Indoor track

Athletes up the ante at OCIAA league meet

By RICHARD A. ROSS

WEST POINT, NY — Developmental meets are one thing, but a league championship meet is something of an entirely different nature. As the schools of the Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) began arriving en masse for this winter’s indoor championship meet on February 13, it was a given that many of the hundreds of athletes present would put forth their best effort to date for their personal edification and for the collective pride of their teams.

Before the last buses departed from the Gillis Field House at close to 11:00 p.m., numerous OCIAA best times and distances of the year had fallen by the wayside. Overall, this year’s crop of runners, jumpers and throwers fared far better than last year’s as evidenced by a comparison of back-to-back league meet results.

In the boys’ competition, 10 of the 16 staged events featured winners’ times and distances that outpaced last year’s league bests. On the girls’ side of the ledger, six of 12 events featured gains over last year’s league bests.

With all the OCIAA schools competing regardless of size, the advantage went to the larger schools with the greater talent pools. By comparison, the upcoming sectionals will divide all the Section 9 schools into two groups: schools that have over 600 students from grades 10 to 12 and those that have fewer than 600 students. The large group sectionals will be held on February 19 and the smaller group sectionals will be held on February 21.

Newburgh captured the boys’ team title with 92 points. Warwick came in second (70½) followed by Washingtonville (50). In terms of Sullivan County schools, Eldred tied for eighth place with Cornwall (20), Tri-Valley (18) took tenth, and Sullivan West (4) tied O’Neill for 17th place.

The large teams held sway in the girls’ competition as well with talent-rich Monroe-Woodbury taking first place with 100 points. Newburgh took second (80) and Warwick came in third (64). The only Sullivan County school to register points was Monticello (6). The Panthers came in 16th. A total of 25 teams competed.

Warwick’s Aislinn Ryan, the reigning national leader in the mile race, waltzed through the local competition in what amounted to a workout for the bright-eyed junior. Ryan easily swept the 3000 (10:51.4), the 1500 (4:48.7) and the 1000 (2:54.9). Ryan’s times in the 1500 and 1000 were the league’s high-water marks but not her fastest by any stretch. As evidenced by her convincing wins in the Millrose Mile and the mile at the Boston Indoor Games, Ryan knows how to turn on the jets when it’s needed.

Eldred’s Kyle Anthony notched come-from-behind wins in both the long jump (20-06 ¾) and the triple jump (44-0 ¾). Anthony’s best jump of the year came at the Suffern Invitational in January (44-5 ½). Other milestone performances included a long jump by Marlboro’s Meghan Darling, whose leap of 16-3 ¼ showed a three-inch improvement in distance. FDR’s Arian Davis showed explosive power in her high jump approach. The athletic sophomore cleared 5-3, improving her season’s best by an inch. She has jumped 5-6 outdoors. Middletown’s Alex Reid blazed to an outlandish 7.4 in the 55-meter high hurdles. His time is just one-tenth of a second behind this year’s national best. The all-time national high school record is 7.08.

While most of the athletes present failed to medal, many recorded personal bests. Here are some noteworthy performances from Sullivan County kids, reported by their coaches: Eldred’s Katie Hanson came in sixth in the weight throw with a toss of more than 30 feet. Grace Babula ran a personal best in the 3000 (13:34). Nick Gottleib took four seconds off of his best time in the 300 (41.4). He was second in his heat. Brian Daboul was first in his heat in the 300 (40.4). Lindsay Warden ran a personal best in the 600 (2:13.5). Her time was nine seconds better than her previous best. Maggie Snyder turned in her best 1500 of the season (5:47.9). She broke 5:30 last year in outdoor track. Kieran Pierce ran his fastest 3200 of this season with a time of 10:48. Tyler Laput’s time of 8.2 in the hurdles was his best.

Sullivan West’s Mike VanWagenen took fourth in the 3200 (10:08), a time that is close to his best in outdoor track last spring. VanWagenen’s indoor season has been deliberately low key. Chelsea Schadt broke six minutes for the first time in the 1500 (5:54). Her time is only four seconds shy of the state qualifying mark. Matt Layman broke the 11-minute mark in the 3200, a goal set for him by coach Ron Bauer.

Coach George Shakelton was very happy with his team’s 4x800 relay. With Amanda Ward sidelined with a shoulder injury, Jessica Armstrong stepped in and ran a 2:51 leg only three seconds off of Ward’s best time. Chelsea Schadt took 12 seconds off of her personal best in her leg of the 800 and Eleanor Bryan knocked 10 seconds off of her best leg. Chelsea Peters ran a 6:11 in the 1500. Her time was 26 seconds faster than her previous best. Ashley Murphy sped up her fastest time in the 55 hurdles from a previous best of 12.1 to a new mark of 10.9.

Tri-Valley’s Andy Garigliano recorded a personal best in the shot put with a heave of 47-11. Dan Knox long jumped 18-8¼ and high jumped 5-8. Travis Wolfe’s time of 4:37.6 was his season best in the 1600, and Jenn Gorman recorded a lifetime best in the 300 (46.3). She had her best performance in the hurdles (9.5).

Visit riverreporter.com for additional photos from the league meet.