MileSplit HQ - As any athlete will maybe likely tell you from the moment they first don their track shoes in anytime from late November onward, their primary goal is give everything for their own beloved section or federation league. Sure they want to get some personal bests and excel at some big invitational. And yes, Katelyn Tuohy wants to break a few Mary Cain records, but that quest almost certainly possibly pales at the starting line of the States 1500 meter race in the face of a much more pressing concern: Earn 10 points for good ol' Section 1. Everything else is just icing on the cake, or syrup on the sno-cone.
Although many different sections have come out on top in the sectional track wars over the years, 2017 was when the LIRR turned into a bulldozer when it got out to eastern Long Island. Section 11's balance on both the boys and girls sides was formidable at States at the Federation and outdoor D1 levels. Still, beyond the States Federation scores there are many ways to divvy up the championship numbers, and there is a small (Division 2) opening for other sections to shine outdoors. So while NY athletes headed to the New Balance and Brooks PR meets to flex their muscles in nationals action, we finished up the sectional tallies to nail down who won all the battles for both the indoor and outdoor state championships.
Kudos also to the top individual point earners at both of the state championships this year. For the girls the honors were split between the two sprint champions who always seem to be leaning for the tape side by side. At indoors, Halle Hazzard of St. Anthony's edged out Lane-Tava Thomas of Rush-Henrietta by 20 to 18.5 by taking both the 55 and 300 meter crowns, while Thomas won the long jump, got 2nd in the 55, and had a share of a 6th in the 4x200. Thomas was the runaway winner outdoors as she took the 100 and 200 meter Federation crowns along with the long jump diadem for a total of 30 points.
For the indoor guys, Ramone Newland dashed off with the top total of 22.5 points with 55 and 300 meter wins plus a share of South Shore's 4x200 relay title. The outdoor battle was a heated four-way contest between guys from different sections and track spheres: Kevin Moshier of Corning bagged 20.5 points with wins in the 1600 and 3200 meters and a share of a 6th place in the 4x800 relay to edge out Jeremiah Willis of Cicero-North Syracuse with 20 points who had wins in the long and triple jumps, Huntington's Kyree Johnson who took the 400 meters along with a 3rd in the long jump and share of 2nd in the 4x400 relay for a total of 18, and Briarcliff's Jack Zimmerman who was also at 18 with a shot put win and a 2nd in the discus.
5 Looks at State Sectional Contests
Scoring
for all competitions in the state championships is based on a 10-8-6-4-2-1 point system for the top
six places. Scores for the boys and girls competitions are scored separately and then combined for each section. Note that for the outdoor state Division 1 and Division 2 contests, placements include athletes and teams from the PSAL, CHSAA, and AIS conferences and thus do not match the medal awards given out only to members of the 11 sections eligible for the D1 and D2 honors, which is just an NYSPHSAA method for sorting NY's teams.
The Looks
Click to Snap to
L1: Who won at Indoors?
L2: Who won at Outdoors?
L3: Who won Outdoors D1?
L4: Who won Outdoors D2?
L5: Who won the combined titles?