UTICA - Last Wednesday, The Norwich, Bainbridge-Guilford/Afton/Harpursville, and Unadilla Valley indoor track teams competed in the CNY Holiday Classic held at Utica University.

Out of 40 teams, the Norwich Purple Tornado boys came in third place while the girls placed 31st. Both BG/A/H boys and girls came in 26th while UV boys didn’t place and the girls came in 21st.

Norwich’s Lucas Craddock continues to improve his two school records in the high and triple jump events. He achieved a season-best of a 6-4 mark in the high jump while jumping a mark of 45-6.75 in the triple jump. He also came in 11th place for the long jump (19-2).

Other notable performances for Norwich include tremendous efforts from Richard Fuller, Drew Brooks, Caden Sutton, Harrison Matlack-Grey, and Gabe Blenis.

Fuller placed second in the 400 meter dash with a time of 51.72, not much behind Central Valley’s Tanner Warren (51.55). He also came in 16th in the 55 meter dash (6.99 seconds).

Fuller, along with Gage Titsworth, Zander Sutton, and Caden Sutton, all pitched in to deliver an outstanding first place finish for the 4x400 relay team.

Caden Sutton earned a fourth place finish in the 100 meter run while finishing 11th in the 1600 meter run (4:51.84). Teammate Drew Brooks competed in the same 1600 event where he came in 18th place and achieved seventh in the 3200 meter run.

Aside from the running events, Harrison Matlack-Grey stood out in the shotput and weight-throw event with teammate Gabe Blenis. In weight-throwing, Blenis came in fourth with a throw of 49 feet, 3 ½ inches, his season-best, while Matlack-Grey came in 17th (33-4.5). Matlack-Grey also came in 16th place for shot put (36-4.5).

For the Norwich girls, Ava Cirigliano struck an eighth place finish in the 400 meter dash with a time of 1:06.44. Lena Neiser earned seventh in the high jump with a mark of 4-6. Lara Tefft finished 15th in the shot put event (27-4.5) and came in 16th for the weight throw of 27 feet, 11 inches.

The BG/A/H girls team was led by Maddie Ingham who picked up two 13th place finishes in the 300 meter dash and the 600 meter run. Riley Lindsay had a great meet as well, coming in ninth for shot put with a throw of 29-9 before placing 12th in weight throw (29-3.25). Teammate Emily Spraw came in 13th in the triple jump with a jump of 31 feet, 3 ½ inches.

For the boys, junior Julian Pruskowski excelled in the triple jump, coming in third with a jump of 40 feet, 11.5 inches. Collin Dicks finished in 10th (37-4.5) and achieved a season-best in the long jump event, coming in 14th with a jump of 18 feet, 9 inches.

The UV Storm may not have reached potential as an overall team in the meet, but had impressive performances by several athletes. For the girls, Gracie Gorrell took second in the 200 meter dash with a time of 1:01.32 and also finished ninth in the long jump (15-7). Gracie, along with Molly Gorrell, Isabella Potter, and Kalie Naughton, earned fifth place as a relay team in the 4x200 event (1:57.54).

Naughton also had a great meet with just missing the top 10, coming in 11th for the triple jump (31-8). In the 55 meter dash, she came in 18th place with a time of 8.10 seconds.

Bruce Townsend led the Storm boys with a 19th place finish in the weight throw with a throw of 33 feet, 1 ½ inches. He also finished in 26th for the shot put event (33-5.5).

Congratulations to everyone for a well-rounded meet all around.

All three teams (BG/A/H, UV, and Norwich) will be competing at the 607 Invite held at SUNY Cortland on January 7, starting at 1 p.m.