12th annual REK Friends Forever Invitational hosts 15 schools and hundreds of high school athletes
NORWICH – The 12th annual REK Friends Forever Invitational started with the 100 meter memorial walk with all competitors following family members and friends of the three girls the meet honors every year. Following the completion of the walk, the first event was shortly underway.
Seven schools from Chenango County, along with eight schools from the surrounding areas, brought to the track and field athletes to Norwich for the annual event.
The track and field event at the Norwich facility started with sunshine and warm temperatures but the gusts of winds indicated something was coming.
The first half of the meet kicked off with the girls and boys of the 4x100 meter relay.
Finishing with a time of 51.12 were Hailey Colabelli, Riley Marsh, Emily Shattuck and Caroline Stewart. The time was the best time of their heat as well as well other heats, placing the four at the top of the podium.
Their time was also just .6 seconds off of the meet record, set back in 2010 by the Oxford team of Emily Woodford, Katie Woodford, Jesse Russo and Amanda Marks.
Greene’s Haley DeJager, Gloria Stracquadanio, Brooke Austin, and Madison Rice placed fourth in the race while Kristen Chambers, Rowan Sherrick, McKeyli Decker, and Zamira Caldwell of Bainbridge-Guilford snagged sixth place, the final spot on the podium.
Last year, the Norwich male runners of Zack Race, David Berger, Eric Conant and Ky’Sawn Veale set the time at 44.39 seconds for the full lap race.
As Veale graduated, Scott Tomanocy has filled his spot nicely as he and the three remaining sprinters broke the record once again. This year’s time was 43.67, nearly a full second faster than the previous record.
Coming in right behind Norwich for second place was Coy Austin, Nate Erickson, Spencer Klumpp, and Tristan Austin of the Greene Trojans.
Oxford’s Josh Williams, Jacob Smith, Calvin Smith, and Xavier Cruz ran for fourth place with a time of 48.49 seconds.
Taking a first place finish of the 4x800 meter relay event was Unadilla Valley with the team of Paige Catena, Sierra Schrag, Sophia Off and Rebecca Ruffino.
Each runner raced two laps around the track for a total of eight to complete the race. The Storm runners ran a time of 11:21.49 then stood on top of the podium, awarding their entire team 10 points for the win.
Oxford’s Jessie Meehan, Kaitlin Mulwane, Andrea Dempsey and Shanee Baker-Bush came in as the fifth fastest team to finish and the Norwich girls finished in third.
On the boys side of the event, Norwich’s Gabe Gawronski, Noah Bufalini, Stanton Baker, and Julian Roque ran a time of 9:21.97 for first place.
Sherburne-Earlville came in third place as Ryan Asma, Adam Aldrich, John Maltzan, and Harrison DuBois with a time of 10:06.14. The Trojan’s Robert Champlain, Steven Grammer, Clinton Orzell, Nolan Scofield finished in fifth place.
Norwich had a second team run in the same event. The younger team of Lex Genute, Andrew Meccariello, John Matlack-Grey, and Kody Harrison placed fourth in the race with a time of 10:07.24.
The 100 meter dash semifinals were ran next for both the boys and girls. Four heats took place with the top three finishers of each heat moving on to the finals that took place later in the evening.
In the second heat of girls finals, the crowd was given an exciting race to watch with UV’s Julia Oglesby and the Marauders Amberlyn Robertson.
The two were neck and neck for 90 meters of the race before Oglesby took the slight advantage over Robertson at the end, coming in first by .2 second.
Norwich’s Shattuck finished in third and Jadyn Munson placed sixth, running in the same finals heat.
The bad weather was closing in fast during the boys 100 meter finals. Again with two heats for the finals, the second was two determine the top six places.
The Purple Tornado had three racers – Berger, Conant and Race – in the finals while Austin of Greene and Cruz of the Blackhawks were also included in the heat.
Conant got a good jump off the starting block and took the early lead against Race, the heavy favorite for the event. Race caught Conant midway down the track and edged out his teammate for first.
However, the times from the race were not saved due to the heavy weather rolling in and the placing positions were determined by the semifinal times.
Following the semifinal of the 100 meter dash, the 100 meter hurdling events took place.
On the girls side of the event, the Tornado’s Katie Gawronski ran a personal best 17.42 seconds to finish as the top racer in the fast hurdling race.
With her time of 17.92 seconds, Kyleigh George of Unadilla Valley finished second behind Norwich’s Gawronski and the Bobcats’ Kristen Chambers placed fifth in the event.
Bryce Graham of Edmeston placed third in the 110 meter hurdles for the boys event, racing to his time of 16.78 seconds.
