Jenna Robinson surged when others might have faded.
The Guilderland senior waited until the final lap and then passed three Saratoga runners to win the girls 3,000-meter race at Saturday’s Suburban Council Indoor Track and Field Championships at the University at Albany’s SEFCU Arena.
`That was an awesome race,` said Guilderland coach Dave Kosier. `I’m so proud of her.`
`Definitely didn’t think it was possible beforehand,` said Robinson.
Robinson started near the middle of the pack and slowly gained ground until she ran up on the heels of Saratoga’s trio of Sarah Morin, Carley Vetter and Peyton Engborg, who formed a tight pack in front. At times, Morin, Vetter and Engborg ran side by side as they tried to lock down the top three places.
`The way they run is they go out hard and try to maintain that pace,` said Robinson.
Undaunted, Robinson stayed with Morin, Vetter and Engborg through several late laps and looked for an opening.
`Mentally it’s tough, and a lot of people when they see Saratoga, they tend to put them on a pedestal. But (Robinson is) not one to back down,` said Kosier. `She stayed with them and kept contact with them so she’d have a shot at the end.`
Robinson made her move when the signal for the final lap was given. She passed Engborg first and then surged past Vetter before catching Morin in the final strides to take first place with a time of 10:44.15. Morin placed second with a time of 10:44.21.
`Halfway through the race, I felt that if I kept holding out, I could get them at the end because I knew I had a strong finishing kick,` said Robinson.
Robinson’s performance was the highlight for the Guilderland girls team at the league meet. The Lady Dutch placed seventh with 26 points, well behind Saratoga’s first-place total of 119.75 points.
Abigail Marco contributed a second-place finish in the 55-meter hurdles finals with a time of 9.12 seconds, and Sydney Campbell placed fourth in the pole vault after clearing the bar at 8 feet. Emily Burns was fifth in the 1,600-meter race with a time of 5:01.74.
Bethlehem fared better than Guilderland, as it finished fourth with 41 points. The Lady Eagles had their own individual champion in Grace Smith, who took first place in the high jump by clearing the bar at 5 feet, 4 inches. They also nearly had a winning relay team, as they finished second to Colonie by .16 seconds in the 800-meter relay.
Samantha Taillon was third in the 300-meter dash with a time of 43.46 seconds, and Gabriella Ferrera placed third in the long jump with a distance of 15 feet, 4 inches for Bethlehem.
On the boys’ side, Bethlehem took fourth place in the team standings with 58 points, despite not having three of its top runners at the league meet. Guilderland was sixth with 25.5 points.
Bethlehem’s Noah Bell, Stephen Booker and Alex Carlson were at the New Balance Games Saturday in New York City, where they all excelled. Bell won the boys 1-mile steeplechase invitational with a time of 4:55.68, while Booker qualified for the Millrose Mile with a second-place finish in a time of 4:19.06. Carlson was 10th in the 1,000-meter varsity race with a time of 2:36.21.
Back at UAlbany, Bethlehem kicked off the meet by winning the 800-meter relay with a time of 1:38.29. Ben Young, Ethan Strauss, Connor Kimmey and Peter Wilkins comprised the Eagles’ sprint relay.
Scott Mistler-Ferguson and Brian Greenberg won individual titles for Bethlehem. Mistler-Ferguson sprinted past the competition to win the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 8.47 seconds, while Greenberg took first place in the triple jump with a distance of 45 feet, 6 inches.
Guilderland’s Harrison Bickmore denied Bethlehem’s Liam Martens a victory in the high jump by winning the jump-off. Both Bickmore and Martens cleared the bar at 6 feet to force the jump-off. Bickmore was also sixth in the triple jump with a distance of 40 feet, 9.5 inches.
Bethlehem’s Luke Dutcher was third in the pole vault with a cleared height of 12 feet, while teammate Devan Baranski finished fifth with a cleared height of 10 feet, 6 inches.