Local Track Teams Compete At Class D Championship
Published: May 25th, 2023
By: Morgan Golliver

MARATHON – The Unadilla Valley, Bainbridge-Guilford, and Oxford track and field teams competed in the Section IV, Class D championship held in Marathon on Tuesday afternoon. All teams saw great performances, but it was the Unadilla Valley girls who took the victory while Tioga finished first in the boys’ race. This meet also prepared every team for the state qualifiers that will be next week.

UV:

GIRLS:

The Unadilla Valley Storm girls team started off strong. The Storm scored 80 points to achieve the top finish in the girls’ race. Its top leaders remain Jaiden Schrag and Gracie Gorrell with its relay teams holding their own to good finishes.

UV’s 4x100 and 4x400 teams both took first while its 4x800 finished second to Bainbridge-Guilford. The 4x100 team was led by Jaiden Schrag, Bella Potter, Kalie Fernandez-Naughton, and Gracie Gorrell who ran the fastest time of 51.55. Molly Gorrell, Bella Potter, Kalie Fernandez-Naughton, Gracie Gorrell ran the 4x400 in 4:20.86. Molly, along with Addison Marinelli, Madison Dix, and Natalya Schrag finished second in the 4x800 (10:52.25).

Jaiden Schrag and Gracie Gorrell went on to lead the Storm in their respective individual events. Jaiden achieved first in the 110 meter hurdles (16.23 seconds) while falling to fourth in the 400 meter hurdles (1:09.73). She also finished second in the long jump with a jump of 15 feet, six and 3/4 inches.

Story Continues Below Adverts

Gracie earned the top finish in both the 200 meter and 400 meter dashes. She set a new personal-best time of 26.27 seconds in the 200 meter dash while running the 400 meter dash in the fastest time of 1:00.26. Her sister Molly competed in both events as well where she set a new best time of 1:05.07 in the 400 meter dash for fourth place as Madison Dix took seventh with a new best of 1:06.40. Molly ran the 200 meter dash in a new personal best 28.84 for eighth place.

Natalya Schrag and Kalie Fernandez-Naughton also had great performances on the day for UV. Schrag finished 10th in the 1500 meter run with a time of 5:57.55. She also ran a new best of 2:47.78 in the 800 meter run for eighth place. Kalie represented the UV girls in the field events, where she finished third in the long jump with a jump of 15 feet, four inches. She also finished eighth in the shot put (26-5.25).

BOYS:

The Unadilla Valley boys track team unfortunately didn’t follow the girls team with their own greatness as they finished ninth with 27 points. However, the Storm had a few gentlemen excel in the field events. Jacob Prentice and Owen Hill tied each other again in the pole vault event, adding on to the school record of a new 11 feet. They respectfully placed second and third.

Senior Trason Murray had a nice outing in both the discus and shot put events. He picked up a second place finish in the discus with a new best throw of 121 feet, one inch while Blake Wright finished 10th (98-5). Murray also achieved a new best in the shot put, throwing for 37-5.75 for sixth place while Wright finished 12th (35-8.50).

Sophomore Tucker Cattanach earned two fifth place finishes in both the triple and high jumps. In the triple jump, he jumped 37 feet, seven and 3/4 inches while tying three others in the high jump with a new best of 5-6.

B-G:

GIRLS:

The Bainbridge-Guilford girls track team was in a good spot for third place with 63 points as Ethne Degan excelled in her three events and the relay teams had solid finishes.

The girls 4x800 team earned the top finish ahead of tough competition with a team of Lainelle Brazee, Kaydence Brimmer, Maddie Ingham, and Laila Williams ran the fastest 10:40.41. A team of Ingham, Annika Armstrong, Elanor Sprow, Emily Sprow ran the 4x100 in 54.70 seconds for fifth place. Sage Pruskowski, Kaydence Brimmer, Laila Williams, and Lanielle Brazee concluded the relays as they finished in sixth for the 4x400 (4:36.24).

Junior Ethne Degan was fully prepared to run the 1500 meter run, the 3000 meter run, and in the 800 meter run, where she achieved all first place finishes. Teammate Ingham competed in both the 800 and 1500 meter runs. She finished second in the 800 meters, which she ran in 2:29.60 behind Degan’s 2:25.80. Ingham took fourth in the 1500 meter run (5:33.15) as teammate Vanessa Brazee finished fifth in the 3000 meter run with a time of 13:08.70.

Sophomore Emily Sprow led B-G in the field events where she came in fourth in the triple jump and finished fifth in the long jump. In the triple jump, she jumped 32 feet, five and 1/2 inches and jumped 14-9.75 in the long jump.

BOYS:

Story Continues Below Adverts

The Bobcats boys track team tied for ninth place with Edmeston/Morris with 40 points. B-G was led by Collin Dicks, Julian Pruskowski, Kevin Lang, and Garrett O’Hara while its relay teams had solid finishes.

