How Our Athletes Did At
The Empire State Games

By Frank Rizzo
BINGHAMTON — August 25, 2000 – Here’s a roundup of how the Sullivan County contingent did at last month’s Empire State Games in Binghamton.
We’ve already taken a look at women’s open javelin gold medal winner Carrie Gorton, formerly of Roscoe; Allison Benson of Wurtsboro, third in the open women’s pole vault; Kyle Fried of Rock Hill, fifth in the scholastic freestyle wrestling 48-kg class; the Waterton family of Monticello; and Herbert Alvarado of Roscoe, multiple-medal winner in masters swimming.
men’s open track
‡Robert Jahrling of Wurtsboro competed in his seventh straight open men’s decathlon, finishing fourth with 5,795 points.
Jahrling, 26, a 1992 Monticello HS grad, won the silver in 1999 with 6,147 points but was hobbled this year after being struck by a hit-and-run driver two weeks before the ESG. He suffered two broken ribs in the incident, which ironically occurred on his first training run a month after being involved in an auto accident.
Jahrling won the silver medal in 1997 and the bronze in 1998. His personal record in the ESG decathlon is 6.395 points. His 2000 performances:
100 dash: 1. Mario Wilson (LI) 11.36; 10. Jahrling, 12.20
long jump: 1. Wilson (LI) 6.86 meters (22-61¦2); 3. Jahrling 6.47 meters (21-23¦4)
shot put: 1. Ryan Williams (CN) 13.32 meters (43-81¦2); 12. Jahrling 8.75 meters (28-81¦2 )
high jump: 1. Jahrling 1.96 meters (6-5)
400 dash: 1. Wilson (LI) 51.39; 9. Jahrling 54.31
first day totals: 1. Wilson (LI) 3,491 pts.; 6. Jahrling 3,108 pts.
110 hurdles: 1. Eddison Toby (NY) 15.74; 8. Jahrling 18.20
discus: 1. Williams (CN) 39.34 meters (129-1); 10. Jahrling 27.52 meters (90-3)
pole vault: 1. Jahrling 4.40 meters (14-51¦4)
javelin: 1. Jeff Moulton (HV) 47.20 meters (154-10); 4. Jahrling 43.26 meters(141-11)
1500 run: 1. Mike Weller (WN) 4:42.8; 2. Jahrling 5:02.6
second day totals: 1. Williams (CN) 2,879 points; 3. Jahrling 2,687 pts.
overall: 1. Wilson (LI) 6,298; 2. Williams (CN) 6,267; 3. Moulton (HV) 5,959; 4. Jahrling 5,795
scholastic women’s diving
‡Kelsey Ward of Bloomingburg placed ninth in both the preliminary and the final one-meter dive. Ward scored 149.15 points in the preliminaries and 312.65 in the final. The winner, with 421.05 points, was Lacey Feduke of Poughkeepsie.
open men’s wrestling
‡Joseph Sanders of Bloomingburg did not advance past the preliminaries in his 59-kg (132-lb.) freestyle division. He lost a 14-3 technical fall decision to Joe McFarlane of the Adirondack region, then was pinned at 2:15 by Tenkoran Agyeman of New York City.
scholastic men’s wrestling
‡David Lyons of Bloomingburg competed in the greco-roman wrestling 54-kg (143-lb.) class. Lyons lost both decisions in his preliminary round and did not advance. He was first decisioned 8-2 by Chris Horning of the Central region, then dropped a 5-2 contest to Jason Layton of Long Island. Horning went on to win the gold medal.
men’s open shooting
‡Richard Baum of Monticello competed in two events. He was 11th in the rapid fire pistol finals with 378 points. Bruno Dirico of Vestal (Central) won the gold with 636. Baum also took part in the air pistol individual match, taking 10th with 541 points. The gold medalist in this event was Igor Zolotarev of Port Washington (LI) with 665.6.
men’s masters track
‡Merton Lockhart of Grahamsville usually takes to the pool in competitive masters swimming. This year, he opted for track and field and came away with two medals in his 70-74 age group. He won the gold medal in the long jump with a 3.67-meter (12-1¦2) effort. Lockhart also won a medal in the shot put, taking third with a 8.75-meter (25-81¦2) heave. Richard Thomas of nearby Endicott won the gold with a 9.75-meter (32-0) effort.