Track

Sullivan West boys, Tri-Valley girls take Division IV titles

Section IX track athletes hone their skills at West Point in new meet format

By RICHARD A. ROSS

WEST POINT, NY - With the completion of the third and final developmental meet at West Point on December 17, many of the region’s indoor runners, jumpers and throwers continued to show improvement by bettering their times and distances in their respective events.

While some schools like Tri-Valley will continue a busy schedule right into the holiday period, with a trip to the Armory on December 20 for the Spike Shoe Invitational and a revisit to West Point for the West Point Invitational on December 23, many other teams will wind down until the season heats up in January.

Sullivan County schools will be able to field their entire teams at the meets held at Sullivan County Community College beginning on January 3. The OCIAA league meets will be held on January 19 for the boys and on January 20 for the girls. Tri-Valley will send a number of its relay runners to the Yale Invitational on January 19, while the throwers will attend the league meet at West Point.

The new format, which was implemented for the OCIAA meets this year, limits the number of participants from each school to permit the meets to run more efficiently, and allows for more head-to-head competition among the schools in the same divisions.

Sullivan West boys mount late surge to garner Division IV title from Tri-Valley

Sullivan West moved ahead late in the meet to defeat Tri-Valley and capture the Division IV title. The late surge was fueled by a win in the triple jump by Will Schlott (34-10), coupled with a win in the 800 (1:42.8) run by Jon Figueroa, Eric Minton, Rich Feeney and Will Schlott. The Bulldogs also captured the 3200 relay (8:49.8) run by Matt Layman, Brett Cucci, Ross Bernhardt and Colin Seidl.

The Dawgs compiled a team record of 5-0-1 in the three divisional meets as compared to Tri-Valley’s mark of 4-1-1. In the final developmental divisional meet, the Bulldogs scored 141 points to Tri-Valley’s 133. Chester scored 68 and Liberty tallied 45.

The Bulldogs got key wins in the 55m hurdles and the 55m dash from Jon Figueroa, who posted times of 8.43 and 6.97 respectively. He edged out Tri-Valley’s Sean Messenger in both races.

Donald Cooper added points to the Bulldogs’ win with a first place in the 300 (37.24), and the high jump (5-1). Colin Seidl took the 3200 (10:21.5), while Tri-Valley’s Max Fiedler took the 1000 (2:49.8). Fiedler ran a leg in the Bears’ winning 1600 relay with Garrett Grey, Gavin Perrella and Jeremy Kinney. Tri-Valley’s Jack Parrow won the long jump (14-10½). Ryan Loughney took first place in the shot put with a mark of 44-5½. Jeff Simpson of Liberty captured the pole vault with a leap of 11-10.

Tri-Valley girls sweep their way to Division IV championship

The Tri-Valley girls easily captured the Division IV title by running their record to 8-0, with a 205-79 victory over second place Sullivan West. Chester took third with 53 points, while Liberty tallied 44.

Beginning with the Bears’ sweep of the 1500m race walk by Samantha Vernooy, Danielle Huppke and Heather Riordan, the Bears went on to win the 55m hurdles with Casey Offringa (10.01), the 55m dash with Meghan Drown (8.26). Drown also captured the 1000 (3.21.1) and the 300 (47.56). Courtney Roosa set a lifetime personal best in the 3000 with a mark of 10:52.6. Roosa and Offringa teamed up with Rachel Sanborn and Agnes Pompeii to win the 1600 relay (4:47.8), while Rachel Sanborn, Shannon Hornbeck, Huppke and Naomi Weise teamed up to garner first place in the 3200 relay (9:59.1).

Kanacia James won the long and triple jump with leaps of 12-8½ and 28-3— respectively.

Sullivan West’s Sara Alsdorf, Katie Manzi, Meghan Lowe and Morgan Hawkins combined for a win in the 800 relay in 2:04. Liberty’s Kim McKay took the pole vault with a mark of 7-6.

Devine paces Panthers in Division III action

In Division III, Monticello’s Brendan Devine took first in the 3200 with a time of 9:48.6. Daniel Ramos took second in the 55m dash with a time of 9.48.6. In the girls’ competition, Te’neshia Washington finished second in the 55m dash with a time of 7.93. She took third in the 300 (44.31) and second in the long jump (14-0). Emma Cohen got third in the long jump with a mark of 13-4¼.Rebecca Concors took third in the 1000 with a time of 3:27.

Visit riverreportersports.com for an album of meet photos.