Section 6 hosted 4 different meets this weekend (3 at Buffalo State and a throwers only at Lancaster) which saw some very good competitions for early in the season.
Lancaster throwers take center stage.
In the thrower only meet at Lancaster High School Lancaster swept the top 3 places in the boys shot put, as one would expect, lead by NYS #1 Jon Surdej who had a throw of 56'10. That is only 6 inches off of his state leader mark set earlier this season, as Jon is the only thrower who has tossed over 53' all season. Teammate Michael Wolford finished in 2nd with a toss of 52'5.5, which currently ranks him NYS #2. Andy Pietrantoni rounded out the 1-2-3 sweep for Lancaster throwing 51'4, just off his best throw of the season of 52'1.75, which ranks him as NYS #3. In the boys weight throw St. Joseph's Collegiate thrower and NYS #1 William Gross tossed 64'8 as he continued his early season dominance in that event. Lancaster's Andy Pietrantoni was 2nd in 56'11, just off his season best which currently has him sitting at NYS #2 and the top NYSPHSAA competitor state wide in the event. Lancaster's sophomore Natalia Surdej won both the girls shot and girls weight throwing 37'11.5 and 51'1.5 respectively. Natalia is currently NYS #2 in the weight throw.
Friday Night DE Division
In one of the best races of the night Cheektowaga senior Jayla Moss used a strong start to upend defending section 6 55 meter champion Jenna Crean of Orchard Park. After Crean stumbled slightly out of the blocks she gathered herself and ran well towards the finish, but Moss' execution of her start was too much for Crean to overcome. Frontier's Joshua Peron continued to demonstrate his all around ability as he won both the 300 and 600 meters individually, while anchoring the winning 4x800 team. Teammate Brian Gleason might have been equally impressive running 4:34.88, on the 160 meter track, without spikes, to win the 1600 meters. East Aurora/Holland freshman Megan McLaughlin showed her versatility after winning the 3000 meters last week, she came down and was victorious in both the 1000 meters (3:08.1) and the 1500 meters (4:58.76).
Saturday Morning BF Divisional
Amherst's Maxana Grubb followed in Josh Peron's footsteps from the night before taking both the 300 meters (44.04) and the 600 meters (1:37.06). Maxana already has demonstrated she will be a force all season for Amherst. Lockport sophomore, Sydney Nowicki, lapped the field to win the 1500 meters in a WNY leading time of 4:52.39, while Morgan Halt of Amherst was a triple winner, posting a 5'4 in the high jump for a NYS #2 performance, while winning the hurdles for the 2nd week in a row, and the long jump over teammate Jamillyah Mallory. Sweet Home 8th grader Amari Hall continued her early season triple jump prowess winning the triple jump by just over 3 feet, her 2nd victory in the event in 3 weeks. On the boys side Hutchinson Tech's Aaron Jones won two events, the 55 hurdles and 300 meters while teammate Alhagie Sesay was also a double winner taking the 600 meters and triple jump in a pr of 41'10.
Saturday Afternoon AC Divisional
While the Lancaster throwers were doing some good work at their own facility, Lancaster senior Elijah Kerner put in some work of his own winning the 300 meters, without spikes and on a 160 track, in 37.91 over two seconds ahead of his nearest competitor. His teammate Armani Merlino came down from his comfort zone in the 3200 meters to win the 1000 meters in 2:45.50. In just the opposite move West Seneca East's Vinny Pagliaccio went from running a strong 1000 meters last week to winning the 20 lap 3200 meter race this week in 10:09.8. The Lancaster boys and girls swept the 4x200s running 1:40.33 and 1:54.07 respectively. Pioneer's Marissa Klimczak was a double winner taking on the 300 meters and the 55 hurdles.
Section 6 competitions will continue next week with 3 weekend meets at Fredonia followed by the WNY Relays on December 29th at Houghton.