Tallying Up the 2017 New York Track Sectional Wars

At Ocean Breeze last March on the guys' side, Section 11 took the sectional honors with 20 of its 69 points coming in the shot put behind a 1st-3rd-4th from Danny Byrne, Jack Philkar, and Chris Fasano, a single-event total that was the tops. The Suffolk contingent also got 14 points in the high jump led by Daniel Claxton's 1st, and Lawrence Leake and Nick Crociata combined for another double digit total with a 3rd and 4 in the 600. Looking down the scoring table, you can see that the PSAL is in the lead through the next-to-last listing with 64 points. The NYC public schools had four double-digit events, as Ramone Newland and Michael Miller took 1st and 3rd in the 55 meters, Newland won the 300 meters and his South Shore team won the 4x200 relay, and Philip Rosendorf captured the weight throw. The CHSAA finished 3rd with 58 points thanks to a huge 18 point total from Oluwatomide Alao and Aaron Banson's 1-2 in the 55 meter hurdles and 10 points from Charles Crispi and Colin Duignan in the pole vault.  4th place finisher Section 5 had 52 points on four DD events including Ben Bulkeley's win in the 1000 meters and his Fairport team's 4x800 crown, Paul Dellinger's 3200 meter win, and Noah Williams and Myles Calhoun's 2nd-5th combo in the 55 meters.

If the girls indoor sectional contest was looked at by the order of events in the actual meet, at the end it would have been Section 1 leading by a scant 3 points going into that final 4x400, with S1's North Rockland pitted against S11's West Babylon. The race went to the Eagles of Suffolk County, but the Red Raiders stayed close enough behind in 2nd place to clinch a 97-96 win for Section 1. The 1000 meters proved to be the big race for S1 as Kaitlin Ryan, Lily Flynn, and Alex Harris ran 1-2-4 for a massive 22 of the 31 points. S1 also went double-digit in the 1500 meter race walk with Amelia Cuomo, Katherine Byrnes, and Audrey Fox combining for 14 points, in the high jump behind Kendall Bensche's win, and in the 1500 meters with Kaitlin Ryan taking 2nd and Caroline Timm 5th. 

The 1500 RW was the biggest event for 2nd place Section 11 as it strutted to 16 points behind Lauren Harris's 1st and Ariana Cagnina's 3rd, but it also got 15 points in the long jump from a 1-2-6 finish for Serena Choi, Mia Abulencia, and Angelica Arroyo, another 10 points from Choi's triple jump win, and another 10 from a 2nd and 5th by Brittany Korsah and Amanda Stead in the 300 meters.

The other section that hit the half-century mark or higher was Section 5, with Lanae-Tava Thomas responsible for a big part of the score with a long jump win and 2nd in the 55 meters. S5's big event was the high jump behind a 2nd and 3rd from Jenna Berry and Deyonte Allen, and Erica Ellis took the pole vault. Super-runner Sammy Watson wan not available for either the indoor or outdoor state championships this year.