By Rob Potter
SULLIVAN COUNTY — May 31, 2005 – Track and field athletes from Sullivan County high schools have been very busy the past couple of weeks. First they spent countless hours preparing for their respective Section IX meets and then many of those same athletes competed in the Section IX qualifier meet.
A number of local athletes excelled at the state qualifier meet, which was held last Wednesday at Dietz Stadium in Kingston.
Leading the way was Kyle Anthony of Eldred. He won the long jump with an effort of 21 feet, 7 1/4 inches and took first place in the triple jump (44-7). He will be the Section IX small school representative in both events.
Tri-Valley’s Travis Wolfe won the 3,000-meter steeplechase in a time of 9 minutes, 37.6 seconds. Wolfe’s teammate Alan Coombe finished second in the shot put (47 feet, 2 3/4 inches). Wolfe and Coombe will be the section’s small school representative in their respective events.
Also going to the state meet as a Section IX small school representative is Alan Ackermann of Sullivan West, who was second in the discus (144-9).
In the girls’ competition, T-V’s Tiffany Wright placed eighth in the discus with a throw of 91 feet, 9 inches. She will be the section’s small school representative at the state meet.
In addition, the SW 3,200-meter relay team qualified for the state meet after placing third in the event in a time of 9:56.5.
Section IX Meets
Approximately one week prior to the state qualifier meet, Section IX meets were held for Classes AA, A, B, C and D.
In the Class A meet, which was held on May 20 at Monroe-Woodbury High School, Monticello’s Bob Macedonio won the pole vault event with an effort of exactly 13 feet.
Also at that meet, Monticello placed 12th in the girls’ team standings. The Lady Panthers earned 14 points at the meet.
Leading Monticello was Erica Kalber. She won the shot put (37-0) and placed second in the hammer throw (115-9) – which was a non-scoring event.
The Section IX Class B meet was held on May 18 at Dietz Stadium.
In the boys’ team standings, Liberty and SW each earned 28 points and tied for ninth place.
Among the athletes who excelled were SW’s Ackermann and Mike VanWagenen and Liberty’s Jacob Schwartz and Troy Bertholf. Ackermann finished second in the discus (137-2), while VanWagenen won the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 10:19.7. Schwartz took first place in the pole vault (12-6), while Bertholf was second in the hammer throw (133-4), which was a non-scoring event.
In the girls’ team standings, SW took fifth place with 43 points and Liberty was 12th with eight points.
Two SW relay teams scored top-three finishes that afternoon. The Lady Bulldog foursome of April Ackermann, Amanda Wheat, Jessica Wagner and Jamie Clifford won the 3,200-meter relay race in a time of 10:14.2. In the 1,600-meter relay, Ackermann, Wagner, Clifford and Jessica Weyandt placed second in 4:17.4.
The Section IX Class C and D meets were held on May 19 at Tri-Valley Central School in Grahamsville.
T-V won the boys’ team competition by earning 117 points. Fallsburg was fifth with 52 points.
Several Bears had outstanding results in the individual events. Wolfe won both the 1,600 (4:33.9) and 3,200-meter (10:53.5), while Max Fielder placed first in the 400 (54.3) and second in the 400 hurdles (59.2). Alan Coombe won the shot put (48-6) and was second in the discus (134-2) and javelin (137-0). (The javelin was a non-scoring event.)
Ryan Loughney won the non-scoring hammer throw (157-7) and Jeremy Mathsen was second in the 3,200-meter run (10:54).
The Bears’ 3,200 relay team of Derek Smith, Jon Huppke, Mike Kaplan and Justin Tompkins won that event in 9:05.3.
Fallsburg’s Darnell Owens won two events. He took first in the 100-meter dash (11.5 seconds) and the 200 (23.1). Teammate Chris Gates placed second in the 100 (11.9).
In the girls’ team standings, T-V placed second with 169 1/2 points.
Among the Lady Bears who posted top finishes were Erin Beach, Meghan Drown, Courtney Roosa and Tiffany Wright. Beach placed second in the 800 (2:30.0) and 1,500 (5:26.4), Drown was second in the 200 (28.7) and 400 (1:02.8), Roosa won the 3,000-meters (11:26.5) and Wright won the shot put (27-3 3/4) and the non-scoring hammer throw (76-8).
In the Class D meet, Eldred won the boys’ team competition. The Yellowjackets scored 188 points on the day. Livingston Manor was fourth with 75 points.
Pacing the Eldred team was Kyle Anthony, who won four individual events. He took first place in the 200 (24.2), 400 (53.0), long jump (19-9 3/4) and triple jump (43-4).
Fellow Yellowjackets Tim Halllock and Kieran Pierce each earned first place in two events. Hallock prevailed in the shot put (44-10 3/4) and discus (144-8), while Pierce won the 1,600 ( 5:03.5) and 3,200 (11:00.7).
Pierce also joined Coyote Anderson, Sean Ranne and John Ranne to win the 3,200-meter relay. The foursome’s winning time was 10:28.9.
In the Class D girls’ team standings, Eldred earned 167 points and placed second and Livingston Manor recorded 100 points to finish third.
Among the top individual performers were Eldred’s Gracie Babula, Sasha Brush, Katie Hanson, Jamie Schombs and Maggie Snyder.
Babula won the 800 (2:41.8), Brush prevailed in the pole vault (5-6), Hanson took first place in the shot put (27-7 1/4) and Schombs was first in the discus (85-4).
Snyder won the 1,500-meter (5:46.8) and 3,000-meter (12:27.6) events.
For Manor, Liz Perry won the 2,000-meter steeple chase with a time of 10:12.4 and Jessica Fisk placed second in the 400 (1:06.5), long jump (13-9) and high jump (4-4).