UNION-ENDICOTT - Over the course of a two-day period, local track-athletes competed at the Section IV State qualifiers held at Union-Endicott High School on Wednesday and Thursday.

The Norwich boys had a stellar meet while the Bainbridge-Guilford and Unadilla Valley girls track teams also stood out with great performances on the day. Oxford and Greene also competed for the final time this season.

NORWICH

The Norwich boys team had an amazing spring season and to top it off, the Purple Tornado are sending Lucas Craddock, Gabe Decker, Richard Fuller, Spencer Root, Holden Ryan, and Aleks Smietana to the state championship. These gentlemen have rightfully earned this trip based on stellar performances all season and at the state qualifiers.

Richard Fuller earned his championship bid with a second place finish in the 400 meter dash with a time of 50.62 seconds. Gabe Decker also finished second in the 400 meter hurdles, a week after breaking the school record, and completed the event in 58.36. Teammate Gage Titsworth ran a season-best 59.56 in the same event, but missed the cut with a fifth place finish.

The Norwich 4x100 “A” team will be heading to the state championship after a third place finish. Spencer Root, Holden Ryan, Fuller and Decker ran a season-best 43.47 seconds. Its “B” team took fifth while the 4x400 team finished fourth.

Lucas Craddock and Aleks Smietana will represent Norwich in the championship for their respective field events. Craddock excelled in the triple jump with a best finish of 45 feet, one inch and also earned second in the high jump (6-2).

Senior Aleks Smietana has been a strong discus thrower all season and his fourth place finish qualified for states as he threw 138 feet, three inches. Smietana qualified for states after meeting the standard throw (143’07’’) in May.

The Norwich girls team finished strong with Olivia Schiraldi earning the highest finish for the Purple Tornado in sixth place in the high jump. She jumped five feet exactly while Emma Urgo’s 4-8 was good for 13th. Lara Tefft came in 14th place in the shot put (29-6) as Eva Blenis threw a season-best 68 feet, one inch in the discus for 16th place.

UV

The Unadilla Valley Storm track team is sending two speedy ladies to the state championship. Gracie Gorrell and Jaiden Schrag earned a well-deserved nod after proving themselves all season and especially at the state qualifiers.

Gracie Gorrell grabbed the top finish in the 400 meter dash, an event she really owned this season. She ran it in a new personal-best of 58.48 seconds, which made the NY Top 50. She also ran the 200 meter dash in a new best of 26 seconds exactly for third place.

Junior Jaiden Schrag finished third in the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 16.12 seconds and advanced to the state championship for this excellent performance. She also took sixth in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 1:09.44.

The 4x100 meter relay team just missed the cut to move on to states with a third place finish. Schrag, Gracie, Isabella Potter, and Kalie Fernandez-Naughton ran the event in 51.07 seconds behind leader Binghamton and Sidney.

The Storm boys’ top finishes of the meet were Jacob Prentice in the pole vault and Haywood Edwards in the hurdles. Prentice finished ninth in the pole vault with 11 feet, six inches. Owen Hill tied with Prentice, but came in 13th place. Edwards finished 10th in the 400 meter hurdles, setting a new best time of 1:01.37. Senior Trason Murray capped off his final time in the discus with a 12th place throw of 118 feet, 11 inches.

B-G

Maddie Ingham and Ethne Degan both had an impressive season for the Bobcats’ girls and capped it off with great performances at the qualifiers. Degan finished third in the 1500 meter run with a time of 4:54.35 while Ingham took fourth in the 800 meter run in 2:27.09. The Bobcats' girls 4x800 meter relay team finished second with a time of 10:09.13 while Emily Sprow concluded the day for the girls with an 11th place finish in the triple jump (31 feet, six inches).

For the Bobcats boys team, Collin Dicks, Julian Pruskowski, and Connor Vredenburgh earned finishes in the top 10. Dicks finished sixth in the long jump with a jump of 19 feet, nine and a half inches as Pruskowski had a jump of 40-0.25 for ninth place in the triple jump event. Senior Connor Vredenburgh finished ninth in the discus with a throw of 122 feet, 11 inches to round out his final meet.

OXFORD

The Oxford Blackhawks were proudly supported with their fastest runners and best fielders at the state qualifiers. These athletes had great performances in the class championship to attend this event. Unfortunately, the Blackhawks will have no athletes representing them at the states meet this coming weekend, but everyone finished the season strong.

An outstanding finish to his seventh grade year came from Gordon Smith. He finished ninth in the 3200 meter run in a time of 10:12.45, which was his fastest time of the season and a new personal best.

Senior David Tucker concluded his high school track career with an eighth place finish in the triple jump. He jumped 40 feet, four inches. Freshman Anthony Bourn came in 10th place in the 3000 meter steeplechase with a time of 11:16.29.

The Blackhawks' girls were led by Abby Denz and Taylor Smith. Denz picked up a sixth place finish in the triple jump with a jump of 33 feet, 10 and a half inches while Smith settled for two solid seventh place finishes in her events.

Oxford's 4x400 meter relay team also finished sixth. A team of Denz, Smith, Kayla Figary, Jayne Fleury ran the event in 4:21.44.

Smith finished seventh in both the 800 meter run and the 2000 meter steeplechase. She ran the 800 meter run in 2:28.63 while completing the 2000 meter in 8:19.44 to cap off her final meet.

GREENE

The Greene Trojans had a small track team this season, but sent two athletes to the state qualifiers after great performances in the class championship. Lyla Biefeldt finished sixth for the girls in the shot put with a throw of 99 feet, eight inches. Joel Vielandi didn't make the finals for the boys 100 meter dash as he came in 19th in the prelims.

Congratulations to everyone and good luck to those in the state championship. The NYSPHSAA outdoor track and field championship will take place June 9 and 10 at Middletown High School in Middletown, NY.