Brock Porter, Cooper Sienko, Matthew Wombacker, Blake Tuttel took fifth place in the boys 4x800 with a time of 10:26.46 while Connor Borowski, Corbin Germond, Kevin Lang, and Isaac Seiler finished sixth in the 4x800 (48.80).

B-G didn’t see any top finishes on the day as they faced tough competitors, but Collin Dicks earned a team-best second in the 100 meter dash. He ran the event in 11.71 behind Tioga’s 11.66. Dicks also competed in the long jump, where he took fourth with a jump of 19 feet, four and 3/4 inches, and finished ninth in the triple jump (35-3).

Teammate Julian Pruskowski earned a new personal best time of 54.81 seconds in the 400 meter run, coming in third place while Kevin Lang set a new best time of 56.12 for sixth. Julian and Kevin also ran new best times in the 200 meter dash. Julian finished fifth with a new time of 24.33 while Kevin took ninth with a new best of 24.68. Lastly, Julian competed in the triple jump where he finished third (39-8).

Garrett O’Hara and Matthew Wombacker both ran in the 3000 meter steeplechase. O’Hara finished 10th while Wombacker achieved a new best time of 13:54.28 for 12th place. O’Hara, himself, earned a new best time of 1:05.67 in the 400 meter hurdles for third place as sophomore Corbin Germond took fifth with his new personal time of 1:06.44.

Connor Vredenburgh led B-G in his respective field events, where he picked up a fifth place finish in the discus with a throw of 110 feet, 11 inches. Freshman Ryan Larsen also competed in the discus throw and set a new best throw of 102-10 for seventh place. Elliot Briggs finished ninth in the shot put event with a throw of 35 feet, eight and 1/2 inches.

OXFORD:

GIRLS:

The Oxford Blackhawks girls team saw a solid day with a fourth place finish behind B-G. Oxford’s best girls relay team was in the 4x400 event as Abby Denz, Kayla Figary, Jayne Fleury, Taylor Smith ran for a second place finish in 4:23.21 behind UV. Aside from its relay team, Oxford saw great performances by senior Taylor Smith and its underclassmen of Paige Rickard, Kayla Figary, and Jayne Fleury.

Smith set a new best time in the 2000 meter steeplechase as she ran the event in 8:15.88 for second place. Rickard also set a new best time of 9:43.35 as she finished in 10th place. Smith ran a new best of 2:31.57 in the 800 meter run for third place behind two tough B-G competitors. She also finished eighth in the triple jump with a jump of 31 feet, three and 1/2 inches to conclude her day.

Abby Denz and Jayne Fleury also competed in the triple jump where Denz finished second (33-5) and Fleury took third with a new personal best jump of 32 feet, 10 and 1/4 inches. Jayne also ran the 200 meter dash in 29.21 for 10th place while Denz finished sixth in the long jump (14-8.75).

Eighth grader Kayla Figary continues to shine among the Oxford team, doing well in the 100 meter dash and in the long jump. She earned a new best jump of 14 feet, four and 3/4 inches for eighth place while running the 100 meter dash in 13.84 for sixth.

BOYS:

The Blackhawks boys track team fared well as they finished in third behind Tioga and Newfield, and led all local Chenango County teams. Again, the Blackhawks’ youth would shine as seventh grader Gordon Smith, freshmen Anthony Bourn and Aiden Ives did well in their events. Sophomore Donovan Rickard, along with junior Victor Richette and senior David Tucker also led Oxford to a strong team finish.

Rickard, Tucker, and Richette, along with Jerry Hornbeck led the 4x100 team to a second place finish with a time of 46 seconds behind Newfield’s 45.25. Gordon Smith, Jared Sheridan, Eddie Golden, and Aiden Ives took third in the 4x800 with a time of 9:34.01.

Victor Richette earned the lone first place victory for the Blackhawks as he ran the fastest time of 23.51 seconds in the 200 meter dash. Gordon Smith and Anthony Bourn achieved third place finishes in their respective events, where they set new personal times. Smith ran the 1600 meter run in a new time of 4:46.11 as Bourn finished the 3000 meter steeplechase in 11:24.75. Aiden Ives finished the steeplechase in eighth place (12:23.12).

Smith also set a new best time of 10:31.87 in the 3200 meter run while freshman Eddie Golden finished 12th with his new best of 13:04.62. Jared Sheridan rounded out the sprinting events with an 11th place finish in the 800 meter run, which he ran in a new best time of 2:16.73.

Tucker and Rickard led Oxford in the field events. Tucker achieved a third place finish in the long jump event with a jump of 19 feet, seven and 1/2 inches as Rickard took seventh (17-5.50). Rickard also finished eighth in the triple jump (35-5.50).

For full results, please visit ny.milesplit.com. All teams will now be preparing for State Qualifiers that are scheduled for Wednesday, May 31, and Thursday, June 1 at Union-Endicott. Both days’ events will start around 4 p.m.




Comments