Track and field: State qualifier

Bound for states!

Refuse-to-lose attitude fuels Sullivan West’s best 3200 time as Bulldogs advance to state championships

By RICHARD A. ROSS

KINGSTON, NY — Sullivan West’s Jamie Clifford is graduating this June but not before she takes her unquenchable drive and desire to the track at Cicero-North Syracuse High School on June 4 to run the anchor leg in the Bulldogs’ 3200 relay in the New York State Track and Field Championships. Clifford was there last year but fell in the open 800. She swore she would be back.

She’s a young woman of her word.

It’s her last chance to run with her beloved long-time running mates April Ackermann and Jessica Wagner and another chance to hook up with Jessica Weyandt, a senior who has worked long and hard to earn her spot on the 4x800 team that just qualified for the states with their season-best time of 9:56.5. The Bulldogs registered top in the small schools division (Division II), thereby earning the chance to advance to the big stage next weekend. The time was shy of the school record of 9:44.9 set at last year’s state qualifier. Tri-Valley won that race with a time of 9:44.6.

All four girls ran cross-country in the fall and while Wagner and Weyandt continued to run relentlessly during indoor track season, Clifford and Ackermann switched over to basketball in the winter. The team reunited once the outdoor track season began. All four have benefited greatly from the enlightened tutelage of Sullivan West’s running guru George Shakelton, especially the three veterans.

From the outset of cross-country, Shakelton has been programming his runners with a positive, hard-working ethic that he envisioned would yield his 4x800 team a chance to lay it on the line at the New York State Championships. For the state qualifier this year, Shakelton advised his girls to try to focus on Warwick, Division I’s juggernaut, rather than worry about Tri-Valley. Meanwhile, Weyandt provided the final piece to the puzzle as she replaced Amanda Ward in the 3200 relay.

It was a tough decision but Shakelton knew he had to field his four fastest runners if the Bulldogs were to reclaim their edge over Tri-Valley, which won the event at last year’s qualifier. Weyandt’s poise and unflagging energy were a huge asset to Sullivan West and a shock to Tri-Valley, Sullivan West’s main competition for the spot at states in the event.

The Bears fully expected Ward to be on the team and arranged their runners to get out to a fast start. Meghan Drown took the first leg for the Bears and briefly passed April Ackermann at about 200 meters but Ackermann turned on the jets and with 150 meters to go, she got her team a five-to-ten-yard lead. Tri-Valley’s pre-race strategy was to build up a big lead over Ward like they did at the Monticello Games but the plan didn’t pan out as Weyandt matched up with Erin Beach and extended the lead. Jessica Wagner chimed in with an outstanding 2:30 widening the lead against Courtney Roosa and Clifford took the baton with a big lead. But to the shock and surprise of her coach and teammates she went out very slowly, running a 73-second first quarter. Clifford had gone out way too fast and faded in the open 800 earlier in the day. She must have taken Shakelton’s advice to slow down some to the extreme.

Meanwhile, Tri-Valley’s Miranda Benevides was gaining ground but Clifford kicked it up in the second quarter and the Bulldogs got their state berth by finishing ahead of Tri-Valley by 12-plus seconds.

Sullivan West’s foursome showed their elation with grins and hugs. In that moment, all the work, the sore muscles, the runs in the cold and driving rain and the endless hours of practice paid off for the coach and his team. The same four nearly earned a berth in the 1,600 relay but a blazing first leg by Onteora’s Paloma Krakower helped give her team a six-second differential over Sullivan West as Onteora (4:09.8) finished first. Sullivan West came in second with a time of 4:15.8.

While most people’s attention this spring has been on baseball and softball played in front of cheering fans, these warriors of track and field have persevered and run their hearts out. While only a few made it to states, the joy and satisfaction of having pushed themselves to run better times and throw or jump farther or higher provided a great feeling of satisfaction to the legions of kids who competed for their schools this spring. See next week’s River Reporter for a wrap up of the season and a listing of personal bests from kids around our area.

Other Sullivan County athletes who qualified for the states included Eldred’s Kyle Anthony, who led all contestants in the long jump with a leap of 21-7¼ and the triple jump with a season high 44-7. Anthony will represent Division II in both events. Tri-Valley’s Alan Coombe won the Division II qualifying bid in the shot put with a throw of 47-2¾ while Bulldog Alan Ackermann heaved an outstanding 144-9 in the discus. Liberty’s Chris Goldsmith won the Division II pentathlon with 2,671 points. Goldsmith has been coming on strong all season. Tri-Valley’s Travis Wolfe rounds out the Sullivan County contingent. Wolfe, who holds the second best time in the state in the 3000-meter steeplechase, bested all comers in both Division I and II with a speedy 9:37.6. Wolfe, who is the defending Empire State Games gold medalist in the event, will be running his last race for Tri-Valley before heading for Lafayette College in Easton, PA in the fall.