Track and field state qualifier

County’s best head to states

Section 9 State Qualifier produces a spate of county champions

By RICHARD A. ROSS

WARWICK, NY — Mother Nature relented at last as the Section 9 Track and Field State Qualifying Meet, originally slated for June 1, got underway on June 4 after a pair of rain cancellations. Despite the fact that all schools from the section made their way to Dietz Stadium in Kingston on June 1, relentless thunder and lightening forced the meet’s postponement to the next day.

But a decision was rendered early on June 2 to forego the meet due to continued inclement weather. Despite some protests about the advisability of staging the meet on Sunday, the competition was held with the state meet looming this weekend. Some athletes did not participate due to Sunday activities and commitments.

Schools were divided into two divisions for the purpose of state qualification. Schools with 600 students or more in grades 9 to 11 were pooled in Division I. They included Cornwall, FDR, Goshen, Kingston, Middletown, Monroe-Woodbury, Monticello, Newburgh Free Academy, Onteora, Port Jervis, Rondout Valley, Saugerties, Valley Central, Wallkill, Warwick and Washingtonville.

All of the Sullivan County schools, except for Monticello, were grouped in Division II, which included John S. Burke, Chapel Field, Coleman, Chester, Eldred, Ellenville, Fallsburg, Highland, James I. O’Neill, Liberty, Livingston Manor, Marlboro, Millbrook, New Paltz, Pine Plains, Red Hook, Rhinebeck, Spackenkill, Sullivan West, Tri-Valley and Webutuck.

The state meet will be held at St. Lawrence University on June 10 and 11.

The competition was fierce, as only one competitor from each division and each event would move on to the states. A third person could be sent if he or she met the state standard.

Tri-Valley’s boys fared extremely well. The Bears, who were disappointed by their recent Class C Sectional loss to Sullivan West, made up for it big time.

The Bears will be sending Sean Messenger as the Division II winner in the 110 hurdles. Struggling in the semi-finals, Messenger won the finals with a time of 14.8.

He came back to join forces with teammates Max Fiedler, Michael Kaplan and Derek Smith to win the Division II 3200 relay with a time of 8:22.9. Senior Jon Huppke, a member of the team’s 3200 relay team, was away on a senior trip. Huppke will probably return as one of the four runners in the state meet. The decision rests with Tri-Valley coach Joe Iatauro. Fiedler will also be heading to the state meet as the Division II representative in the 400 intermediate hurdles. He won the event in a time of 57.1.

Tri-Valley will be sending discus thrower Kanacia James, whose heave of 92-4 won Division II.

Other Sullivan County athletes who qualified include Eldred’s Kyle Anthony, who will be heading off to represent Division II in the long jump and the triple jump. His leaps of 22-10½ and 47-8¾ were the best in Section 9. He also could have competed in the 400, as he bested the standard of 50.2 with his time of 49.7. Anthony opted out of that event.

Teammate Max Gunther won the Division II 800 with a time of 2:00.5. Sullivan West’s Alan Ackermann reasserted his Section 9 dominance in the discus with a best throw of 153-2. Ackermann will be Sullivan West’s only representative to states this year.

Fallsburg’s Matt Moore won the Division II shot put with a toss of 47-2½. Liberty’s Jacob Schwartz secured his place on the Section 9 team on May 31, the first day of the state qualifier, with a pole vault of 13-6. Schwartz cleared the bar with plenty to spare and hopes to break through at states with a quantum leap.

Other county athletes gave it their all at the qualifier but came up short, thereby ending their seasons, and in the case of the seniors, their high school track careers.

Here were some fine performances from county athletes who failed to qualify for states:

Jon Figueroa (SW) took third in the 100-yard dash (11.3). Figueroa also took fifth in the 110 hurdles (16.4).

Colin Seidl (SW) was sixth in the 1600 (all schools combined) 4:35.8. It was his best time in the event and was a national qualifying time.

Brendan Devine (Monticello) finished sixth in the 3200 (10:09.1).

Gavin Perrella (TV) was fourth in the 400 hurdles (62.7).

Garrett Gray (TV) was sixth in the shot put (42-9½). Gray also finished third in the javelin (not a state event) with a throw of 140-10.

Joe Valentin (Lib) took fourth in the discus (132-9).

Donald Cooper (SW) took third in the pentathlon with a total of 2,414 points.

Meghan Drown (TV) was second in Division II in the 400 (61.8).

Pollyanna Palhano (Mont) finished sixth in the Division I 100 hurdles (18.2).

Casey Offringa (TV) was third in Division II 100 hurdles (17.6).

Tri-Valley’s 1600 girls relay finished third in Division II (4:21.1). Sullivan West’s team took fourth (4:23.3). It was Jessica Wagner’s last high school race. She ran a great anchor leg in the 3200 and the 1600 relays.

Tri-Valley girls took fifth in the 3200 relay (all schools) with a time of 10:14.2. Sullivan West came in sixth with 10:19.8.

Jasmine Wallizadeh (Lib) took fifth in the penta-thlon with a score of 1,885 points.

Visit riverreportersports.com for an album of pictures and complete results.