CICERO – High school athletes were put to the test over the course of the weekend as the competition was among the fastest at the New York Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) Track and Field Championship meet in years at the Cicero-North Syracuse facility.
Norwich track and field head coach Shaun Horan said going into the meet that anything can happen in the championships. His word held true over the two-day meet as one little mishap costed some athletes everything, while playing into the hands of others.
Ending on a long note
The Purple Tornado’s Caroline Stewart started the first day of action as the first one to stand on the podium, placing fifth in the triple jump. Her medal came down to the last jump of her high school career.
With her distance of 36 feet-6.75 inches being the furthest listed before the final jump, Stewart needed to jump a foot longer in order to place in the top six.
Giving it everything she had, Stewart jumped into the sanded landing pit at a distance of 37 feet-8.5 inches, a personal best for her career.
Later in the afternoon, her and Unadilla Valley’s Julia Oglesby competed in the Division-II long jump finals.
Stewart, continuing with her mojo from the triple jump, out-jumped her longest distance of the season on the first attempt of the event with 17 feet-8.75 inches.
Oglesby needed her first jump to warm-up and find her groove. By her second, Oglesby landed at 17 feet-9 inches––a distance which earned her sixth-place on the podium.
Hearing the results of the Oglesby’s jump, Stewart used it as motivation to propel her further. Stewart’s next jump resulted in a distance of 18 feet-1.25 inches. Stewart finished fourth, taking home two medals for her final state championship appearance.
Dashing down the track
The long jump was the second event of the day for Oglesby, as she raced in the 100-meter dash preliminaries before.
Facing the toughest heat she has all season, Oglesby was the third sprinter to cross the finish line in 12.6 seconds. With the top two of the heat automatically qualifying for the finals, Oglesby had seen where everyone else in the event stood time-wise.
Once the times were finalized, the top eight for the finals were announce. Oglesby missed on the 100 meter dash finals by .09 of a second.
In the girls 200 meter dash, Sherburne-Earlville’s Amberlyn Robertson just missed her chance at a medal by .2 of a second. Robertson was in the heat that qualified four of eight fastest girls, a heat she finished at the fifth fastest.
On the boys side of the same events – the 100 and 200 meter dashes – Norwich’s Zack Race saw some of the fastest competition he has seen in his career.
Coming in second in his heat during prelims, Race dashed to a time of 10.79 seconds. His time seeded him fourth for the finals race, which was the first event of day two.
S-E’s Lincoln Owen raced against the fastest athlete in the preliminary heats of the 100 meter dash. Glenmour Osbourne of Ardsley came across the finish line first with a time of 10.61.
Owen, coming in just .5 seconds after as the third place runner of the heat, had to wait until all times were finalized.
Separated by .001 seconds, Owen just missed on his chance to run in the finals at the championship as Marcus Baisi edged the Marauder speedster out for the last spot.
Just a few races later, Race was part of the trials in the 200 meter dash. Of his heat, Race finished second with a time of 22.02 to automatically qualify once again.
Individually, Race was done for the afternoon and would have to wait for day two of the championships to see a medal in 100 and 200 events.
He turned his attention to the 4x100 meter relay with teammates David Berger, Scott Tomanocy, and Eric Conant.
Heartbreaking finale
Working on their hand-offs at Cicero-North Syracuse track a day prior to the event, the speedy foursome was ready. Seeded high in the event and with a good percentage to win, the four took to their spots on the track to set up their marks with good feelings.
Berger started off great as he fired out of the gate quickly to get to Race, the second runner of the group.
Throughout the season, Race had the event won midway through his split. However, at the state championships – even running his fastest speed – Race was a stride behind the leader as he headed toward Tomanocy.
Looking for a purple jersey to take the corner to head into the final stretch, one could not be found.
A miscue in the baton exchange between Race and Tomanocy caused the Norwich team to not finish the race and dashing the hopes of winning a medal for the final time the four would run together in the event.
