Returning to her specialty, Cazenovia’s Paige Biviano earned an overall victory in the pentathlon during last Thursday’s Section III state qualifying meet at Cicero-North Syracuse, one of many top performances by local athletes. Biviano braved chilly, windy conditions to clear 4 feet 11 3/4 inches in the high jump, go 15 feet 11 3/4 inches in the long jump and run the 100-meter hurdles in 16.12 seconds, at or near the top in each of those events. When it was done, Biviano had 2,842 points, beating even the Division I (large school) champion, Cicero-North Syracuse’s Katie Osborne, who had 2,736 points. Morrisville-Eaton’s Kim Horton had 2,466 points for third place in Division II and another Laker, Raeanne Clabeaux, rose to sixth place with 1,964 points. That wasn’t the only Cazenovia triumph. In the 4×400 relay, Hollie Marcelle, Tori Widrick, Ellen Burr and Ashley Winn prevailed in 4:09.44, more than four seconds ahead of runner-up Hamilton (4:13.96), to clinch a spot in this weekend’s state championship meet at Caledonia-Mumford. Winn nearly got first place in the 100-meter dash, finishing in 12.70 seconds, trailing only Herkimer’s Lauren Delude (12.63). Also, Winn joined Piper Gianforte, Audrey Bowers and Anna Schultz for fifth in the 4×100 relay (52.22 seconds). Widrick ran in the 1,500-meter event and was seventh in 5:07.41. Burr, on her own, was eighth in the triple jump (32 feet 5 inches) and eighth in the shot put. Chittenango’s Courtney Dyer rose to second in the 400-meter dash in 1:00.75. For Vernon-Verona-Sherrill, Alexis Kavanaugh was third in the 200-meter dash (26.88 seconds). VVS also was sixth in the Division II 4×800 relay in 10:19.03. Hamilton’s Clara Jones needed 1:08.28 for second place in the 400-meter hurdles, where VVS’s Tammy Beal was ninth. Beal improved to sixth in the 100-meter hurdles. Sage Hurta, the Emerald Knights’ talented seventh-grader, snagged second place in the 800-meter run in 2:18.71 Going to the boys state qualifier, Oneida’s Eric Riley and Jimmy Moyer went 1-2 in the Division II portion of the pentathlon. Riley cleared 6 feet 6 3/4 inches in the high jump, better than any of the competitors in the actual event (6 feet 4 inches), and threw the shot put 41 feet 1/4 inch on his way to 3,409 points. Moyer was second (and third overall) with 3,002 points, going 19 feet 11 inches in the long jump, just half an inch behind Riley. Kyle Blessing contended in the discus, finishing second with 149 feet 1 inch behind South Jefferson’s Louis Kendall (151 feet 5 inches). David Carroll narrowly missed a win in the shot put, his toss of 47 feet 1/2 inch just a quarter of an inch behind Beaver River’s Daven Brigham as Dan Margo, with a throw of 46 feet 4 inches, was fourth. VVS earned a win when Matt Femia, in the Division II 400-meter dash, finished in 52.09 seconds as no one else broke the 50-second mark. Nash Robb went 19 feet 11 inches for fourth in the long jump as Oneida’s Connor McCarthy was fourth in the 3,200-meter run in 10:06.48. Chittenango’s Kris Ingerson got to second in the 400 hurdles in 59.65 seconds. M-E’s Dustin Davis tied for seventh (11 feet) in the pole vault.