Section V's top athletes compete in track and field state qualifiers
Overheard from a coach in the din of record-setting competition at Nazareth University’s track and field house in Pittsford Friday night:
"Jumps are us! Do you believe it?!"
Four of the top high school long and triple jumpers in the entire country gathered under the Golisano Training Center roof for an unprecedented show at Section V's track and field state qualifiers, also known as the Meet of Champions.
All are from the Rochester area and three of the four are sophomores.
Corintia Griffith, the Webster Schroeder senior bound for Harvard in the fall, crushed her own Section V record by two feet, soaring 43 feet, 3 inches in the triple jump. It kept her the same margin ahead of the nation's No. 2 girl from Texas.
"I wasn't sure what I'd be able to do today," Griffith said. "I woke up late this morning. Fortunately, things worked out fine."
Three sophomore boys – Celvin Kirkland of Aquinas, Aiden Bryant of Ontario County’s Midlakes High School and Rhoan Kaulder of McQuaid – assaulted marks of their own. Most impressive was Bryant's 48-8 triple. It's fourth in the country and within 17 inches of the Section V record that's stood for 18 years.
He pounded sand in the long jump, too, where Kirkland is holding the country's fifth-best mark – 24 and a half-inch set two weeks ago. Bryant crowded him Friday with a 23-8.5, tied for 12th nationwide on Web site MileSplit’s rankings. Kirkland landed in the 23s as well but fouled on all six of his tries to have no mark. Kaulder, whose best is just an inch behind Bryant, landed his last jump at 23-6.5.
"It's cool that all three of us,” Kaulder said, “are doing this as just sophomores. The competition is great for us. It's too bad Celvin couldn't get anything. We all know about fouling. Happens to us all the time. Lots of times."
Kirkland's jumps coach, former Aquinas sprinter Ryan Brennan, said the margins each time were almost minuscule.
"We're talking way less than an inch," he said. "It's so hard to know why. He's been dealing with some hamstring issues, so that could be part of it, not feeling comfortable on his approach.
"Fortunately, he still has nationals to go to."
Bryant locked up first place on his fourth jump, a personal best. His sequence was foul, 23-7, 23-1, 23-8, 23-5 and a pass on his last one.
"You really want to get your best jump in earlier the better," he said. "States will be more of a challenge because they keep the sand level with the floor. Here there's a bit of a dip. It can give you a little more length."
Nursing her knee
Griffith keeps close watch on her right knee, on the leg she lifts off from. She's been competing this season with a KT brand kinesiology tape that fastens halfway up her thigh.
"I think it helps," she said. "I feel some pressure support under the knee."
Her senior year rapidly drawing to a close, she said her Harvard decision was made after her official visit in early October.
"It’s going to be a great fit. I love how supportive the team and coaches are." Her career goal is to become a veterinarian.
Besides her record triple, she led everyone in the long jump, too, at 18-8 and completed a triple running opening leg on Schroeder's winning 800-meter relay.
All in the family
Not to slight her work ethic by any means, but you have to admit, Victor freshman Emma Goodell has some pretty good genetics going for her, too. Her grandfather/coach, the late Robert C. Goodell, her father, Victor coach and indoor track co-chairman Robert Goodell Jr. and her brother Andrew are or were hurdles specialists. And her mom Cassie was a jumper at SUNY Geneseo.
A personal best winning time of 8.53 Friday ranks her as sixth-best freshman in the country.
"I've learned a lot about responding under pressure," she said. "I push myself and I thrive on that. Even so, I wasn't expecting to do a PR today."
It helped her win by almost two-tenths of a second and sets her up for a shot at a state title next week at the state meet on Staten Island. She's .12 behind New York's fastest hurdler, another freshman, Anna Eeels from Section III's Cicero-North Syracuse.
Together they conquer
Section V's top three distance boys couldn't stop praising each other for inspiration to qualify in the 3,200.
"I'm so grateful for having Will and Connor help me through this," said Fairport senior Jake Passalugo. "I had a pretty bad season until now, but now all three of us have a shot at medaling."
