ITHACA – On Saturday, athletes from the Bainbridge-Guilford/Afton, Oxford, Norwich, and Unadilla Valley indoor track teams competed at the Section IV State qualifiers held at Cornell University.

Each athlete did their best to finish the 2022-2023 on a high note with some moving on to the state championships. In order to advance, each athlete had to finish in the top two positions of their respective event or reach third and hit the state standard time for sprints or distance for fielding events. For the relay team events, the top two teams go if the second relay team meets the standard time.

For team scores, the Corning girls finished on top with 119.33 points while UV and BGA tied for eight place and Oxford in 24th. Corning also won for the Boys while Norwich took fifth and BGA tied with Sidney for 11th.

BGA

Ethne Degan continues to stand out this season for the Bears. The junior achieved her best performance on the day with a first place finish in the 1500 meter run, which she ran in 4:59.06. This accomplishment sends her to the State Championship, where she was the only female athlete from BGA to advance. She missed qualifying for her third place finish in the 1000 meter run while teammate Maddie Ingham finished behind her in fourth place. Claire Sullivan finished fifth in the 1500 meter race walk with a time of 9:15.37.

Degan and Ingham also led the relay teams to two sixth place finishes. Degan was a member of the 4x800 team along with Chandler Benjamin, Vanessa Brazee and Lainelle Brazee, finishing the event in 11:30.65 . Ingham, along with Macaela Burns, Mackenzie Payne, and Lanielle Brazee ran the 4 x 400 in 5:05.95.

In the girls weight-throw, senior Riley Lindsay came in sixth place with a throw of 36 feet, 2 3/4 inches.

For the BGA boys, Julian Pruskowski will head to States after finishing second in the triple jump event. He finished behind Corning’s Hugo Mazzali (40-7.50) with a jump of 39 feet, 10 1/4 inches. Collin Dicks finished in fourth place for the same event with a jump of 38-1.75 and earned fifth place in the long jump (18-11).

NORWICH

The Norwich Purple Tornado indoor track team is proud to have juniors Gabe Blenis and Richard Fuller representing them at States next weekend. Fuller earned first place in the 300 meter dash, where he ran a new best time of 36.36 seconds. Blenis will be heading to States after a second place finish in the weight-throw event, throwing a distance of 49 feet, 9 ¾ inches. He finished behind Corning’s Cabe Hogue (53-6.50).

The Norwich boys 4 x 400 relay team just missed the cut for states as they finished in second, but missed the standard time of 3:32.44. Fuller, along with Gabe Decker, Caden Sutton and Zander Sutton ran the event in 3:34.33. Other notable performances for Norwich include Lucas Craddock finishing in fourth place in the high jump with a jump of five feet, 10 inches and Drew Westervelt took seventh in the shot put event with a mark of 39-7.75, which is his new best. For the Norwich girls, Lara Tefft came in eighth for the weight-throw with her new best-throw of 32 feet, 5 ¼ inches.

OXFORD

While the Oxford Blackhawks did not have any athlete qualify for the championship, there were several athletes who stood out for their impressive performance on the day.

Senior Hailey Fleury achieved a new best time of 7.82 seconds, which was good enough for fifth place in the 55 meter dash. She also finished in 12th in the long jump with a jump of 14 feet, 10 inches.

In the 300 meter dash, eighth grader Kayla Figary picked up another new best time of 45.73 seconds for eighth place.

Victor Richette led the Blackhawks boys with a seventh place finish in the 300 meter dash, which he ran in 38.60 seconds. Teammate Gordon Smith finished 13th in the 1000 meter run with a new personal-best time of 2:55.77.

UV

The Unadilla Valley Storm indoor team is grateful to be sending Gracie Gorrell to the State Championships. The sophomore stood out for her outstanding performance in the 300 meter dash. She earned the top finish with her best time of 41.89 seconds, which landed on the NY Top 50. The UV girls 4x200 meter relay just missed the cut as they did not meet the standard time of 1:47.54. The team of Jaiden Schrag, Isabella Potter, Kaile Fernandez-Naughton, and Gracie Gorrell finished in second place with a time of 1:51.29, behind Binghamton’s 1:48.49.

Jaiden Schrag achieved a new best time of 9.06 seconds in the 55 meter hurdles for third place, but did not meet the standard time of 8.74 seconds to advance. She also came in 11th in the long jump (15-3.75).

Senior Allison Allen finished her final indoor season with an eighth place finish in the weight-throw event. She earned a new personal-best throw of 28 feet, 11 2/4 inches.

For the boys, senior Trason Murray accomplished a new personal-best throw of 37 feet, 2 ¼ inches in the shot put for 10th place while sophomore Haywood Edwards tied for 12th in the 300 meter dash with a time of 39.50 seconds.

Good luck to the athletes who advanced to the NYSPHSAA indoor track State Championship that will be held this weekend in Staten Island at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex. Great job to all athletes for finishing the 2022-2023 indoor season strong.