With Race’s day done, he now focused on the final day. Tomanocy and Conant used the 4x400 meter relay to redeem themselves.
Fast recovery
Tomanocy and Conant were teamed with Noah Bufalini and Gabe Gawronski for the 1600 meter event.
This Purple Tornado fab four have broken the 4x400 school record a few times this season, the most recent happening at the state qualifying meet a week earlier.
Tomanocy kicked off the event, setting a good pace for the Norwich group. He handed the baton over to Bufalini, who continued with the pace.
Bufalini turned the reigns over to Conant for his split. Making up ground at the team was four runners behind the leader, Conant raced the fastest split of anyone in the event with a 50.13 to pass all ahead and take the overall lead of the heat.
Conant gave the lead to the anchor runner Gawronski.
Battling a bad blister, Gawronski showed signs of the pain but pushed through. Holding nearly the same pace of his teammate Conant, Gawronski crossed the finish line as the first runner of the event with his spilt of 50.61 seconds.
Together, the team ran their fastest time of the season of 3:27.91 to close out the season with a new school record. For Division-II, the team snagged a sixth-place medal for the NYSPHSAA podium.
Record running Gawronskis
Gawronski’s blister started to aile him following the 800 meter run, an event his placed third in for all of New York state public schools with his time of 1:54.89.
Starting the two lap race near the front of the pack, Gawronski kept his pace before taking the lead on the back stretch of the second lap.
With the other runners closing in and the blister started to cause pain, Gawronski pushed through the end of the race, crossing the finish line in fifth. As both Division-II and Division-I ran together in the heats, times needed to be sorted.
Once established, Gawronski headed over to the podium for his third-place medal.
Kid sister Katie was determined to cause waves in 400 hurdles event. As one of the few sophomores in the race, Gawronski was just racing to do her best.
Her best resulted in her finishing second in Gawronski’s heat with a time of 1:06.38. That time is now a school record––one that she broke earlier this season and a record she has continued to break over the last two seasons.
Also participating in the first day of the meet was the girls 4x100 relay team of Norwich and Molly Avolio of Unadilla Valley in the shot put event.
The Lady Tornado team took home a 10th place finish as they raced to a time of 51.16 seconds. The team came in fourth in their heat.
Avolio used her third throw of the afternoon to place 13th at her first trip to the state championships.
Her final throw was nearly four feet better than the previous, setting her up for a fourth place finish in her group of throwers.
Day 2
The second day of competition started off with the 100 meter dash championship, which saw Race against some of the fastest in New York State and Oglesby jumping for the high jump event.
Oglesby cleared the starting height of 5 feet, a height many dropped out of early. However, just two inches higher, Oglesby couldn’t cleanly land over the bar, ending her meet earlier than expected at 5 feet.
Leaving just one competitor to represent Chenango County, Race had a battle of his own. His knee was finally catching up to him.
It was wonder that it lasted to this point as it was, but Race was not going to let the injury put a damper on his last state meet of his career.
Facing the fastest athletes he has all season, Race dashed to a fourth-place finish in the 100 meter event with a time of 11.05. His time and place qualified Race for the New York State Federation championships, which was to be raced following the conclusion of all NYSPHSAA events.
Midway through the morning, Race took to the track for the Division-II 200 meter dash finals, running against nearly the same competition from the earlier event.
Coming in third-place with a time of 22.25, Race once again qualified for the Federation Championships.
With two races left, Race was begging his knee to hold up.
The 100 meter dash hosted the top eight runners in both Division-I and Division-II. His time of 11.38 earned Race eighth place. It was visible during the federation championships that the knee was ailing him.
Considering the amount of running in just a short period of time, Race’s knee had enough. He made the decision to not run in the 200 meter event.
Now having a few days to relax and prepare for the national competition, Race will join Conant, Berger, Gawronski, and others in Greensboro, NC for the New Balance nationals on June 15 to 17 to face the best of the best throughout the United States.
The results will be published at www.nationalscholastic.org over the course of the three day competition. For more information about the meet, visit the website.