Once again, a full complement of track and field stars from Fayetteville-Manlius and Jamesville-DeWitt will make their way to the state championship meet, to be held next Friday and Saturday at Vestal High School near Binghamton. That includes both of F-M’s 4×800 relay teams, which feature a girls side that found its way into the record books during Thursday’s Section III state qualifying meet at Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Stadium. Courtney Chapman, Hannah Luber, Mackenzie Carter and Molly Malone teamed up to post a time of 9:02.13 in the 4×800, shattering its own sectional mark for that event set in 2009 by more than eight seconds. And Chapman didn’t stop there, either, rallying in the final 100 meters to get past Cicero-North Syracuse eighth-grader Maria Lamontagne to take the 1,500-meter run in 4:32.05, with Lamontagne (4:33.61) also advancing to the state meet. F-M also won the 4×400 relay as Heather Martin, Kathryn Fanning, Audrey Wallace and Katie Sischo blazed to a time of 3:58.60. As if that wasn’t enough, freshman Jillian Fanning, in a time of 9:54.33, fought past CNS’s Taylor Wendler (9:56.03) to win the 3,000-meter run. Meanwhile, the Hornets’ Alex Hatz continued to gear up for the bigger meets ahead as he breezed to victory in the mile in 4:17.66. In the 4×800, Hatz anchored the Hornets’ effort, joining Paul Merriman, Mark McGurrin and Joe Hartnett as they qualified in a time of 7:52.61 behind Liverpool, whose 7:43.62 also broke a sectional record. Andrew Roache, by finishing second in the Division I 3,200-meter run (9:20.94) to CNS’s Chris Buchanan (9:18.61), also advanced to the state meet, while Owen Strong finished fifth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 10:14.50. J-D’s Marae Tearney won the Division I shot put with a toss of 36 feet 1/2 inch as Sierra Vasiliou finished seventh. Vasiliou got fifth in the long jump with 16 feet 3 1/2 inches, with Olivia Costa fifth in the discus. Also, the Red Rams’ David Salbert qualified for the state meet in the triple jump, finishing second with 46 feet 4 3/4 inches as Utica Proctor’s Richard Pete (47 feet 2 1/2 inches) prevailed. Michael Paul was second in the discus, tossing it 137 feet 9 inches, just behind Corcoran’s Tyshon Golden (139 feet 11 inches). Salbert, Will Sterriker, Tim Kendrick and Max Smith were third in the 4×400 relay in 3:30.74. J-D’s 4×400 relay team of Natalie Mannion, Liz Pieri, Katy Pieri and Linsay Royer finished fourth in 4:05.85. Tearney, Mannion, Royer and Amanda Tan were second (50.57 seconds) to Rome Free Academy (49.34 seconds) in the 4×100 relay, while Eileen Cody, Ameena Dye, Paige Morrow and Rebecca Doss were third in the 4×800 relay in 9:55.90.
Ira Griffin took third place in the boys 200-meter dash in 22.76 seconds, while Courtney Ellis was fourth in the girls 400 hurdles in 1:12.88. Austin Davis was fifth in the 3,200 in 4:32.89. Danielle Doss was fourth in the Division I pentathlon (2.287 points), where Bishop Grimes’ Samantha Schaefer was third in Division II with 2,241 points. Grimes also saw Melissa Buttner finish third in the Division II 800 in 2:24 flat. Malik Merritt finished efifth in the boys 100-meter dash in 11.69 seconds. CBA’s Tom Voorheis made the state meet in the Division II 3,200-meter run, finishing in 9:20.19 as Matt Giannino was fifth in the 800-meter run in 1:58.98 and Brendan Smith took fifth in the 3,200. The Brothers were third in Division II in the girls 4×800 in 10:02.09.