CORTLAND – Over the weekend, the Norwich and Unadilla Valley/GMU indoor track teams participated in the Hurley Invitational. The Norwich boys took home a first place victory while UV earned sixth place. For the girls, Norwich placed fifth and UV finished in 10th.

In the overall boys’ meet, Norwich racked up 127 points to achieve the win. Paving the way was Lucas Craddock who broke the indoor school record in the high jump. Craddock finished with a 6-2 mark and earned 10 points. He also earned first place in the long jump and triple jump to complete his morning.

Richard Fuller picked up a second place finish in the 55 meter dash with a time of 6.98, just three seconds behind the leader (6.95). Teammate Gabe Decker finished in 12th.

Drew Brooks, who came off a phenomenal states run in the cross country season, started indoor track with a third place finish in the 3200 meter run. Anthony Bourne came in sixth place with a new personal best time of 12:01.

In the 600 meter run, Zander Sutton earned second place with a personal best time of 1:34.71. Unadilla Valley’s Alex Kemnah and Henry Smith followed each other in ninth and 10th place.

Norwich’s Caden Sutton achieved a first place victory in the 1600 meters run with a time of 5:02.90.

Norwich also had luck in the relay events. A team of Zander, Caden, Drew Brooks, and Gabe Decker led the Tornado to a first place finish in the 4x800 event.

Norwich fell second to Dryden in the 4x200 relay that featured Decker, Fuller, Gage Titsworth, and Zander Sutton. The Storm came in sixth place for the same event with a team of Lucas Donato, Haywood Edwards, Alex Kemnah, and Trason Murray.

In the pole vault event, Bartalo Bourne (Norwich) achieved a personal-best with a mark of 8-0 but finished in second behind Lansing’s Colin Tarbert (9-0).

For shot put, Norwich’s Drew Westervelt placed third with a throw of 37-8.50. Harrison Matlock-Grey finished in ninth with a throw of 30-9. UV’s Murray came in fourth (34-5).

Matlock-Grey was also a part of the weight-throw event with teammate Gabe Blenis. UV’s Bruce Townsend’s throw of 29-2.50 was enough for a second place finish with Blenis in third (37-11.75). Matlock-Grey finished in fourth with the Storm’s Lucas Donato and Brandon Davenport taking fifth and sixth place respectively.

For the girls, Norwich scored 45 points to earn fifth place while Lansing and Waverly tied for first with 60 points. Norwich was thankful to have quite a few female athletes join the indoor team.

Leading the pack was Lara Tefft who earned a victory in the girls’ weight throw event with a throw of 24-1, a personal best. UV’s Allison Allen finished behind Tefft with a throw of 24-7.50. Tefft also finished third in shot put with a throw of 27-7.

Ava Cirigliano came in third place in the 300 meter dash with a time of 46.71 seconds behind UV’s Gracie Gorrell (45.84 sec.) Cirigliano was also a member of the 4x200 relay team, along with Layla Root, Amanda Smietana, and Lena Neisler. Together, the ladies finished sixth.

A team of Annie Boland, Kyra Brunick-Davis, Emilia Pepe, and Brinley Beckwith came in fourth place for the 4x800 meter relay.

Norwich and UV/GMU will remain in Cortland for the Finger Lake Invite on Saturday, December 17, starting at 9 a.m.