Indoor track: OCIAA league championships

Liberty’s Schwartz and Eldred’s Anthony soar to victory

Eldred finishes sixth in boys’ meet; Sullivan County kids register great efforts

By RICHARD A. ROSS

WEST POINT, NY –— It may not be Barnum and Bailey’s “Greatest Show on Earth,” but the Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) League Championship meet which took place on February 18 was every bit as exciting as a three-ring circus.

As guns resoundingly signaled the start of the races, sideshows at the high-jump pit, the long jump and triple-jump pits, the throwing circle and the pole vault unveiled their own stories.

For the Sullivan County high school athletes, the league meet is usually not about winning. Going up against heavyweight big schools, such as Warwick, Washingtonville, Monroe-Woodbury, Kingston, Newburgh Free Academy and Cornwall, is an uphill battle. Those schools have huge talent pools, which give them a great advantage over tiny schools like Class D Eldred or even over Class B Sullivan West and Liberty.

“Our goal today is about personal bests,” Eldred’s coach Frank Schorling said at the outset of the morning. Schorling would get a lot more than that from his boys team before the day was through.

Boys meet highlights

Given the backdrop of the daunting competition, the victories of two individuals from smaller schools, and the impressive team performance at the meet, constitute the major part of this story.

Liberty’s Jacob Schwartz was coming off a second-place finish in the pole vault at the Class B Sectionals on February 4, where he registered a jump of 12-6. But this time out Schwartz had set his sights higher. Allowing the other jumpers to work their way through the lower heights, Schwartz stayed out of the mix until the bar reached 12 feet.

The stalwart seasoned jumper, who loves to pole vault, easily cleared that height, along with Ben Catanzaro and Mike Mador of Warwick. Schwartz skipped the jump at 12-3, which Catazano cleared, and returned to clear the bar at 12-6, which would have given him the meet title.

Schwartz wanted that, and something more. He persevered by jumping a personal best at 13 feet. He was urged on by the rhythmic clapping of all the jumpers, coaches and fans at the pole vault pit. It was a moment he will always remember, as will his teammates from Liberty, who cheered him on.

Schwartz competed at the Empire State games last summer and finished sixth, clearing 3.50 meters or 11:48 feet. With little access to pole vaulting practice at Liberty, and none at the Sullivan County developmental meets, his league-winning effort is that much more noteworthy.

Eldred’s Kyle Anthony defended his OCIAA triple jump title with a leap of 46-1¼ barely beating out Goshen’s Nasim Siddeeq (46-0). The jump marked an improvement of over two feet over last year’s winning effort. Anthony won the league title last year with a jump of 44-0¼.

Earlier in the day, Siddeeq had edged out Anthony in the long jump with a section-best leap of 22-3¼. Anthony took second with a jump of 22-0 ¼. Last year, Anthony won with a jump of 20-6¼ to Siddeq’s 20-4¾.

The triple jump was this meet’s last event and took place in a nearly empty Gillis Field House. Dave McFadgeon of NFA, the section’s other premiere leaper, was at the Simplot games in Pocatello, ID.

Anthony also put forth a great effort in the 4x800 relay, even though Eldred failed to score in that event.

Eldred’s Tyler Laput took fifth in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 8.53. Jesse Fuca of Warwick won the event in 7.81. Laput also turned in a fifth place in the pole vault, with a jump of 11 feet.

Eldred garnered 26 points overall, tying them with Washingtonville and Goshen for an all-time, school-best finish in the league meet by nailing down sixth place. Liberty finished 11th (10 points). Sullivan West finished 14th (7 points).

Tri-Valley fielded a very small team as most of the school’s major competitors were at Penn State.

Warwick easily won the meet with 139 points. Monticello’s Brendan Devine took fourth place in the 3200 (9:56.38) and Sullivan West’s Mike VanWagenen and Colin Seidl broke school records in the two-mile and mile respectively. For complete results of the meet, consult www.armorytrack.com.

Girls meet highlights

In the girls meet, Warwick prevailed with 82 points as Aislinn Ryan repeated her 2005 sweep of the 1000 in a section-best 2:58.29, the 1500 (4:39.45) and the 3000 (10:09.8).

Sullivan West’s Eleanor Bryan recorded a personal best in the 1500-meter race walk at 8:44.4. It was a milestone for the hard-working senior, who still wonders what she did in the sectional meet to warrant a disqualification. Chelsea Schadt broke the indoor school record for the mile, which had stood at 5:32. Schadt ran the mile in 5:26.02. Sullivan West runners Jessica Wagner, Charlotte Peters and Sara Alsdorf also turned in fine performances (more details to follow).

Liberty’s Kim McKay took fifth place in the pole vault (7-6). Sullivan West tied with Liberty for 16th place along with Chester. Each team had two points. Monticello and Eldred each scored one point. Eldred’s point came from a sixth-place finish in the high jump by Annie Babula, who recorded her personal best by clearing 4-2.

After consulting with coaches, another article entitled “They gave it their all,” will recap each team’s list of personal bests.

For additional photos and more details visit riverreportersports.com.