Greene’s Greg Wynter came in fifth with a time of 18.15 as he leaped cleanly over the 4-foot high obstacles.
Norwich girls distance runner Nicole Jeffrey continued her winning ways as she finished first in the 1500 meter run.
Jeffrey’s Purple Tornado teammate Jada Reynolds placed third in the event with B-G’s Kate Roefs coming in right behind her for fourth place.
UV’s Sadie Dibbell and Paige Catena along with Maddy Smith of Edmeston were part of the field.
Dibble and Catena finished just outside the podium standing in seventh and eight place. Smith crossed the finish line with a time that set her in the 14th place spot.
The Storm’s Josh Nogaret took home second with his time of 5:04.44 while Norwich’s Stanton Baker place third.
UV’s Andrew Grace came in three places behind his teammate, Nogaret, with a time of 5:13.40. Purple Tornado Noah Bufalini snagged with final points spot for the 1600 meter race.
The race ended up being the only long distance run of the meet.
The 400 meter dash was swept by Norwich runners on both the boys and girls side of the event.
Colabelli stood at the top of the podium as she ran the one lap around the track in 1:01.65. Greene’s Rice finished second with her teammate Haley Dejager coming in fourth place.
Finishing in between the two Lady Trojan runners was the Lady Storm’s Isabel Mendoza.
UV’s Jordan Mirabito took second place in the 400 meter dash, finishing just a second shy of the winner Scott Tomanocy of the Tornado. Tomanocy’s top time was 53.20 seconds.
The third place finisher was Greene’s Spencer Klumpp followed by Norwich’s Nik Barber in fourth and the Tornado’s Griffin Mills in fifth.
Klumpp’s Trojan Teammate Nate Barry wrapped up the top six runners with his time of 55.5 seconds.
At the conclusion of the 100 meter finals, all seniors of the meet were honored for their dedication the sport during their high school careers.
The girls high jump was the only field event of the meet to be completed.
Oglesby took the top spot on the podium for the event with her jump of 5 feet-2 inches. Her winning height tied both the event and facility record.
The rest of the field events for the meet had started but were incomplete as not every one in the event was able to compete.
Just after all the seniors were recognized, the 50-60 mph winds picked up and the rain came down hard. The organizers originally went on a weather delay and later decided to cancel the rest of the meet.
The REK Friends Forever Invitational will look to take place the first Friday in May of the 2019 season.
Seven schools from Chenango County, along with eight schools from the surrounding areas, brought to the track and field athletes to Norwich for the annual event.
The track and field event at the Norwich facility started with sunshine and warm temperatures but the gusts of winds indicated something was coming.
The first half of the meet kicked off with the girls and boys of the 4x100 meter relay.
Finishing with a time of 51.12 were Hailey Colabelli, Riley Marsh, Emily Shattuck and Caroline Stewart. The time was the best time of their heat as well as well other heats, placing the four at the top of the podium.
Their time was also just .6 seconds off of the meet record, set back in 2010 by the Oxford team of Emily Woodford, Katie Woodford, Jesse Russo and Amanda Marks.
Greene’s Haley DeJager, Gloria Stracquadanio, Brooke Austin, and Madison Rice placed fourth in the race while Kristen Chambers, Rowan Sherrick, McKeyli Decker, and Zamira Caldwell of Bainbridge-Guilford snagged sixth place, the final spot on the podium.
Last year, the Norwich male runners of Zack Race, David Berger, Eric Conant and Ky’Sawn Veale set the time at 44.39 seconds for the full lap race.
As Veale graduated, Scott Tomanocy has filled his spot nicely as he and the three remaining sprinters broke the record once again. This year’s time was 43.67, nearly a full second faster than the previous record.
Coming in right behind Norwich for second place was Coy Austin, Nate Erickson, Spencer Klumpp, and Tristan Austin of the Greene Trojans.
Oxford’s Josh Williams, Jacob Smith, Calvin Smith, and Xavier Cruz ran for fourth place with a time of 48.49 seconds.
Taking a first place finish of the 4x800 meter relay event was Unadilla Valley with the team of Paige Catena, Sierra Schrag, Sophia Off and Rebecca Ruffino.
Each runner raced two laps around the track for a total of eight to complete the race. The Storm runners ran a time of 11:21.49 then stood on top of the podium, awarding their entire team 10 points for the win.
Oxford’s Jessie Meehan, Kaitlin Mulwane, Andrea Dempsey and Shanee Baker-Bush came in as the fifth fastest team to finish and the Norwich girls finished in third.
