CALEDONIA – Gutsy is the best word to describe the performances of Oxford’s Katie and Emily Woodford at this weekend’s state track and field championships.
Katie and Emily Woodford each had runner-up finishes in their individual events, while the Woodfords teamed with Haley Witchella and Jessica Russo for aNOTHER second-place finish in the Division II 400-meter relay finals.
Also placing among the top-six was B-G/Afton senior Conner Fuller. Fuller was fifth in the Division II 3,000-meter steeplechase timing 9:43.85.
Oxford’s twin sisters, each making their third straight trip together to the state meet – the fourth overall for Katie – came in as top contenders in the 200- and 400-meter races. Katie Woodford, a two-time defending Division II state champion in the 400, finished second overall clocking 57.34 – over 1 1/2 seconds slower than her best time. Woodford re-injured her hip at last week’s Section IV state qualifier, and despite week-long treatment, was unable to race at 100 percent. “She ran a good 340 to 350 meters and was pretty strong,” said Oxford coach Irene DeJager. “You could see where the hip just wasn’t working the way it should have. Injuries happen and we’re definitely proud of her performance. She’s had such a wonderful career, and the last four years have been more than remarkable.”
Emily Woodford ran the best qualifying time in the 200-meter prelims on Friday finishing in 25.10. Still, Woodford’s time provided a narrow margin over the next best qualifier. She and DeJager both knew that. “We knew going in (to the finals on Saturday) that it would be a tough race, and there were several girls who ran similar times throughout the year,” DeJager said. “(In the finals), Emily ran a great race. Her start was phenomenal and she ran a beautiful corner. The last few strides, the other girl (Jessica Dunnigan) was right with her.”
At the finish line, Emily Woodford attempted to lean forward, but she lost her balance and fell forward scraping up her hands and knees to place second.
Still, Emily Woodford’s time qualified her for the 200-meter Federation finals later that day. Proving her toughness, Woodford beat Dunnigan and every other Division II runner placing fifth overall in the state. “For Emily to get back up, and come back and run another great race (25.44) shows that she’s an amazing lady,” DeJager said. “She had bruises and scrapes, and two swollen knees...I think that no matter what, she would have tried to race, but to come back the way she did, you have to respect that.”
Also deserving of respect was the 400-meter relay team, that set a school- and Midstate Athletic Conference-record timing 48.75 to place second in Division II by less than a tenth of a second to Holy Names Academy. Just to put that time in perspective, Oxford won a state title in the same event two years earlier, and did not crack 49 seconds.
A day later in the 400-meter relay Federation finals, Oxford lowered its own school record by 13 hundreths of a second, and it also avenged its loss to Holy Names. The time of 48.62 was fifth overall in the state.
“We thought it was unbelievable on Friday to lower our best time by over a second in less than a week’s time,” DeJager said of the relay. “Coming back to the Federation finals, everything that we had practiced, especially the first hand-off, was much improved and what were hoping for. The girls really bonded over the past week, and finishing ahead of the team that beat us in the state finals gave all of the girls a sense of pride.”
The next-best finish for Chenango County athletes this past weekend was Norwich senior Jon Foulds, who was seventh in Division II in the 110-meter hurdles. Foulds ran a preliminary qualifying time of 15.12, and followed that up with a 15.26 in the finals. Elsewhere, NHS junior Patrick Taylor was tenth in the triple jump (41-7 1/2), and Witchella took ninth in the shot put (34-1 1/2). The Norwich 400-meter boys’ relay team ran a 44.81 in the preliminary round, and did not qualify for the finals.