time of 1:55.12, .12 seconds ahead of runner-up Shaker.
Shaker’s Diana Hummel claimed the 300 dash title in a time of 44.29 seconds, edging Gray by .02 seconds in the finals. Niskayuna’s Emily McTague finished first in the 3,000 with a time of 10:41.91.“
