Ithaca, NY - It’s been a rough start to the indoor season for Section 4. Old Man Winter has been throwing storm after storm into the area. While those us looking forward to a white holiday season can smile, unfortunately due to difficult travel condition, some athletes have been unable to set foot on a track this season. Luckily the Ithaca Bomber Invite had many schools braving the latest blizzard for the first competition of the season for most of the athletes.
Boys
Reigning State Champ Matt Murray of Norwich had a strong start to his indoor campaign. He finished second in the 1600 with a time of 4:34.55, in addition to a commanding win in the 600 in 1:22.43. Ty Sutherland (Trumansburg) took first in the 1000 in 2:45.00.
Section 4 started the meet of strongly, show casing some of its distance talent. Runners coming off of successful cross country season already performing well at indoor. Section 4 runners finished 1-3 in the 3200. Tim Chappell (Union Springs) finished first in 9:59.49. Followed closely by Richard Buchanan (Windsor) and Jason Jenks (Groton).
The Hurdle race proved strong as well, as Alex Egeli of Batavia went NY #4 in his 7.87 effort
Lansing boys dominated the pole vault. Max Jordan finished first with a height of 13’03.00”, followed by teammate Dylan Bland with 13’00.00”.
Mitchell Daddario (Sweet Home) ran a good race to win the 1600 in 4:26.00, being the first runner to break 4:30 this season. The long jump was won with a jump of 21’05.50” by Greggory Hart, Jr (West Seneca West)., and triple by now state leader, Ronel Forde (Shaker), with a jump of 43’04.00”.
Girls
The Section 4 girls also turned in some strong performances today. Abbey Yatsko (Dryden) took first in the 300 with a time of 41.75. The Waverly girls team were victorious in the 4x400m meter relay, winning in 4:17.05.
Jesse Dhaliwall (Grand Island) won the shot put by a foot, setting a new state best with a throw of 44-5, with Lancaster's own McKenzie Kuehlewind moving into NY #3 with her toss of 43-5.
The top performance of the day came from Lancaster athlete Ashley Grazen, who won the 55 meter dash with a state best time of 7.26, which currently ranks her at the 3rd fastest time in the nation this season. Teammate Ashley Mazur finished in second in 7.51. Both athletes were also on the NY #1 Lancaster 4x200m relay team, which finished first in 1:47.86.
Mikayla Capestrani (Jamestown) won the pole vault with a height of 10’06.00”. Hayley Wigsten (Lansing) took second with 9’06.00”, making that three Lansing athletes in the top 2 for boys and girls pole vault.
Aileen Doyle of Sweet Home kicked off the meet with a win over 3000m, running a state leading 10:30.20.
The Ithaca Bomber Invite proved to be a good season opener for many Section 4 athletes, giving them the opportunity to test themselves against athletes from other areas of the state. The performances today indicate that it will be another exciting track season in Section 4, and with many athletes still waiting for their first chance to compete.