No doubt, the Marcellus boys track and field team is enjoying 2011.
Aside from the fact that the Mustangs won the OHSL Liberty division regular-season title, it gets to stay at home for the rest of the month, through most of the post-season. That homestand began with last Monday’s OHSL Liberty championships. With all eight league teams gathered in one place, Marcellus piled up 177 points and won, with Christian Brothers Academy (120 points) in second place. Further behind them, Westhill/Bishop Ludden, with 66 points, took fourth place, with Jordan-Elbridge picking up 51 points. Solvay finished with 31 points. On the oval, Jesse Garn won three times, taking the 400-meter dash in 50.17 seconds, covering 800 meters in a swift 1:57.74 and, despite the cold, splashing to a win in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 10:01.91. He also teamed with Justin Garn, Nate Waite and Joe Fallon to win the 4×400 relay in 3:40.31 as Justin claimed his own title in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:02.02. Marcellus cleaned up in field events. Nick Huss cleared 12 feet to win the pole vault, with Rob Coon (10 feet 6 inches) in third place. Chaz Hayes (19 feet 6 1/2 inches) and Nate Waite (18 feet 8 inches) went 1-2 in the long jump, with Hayes also winning the triple jump by going 39 feet 9 1/4 inches as Nick Stogsdill (36 feet 3 1/4 inches) took second. On his own, Stogsdill won the high jump, clearing 5 feet 6 inches with fewer misses than CBA’s Will Brower, while Zach Wiley took second (40 feet 11 1/4 inches) in the shot put and Aaron Murphy was fourth in the shot put. Ryan Manahan, who was second in the mile in 4:36.73, helped Fallon, John Bell and Justin Garn take second in the 4×800 relay in 9:06.21. Nate Waite, Mitch Schoenbrun, Chris Manke and Brad Kermes were second in the 4×100 in 46.76 seconds. Waite, on his own, got third in the 100-meter dash in 11.95 seconds, with Schoenbrun third in the 200-meter dash in 24.24 seconds. Westhill/Ludden’s Tim Wilkinson nearly swept the throwing events. He won the shot put with a toss of 43 feet 3/4 inch, where teammate Tre Fesinger as fourth, and took second in the discus with a heave of 112 feet 3 inches. Jack Honis settled into second place in the 110 high hurdles in 15.86 seconds, with Solvay’s John Salvagno third. Honis also got third in the 400 hurdles as teammate Matt Trendowski rose to third in the 400 (54.32 seconds). In that event, Solvay teammates Matt Battaglia and John Goodrich were fifth and sixth, respectively. J-E’s Greg Bader was second (2:01.76) to Jesse Garn in the 800, and he was third (10:07.76) in the 3,200. For Solvay, Nick Cometti took second in the 200 in 23.35 seconds, while J-E’s Nick Byrnes was fourth, as he was in the 100. Solvay ran to third in the 4×100 relay, with Westhill/Ludden fourth. Westhill/Ludden’s Tim Sheridan got second in the pentathlon with 2,162 points, with J-E’s Paul Nelson (2,098 points) in third. The Eagles saw Steve Slonosky take second (10:24.18) to Jesse Garn in the steeplechase, with the Warriors’ Casey Bunce in third. J-E’s Andrew Forward was third in the high jump (5 feet 4 inches), while Solvay’s Jacob Callisto was fourth. The Eagles’ Carlin Coomey claimed third in the triple jump (35 feet 6 inches) and was fifth in the long jump. In the simultaneous OHSL Liberty girls meet, Westhill/Ludden did the best among the local teams with 77 points for third place as Cazenovia won with 195 points. The host Mustangs was fourth, with 63.5 points, while Solvay had 43 points and Jordan-Elbridge got 18.5 points. Most of the Warriors’ points were earned in distance running. Betsy Black tore to victory in the 2,000 steeplechase in 7:31.23, with teammate Susan Lopez (8:33.94) in second, more than a minute behind. Following that up, Black needed 10:57.70 to win the 3,000-meter run over Marcellus teammates Rachel Garn (11:00.26) and Maggie Dunn (11:01.32), while Jessica Curry won the 1,500-meter run in 4:56.03 as Emily Washburn (5:05.30) settled into third place. Garn was second in the 1,500 in 5:02.95, with Lizzy Dean fifth, as she was in the 800 where J-E’s Brianna Byrnes was third in 2:30.89 and Westhill/Ludden’s Lissa DiPaola was fourth. Marcellus would win the 4×800 relay as Garn, Dean, Dunn and Tori Stopen posted a time of 10:01.44. Abby Fallon was fourth in the 200. J-E’sCourtney Hourigan earned third place in the pentathlon with 1,606 points. Westhill/Ludden’s MaryKate Lee was fourth as the Eagles’ Rachel Betts got fourth in the 100 and sixth in the 200. Solvay saw Anna Salvagno find her way to second place in the 400 hurldles in 1:13.67. Christina Clemente got fourth in the 400 sprint, while Courtney Napolitano took fifth in the 100-meter hurdles. The Bearcats were third in the 4×400 (4:29.63), ahead of Westhill/Ludden in fourth as Marcellus got fourth place (55.51 seconds) in the 4×100 relay. Moving to field events, Westhill/Ludden’s Sam Peebles offered more points, rising to second in the triple jump with 31 feet 8 1/2 inches and going 14 feet 7 1/2 inches for third place in the triple jump. The Mustangs had Sarah Francesconi clear 4 feet 6 inches for second in the high jump, tied with Napolitano. Abby Frateschi was second in the pole vault as she cleared 7 feet 6 inches, with the Mustangs’ Lexi Greenhalgh (7 feet) in third. Solvay’s Sandra Simmons got fifth in the discus. Marcellus will serve as hosts again for the Section III Class B boys championships on May 26, with the girls Class B meet to follow on May 27. Both start at 4 p.m.