Jon Surdej continued his early season surge launching a state leading mark of 59'.25" at the varsity select meet this past Saturday. The Lancaster throwers continued their strong performances in the shot put, as they had three throwers over 50 feet, Mike Wolford and Andy Pietrantoni who joined Surdej, to take 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. St. Joseph Collegiate thrower William Gross continued with his stranglehold on the weight throw, winning by nearly five feet over Cheektowaga sophomore Jayden DuBard who had a huge PR at 57'10.25.
The girls 55 meters did not disappoint as top sectional contenders Markira Garner, Kahniya James, and Jayla Moss all competed. Garner was able to hold off James 7.30 to 7.32, and grab the current WNY leading time. The 600 meters was another highly anticipated race consisting of Jericha Petrella from Dunkirk, Jenna Crean from Orchard Park, and Megan McLaughlin from Holland/East Aurora. Petrella used a very strong final 55 meters to just get by Crean, and post the current 2nd fastest time in section 6, 1:40.92.
In the girls vault, always one of the tougher events in section 6, Falconer's Rachael Ward continued to establish herself as the one to beat, improving her NYS #2 mark to 12'. Sweet Home sophomore Eve Giancarlo finished 2nd in 10'6". Also on the girls side of things Amherst sophomore Morgan Halt continued her dominant season winning both the high jump and 55 hurdles.
In the boys distance events the question remains what will Joshua Peron of Frontier decide his focus is come the state qualifier meet? On Saturday he controlled the 1000 meters, leading wire to wire, to run a WNY best 2:39.91, and then once again displaying his range came back for a runner up finish in the 300. His teammate Brian Gleason posted the fastest time later in the day in the 1600 meters running 4:30.00, and edging Lancaster's Armani Merlino. Holland/East Aurora freshman Brody Jones made his season debut in the 3200 an impressive one working up through the pack, and finishing strong in the final 400 to win by 11 seconds, in 10:00.65.
In the relays Lancaster got off to a nice start in the boys 4x200 and was able to hold off Niagara Falls, giving them their first defeat of the season. Lancaster also posted the current WNY lead time of 1:35.51. Orchard Park won the girls 4x200 as the provided a glimpse of what their section relay team could be, putting Jenna Crean in on the anchor. In the girls 4x400 and 4x800 it was Holland/East Aurora taking both relays in 4:17.84 and 10:29.85, respectively.