Saratoga Springs’ Madalayne Smith and Shenendehowa’s Zac Suriano and Michelle Quimby all won titles at last weekend’s New York State High School Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Buffalo.
Smith swept the girls 100-meter high hurdles titles as part of a strong Saratoga showing at the state meet. Smith claimed the Division 1 (large school) title Friday with a time of 14.39 seconds, and she won the Federation title Saturday with a time of 14.15 seconds.
Suriano defeated a talented field to win the Division 1 boys 800-meter race Friday. He edged Peekskill’s Lawrence Campbell by .07 seconds and Great Neck South’s Terrance Livingston by .2 seconds to take the title in a time of 1:54.52.
Suriano also ran the anchor leg on Shen’s 3,200-meter relay team, which placed second in Division 1 and the Federation with a time of 7:50.21. Dan Bruton, Ryan Jones and Patrell Brown also ran on the 3,200-meter relay team.
Quimby picked up the Division 1 and Federation girls pole vault titles after clearing 12 feet in fewer attempts than Vestal’s Camille Ginyard and New York Mills’ Linda Hadfield. Ballston Spa’s Danielle Moriarty tied for sixth place among Division 1 pole vaulters by clearing 10 feet, 6 inches.
Several more southern Saratoga County athletes had top-six finishes at the state meet, led by a two-three finish in the girls 3,000-meter race Saturday. Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake’s Sam Roecker placed second in both Division 1 and the Federation with a time of 9:42.16, and Saratoga’s Hannah Davidson finished third with a time of 9:49.21.
Davidson joined Brianne Bellon, Cassie Goutos and Michelle Riley to help Saratoga’s 3,200-meter relay team place second in Division 1 and the Federation with a time of 9:07.70. Warwick Valley won the race in a time of 8:56.71.
Riley came very close to a third-place finish in Friday’s Division 1 girls 800-meter race, but had to settle for fourth place. Riley finished with a fully automatic time of 2:13.167, .004 seconds behind third-place runner Emily Merges of Garden City.
Riley placed fifth in Saturday’s Federation 800 in a time of 2:12.36.
BH-BL’s Meaghan Gregory finished fourth in Division 1 and fifth overall in the Federation 2,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 7:00.36. Shen’s Kelsey Hanson was fifth in the state and sixth overall in the Federation pentathlon with 2,884 points, and BH-BL’s Molly Pezzulo placed sixth among Division 1 runners in the Federation 1,500-meter race with a time of 4:39.13.
In other boys’ events, Shen’s 1,600-meter relay team of Jones, Suriano, Brown and Charles Karam placed third in Friday’s Division 1 race with a time of 3:20.05.
Evan Palmer and Jim Schwendtner had top-six finishes in the discus for the Plainsmen. Palmer placed fifth in Friday’s Division 1 competition with a throw of 154 feet, 5 inches, while Schwendtner finished sixth with a throw of 151 feet, 9 inches.
Schwendtner had the better throw in Saturday’s Federation competition with a fourth-place distance of 156 feet, 8 inches. Palmer placed sixth with a throw of 153 feet, 8 inches.
Shen’s Mike Danaher was sixth in the Federation 1,600-meter race with a time of 4:17.00.`