On the boys side of the event, Norwich’s Gabe Gawronski, Noah Bufalini, Stanton Baker, and Julian Roque ran a time of 9:21.97 for first place.
Sherburne-Earlville came in third place as Ryan Asma, Adam Aldrich, John Maltzan, and Harrison DuBois with a time of 10:06.14. The Trojan’s Robert Champlain, Steven Grammer, Clinton Orzell, Nolan Scofield finished in fifth place.
Norwich had a second team run in the same event. The younger team of Lex Genute, Andrew Meccariello, John Matlack-Grey, and Kody Harrison placed fourth in the race with a time of 10:07.24.
The 100 meter dash semifinals were ran next for both the boys and girls. Four heats took place with the top three finishers of each heat moving on to the finals that took place later in the evening.
In the second heat of girls finals, the crowd was given an exciting race to watch with UV’s Julia Oglesby and the Marauders Amberlyn Robertson.
The two were neck and neck for 90 meters of the race before Oglesby took the slight advantage over Robertson at the end, coming in first by .2 second.
Norwich’s Shattuck finished in third and Jadyn Munson placed sixth, running in the same finals heat.
The bad weather was closing in fast during the boys 100 meter finals. Again with two heats for the finals, the second was two determine the top six places.
The Purple Tornado had three racers – Berger, Conant and Race – in the finals while Austin of Greene and Cruz of the Blackhawks were also included in the heat.
Conant got a good jump off the starting block and took the early lead against Race, the heavy favorite for the event. Race caught Conant midway down the track and edged out his teammate for first.
However, the times from the race were not saved due to the heavy weather rolling in and the placing positions were determined by the semifinal times.
Following the semifinal of the 100 meter dash, the 100 meter hurdling events took place.
On the girls side of the event, the Tornado’s Katie Gawronski ran a personal best 17.42 seconds to finish as the top racer in the fast hurdling race.
With her time of 17.92 seconds, Kyleigh George of Unadilla Valley finished second behind Norwich’s Gawronski and the Bobcats’ Kristen Chambers placed fifth in the event.
Bryce Graham of Edmeston placed third in the 110 meter hurdles for the boys event, racing to his time of 16.78 seconds.
Greene’s Greg Wynter came in fifth with a time of 18.15 as he leaped cleanly over the 4-foot high obstacles.
Norwich girls distance runner Nicole Jeffrey continued her winning ways as she finished first in the 1500 meter run.
Jeffrey’s Purple Tornado teammate Jada Reynolds placed third in the event with B-G’s Kate Roefs coming in right behind her for fourth place.
UV’s Sadie Dibbell and Paige Catena along with Maddy Smith of Edmeston were part of the field.
Dibble and Catena finished just outside the podium standing in seventh and eight place. Smith crossed the finish line with a time that set her in the 14th place spot.
The Storm’s Josh Nogaret took home second with his time of 5:04.44 while Norwich’s Stanton Baker place third.
UV’s Andrew Grace came in three places behind his teammate, Nogaret, with a time of 5:13.40. Purple Tornado Noah Bufalini snagged with final points spot for the 1600 meter race.
The race ended up being the only long distance run of the meet.
The 400 meter dash was swept by Norwich runners on both the boys and girls side of the event.
Colabelli stood at the top of the podium as she ran the one lap around the track in 1:01.65. Greene’s Rice finished second with her teammate Haley Dejager coming in fourth place.
Finishing in between the two Lady Trojan runners was the Lady Storm’s Isabel Mendoza.
UV’s Jordan Mirabito took second place in the 400 meter dash, finishing just a second shy of the winner Scott Tomanocy of the Tornado. Tomanocy’s top time was 53.20 seconds.
The third place finisher was Greene’s Spencer Klumpp followed by Norwich’s Nik Barber in fourth and the Tornado’s Griffin Mills in fifth.
Klumpp’s Trojan Teammate Nate Barry wrapped up the top six runners with his time of 55.5 seconds.
At the conclusion of the 100 meter finals, all seniors of the meet were honored for their dedication the sport during their high school careers.
The girls high jump was the only field event of the meet to be completed.
Oglesby took the top spot on the podium for the event with her jump of 5 feet-2 inches. Her winning height tied both the event and facility record.
The rest of the field events for the meet had started but were incomplete as not every one in the event was able to compete.
Just after all the seniors were recognized, the 50-60 mph winds picked up and the rain came down hard. The organizers originally went on a weather delay and later decided to cancel the rest of the meet.
The REK Friends Forever Invitational will look to take place the first Friday in May of the 2019 season.
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