The top area high school track and field athletes were on display at Saturday’s state meet qualifier at the University at Albany.
Niskayuna’s Connor Reilly and Ballston Spa’s Eric Marciano qualified in the boys 55-meter dash. Reilly won in the finals with a time of 6.76 seconds, while Marciano placed second in a time of 6.82 seconds.
Shenendehowa’s Patrell Brown and Ryan Jones took first place in the boys 300 and 600 respectively. Brown edged Albany’s Chris Fagan by three-tenths of a second to win the 300 dash in a time of 37.53 seconds, while Jones cruised to a 1.91 second victory over Colonie’s Nick Santos in the 600. Jones finished with a time of 1:24.28, while Santos qualified for states with a time of 1:26.19.
Colonie’s Tyler Stewart won the boys 1,000 in a time of 2:35.25. Shen’s Zac Suriano placed second in a time of 2:37.44 to qualify for states.
Shen’s Brian Trainor finished first in the boys 1,600 in a time of 4:29.14, .34 seconds ahead of runner-up Louis Serafini of Niskayuna. Otis Ubriaco’s third-place time of 4:30.80 earned the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake student a spot on the intersectional relay team.
Saratoga Springs’ Demetri Goutos pulled away from the pack to win the boys 3,200 in a time of 9:32.39. Shen’s Dan Harris was second in a time of 9:40.51.
Colonie’s Jim Kehrer took care of business in the boys 55 hurdles with a winning time of 7.65 seconds in the finals. He also teamed up with Drew Rivera, Matt June and Steve Crouse to win the boys 800 relay in a time of 1:35.84.
Shaker’s quartet of Devon Sedgwick, Matt Conti, Kevin Conti and Matt Dustin won the boys 1,600 relay in a time of 3:36.54, while Colonie’s boys 3,200 relay team of Stewart, Santos, Derrick Ingleston and Brian Treadway took first place with a time of 8:24.85.
Two Bethlehem students won in boys field events. Sam Smith took first place in the high jump by clearing 6 feet, 4 inches a half-foot ahead of Colonie’s Greg Kehrer while Jake Platel won the pole vault by clearing 13 feet. Shen’s Chris Cozzens and Jeff Reinker each cleared 12-6 in the pole vault to qualify for states.
Crouse won the boys triple jump with a distance of 45-9.25, while Albany’s Chris Fagan took first place in the boys long jump with a leap of 22-0.5. Shaker’s Prince Abban qualified for states in both events after placing second in the long jump with a distance of 20-7.5 and finishing third in the triple jump with a distance of 42-8.
Shen’s James Schwendtner and Evan Palmer qualified for states in the boys shot put. Schwendtner won with a throw of 50-8.5, while Palmer placed second with a throw of 50-2.
The girls 55 dash finals was decided by three-hundredths of a second. Holy Names’ Klarissa Ricks won with a time of 7.12 seconds, while Saratoga’s Madalayne Smith placed second with a time of 7.15 seconds.
Smith came back to win the girls 55 hurdles title with a time of 8.29 seconds. Colonie’s Kyle Plante was second in a time of 8.81 seconds.
Shaker’s Diana Hummel finished first in the girls 300 dash with a time of 42.43 seconds, more than a second ahead of runner-up Kendra Adams of BH-BL. Guilderland’s Liz Schwenker was third in a time of 43.54 seconds to earn a spot on the intersectional relay team.
Colonie’s Nayamka Roberts-Smith finished second to Chatham’s Leah Wightman in the girls 600 with a state meet-qualifying time of 1:41.25. Shen’s Meredith Cully qualified for the intersectional relay after placing third in a time of 1:42.16.
BH-BL’s Rachael Cyrus qualified for states in the girls 1,000 after finishing second with a time of 3:05.40, nearly 1.5 seconds behind Holy Names’ Jordan White.
Greenwich’s Caitlin Lane won the girls 1,500 in a time of 4:35.60, more than two seconds ahead of Saratoga’s Hannah Davidson. BH-BL’s Sam Roecker was third in a qualifying time of 4:42.86, and Shen’s Cara Janeczko placed fourth in a time of 4:47.00 to make the intersectional relay team.
BH-BL took the top two places in the girls 3,000. Meaghan Gregory was first in a time of 10:03.60, while Molly Pezzulo placed second in a time of 10:15.04. Shen’s Morgan Roche was third in a time of 10:18.63.
Ichabod Crane’s Justine Schulerud won the girls 1,500 race walk in a time of 8:38.54. Shaker’s Melissa Ashley qualified in the event with a second-place time of 9:20.51.
The Niskayuna girls 800 relay team of Caitlyn Mills, Samantha Legere, Mary Corey and Alicia D’Alessandro took first place in a time of 1:52.64, while Colonie’s 1,600 relay team of Roberts-Smith, Aimee Bacher, Stephany Lynch and Kristina Lenge finished first with a time of 4:13.36.
Shen’s Michelle Quimby finished first in the girls pole vault by clearing 11-3. Shen’s Illissa DiNuzzzo and Niskayuna’s Patty Horan both cleared 9-0 to qualify for states.
Colonie’s Nadina Turner placed third in the girls long jump and second in the triple jump to earn state meet berths.
Saratoga’s Haley Franco was second in the girls shot put with a state meet qualifying throw of 35-11.5.
The state track and field meet is this weekend at Cornell University.“