That includes Pittsford Sutherland junior Will Tempest and Oakfield-Alabama senior Connor Domoy. Passalugo came in at 9:21.13, Tempest at 9:21.47 and Domoy at 9:24.47. All are season bests.
Passalugo caught a sinus infection at the end of cross country season and more recently has been fighting RSV – respiratory syncytial virus.
"Will passed me with 400 to go and I had to kick in to beat him," Passalugo said.
Tempest said “Jake pulled me through" and Domoy said "I wouldn't be here without you guys."
Bring it on
Wheelchair athlete Logan Corteux, a Red Creek senior, was asked after his three events what his preference was for competing against another wheelchair athlete from Section III at states.
"Would you like to do separate heats?" state girls indoor track chairman Dave Hennessey asked. "Or head to head?"
Corteux responded right away. "Sure. We can race together."
No guarantee, Hennessey said, but it's possible that Corteux will go wheel-to-wheel against sophomore NyAshia Linen in the 55 meters. Her PR is a 17.87. Corteux’s is a 14.32.
National team sprinter
That designation "Haiti" that you'll see on Tamara Dorval's name in results lists isn't part of her last name, it's her family's country of origin, and means that she's a member of Haiti's national track and field team.
Although the Pittsford Mendon senior was born in the United States, both her parents are native-born Haitians. She pronounces her first name ta-MAIR-ah, not tuh-MAIR-uh.
"I have three older brothers," she said, "but I'm the only athlete in the family. I stay very busy, singing a capella and in jazz choir at school, so I don't have a whole lot of time to train."
Time enough to hold four school records now, though, in the 55 (with her best Friday at 7.18 during the preliminaries), the 100, 200 and 300.
"I've been working on my block starts," Dorval said. "I have to concentrate on getting my legs close to a 45-degree angle."
Moving up
Aquinas junior Dallis Jones came in seeded sixth in the 55 but ran her best race ever to finish third and qualify for states because she beat the state standard of 7.44 at A3 sectionals last week.
"I got out to a really good start in lane 6," she said. "I was really hoping I could catch Reese (Penfield's third-seeded junior Reese Cialini) but not quite. She was right next to me."
Jones ran a 7.33 and Cialini 7.31. Actually, Jones' time had to be stretched to thousandths of a second to determine her finish. She beat out Alexander/Pembroke senior Shannon Schmieder 7.331 to 7.333.
The 55 is one of several sprint distances that Ay’rianna Moore had dominated since seventh grade. But the former Penfield and Churchville-Chili star moved before her senior year with her family to South Carolina to be closer to other family members. She's now competing unattached in open events in the mid-Atlantic region.
"I miss Ay'rianna," Dorval said. "She was so nice to me. It feels different not having her here."
Fire still burns
Brockport's Desilets "Desi" Dubois is in her sixth year of varsity race walking, still pretty much by herself out front, which makes this time of her season special.
"I'm a competitive person," she said, "so when the competition gets good, it brings out the best in me. Today was okay. I hit my splits fine, finished with a 7:13. But if I'm going to hit my PR (6:57) it should hopefully come at states.
She's rated seventh in the nation by the race walking website www.hsrw.net, and sixth in the state by MileSplit. Since 90% of high school race walkers come from New York, the state race at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex next Saturday is the one she wants most.
Last-minute switch
The other half of McQuaid's dynamic sprint due – senior Tyler Pagano – said he changed up his starting block settings for the 55 prelims and final, and it worked.
"I moved them back about 6 inches," he said. "I use my shoe length as a guide. Coach (Brian) Sprague's been helping me with this and it's made a difference."
Pagano won the 55 in 6.41, a full tenth of a second ahead of Franklin senior Perrion Williams. Kaulder was another .01 back and all three qualified for states.
A close one
Batavia junior Campbell Riley is making her first trip to indoor states, thanks to holding off Rush-Henrietta junior Haylie Smith and Irondequoit junior Elizabeth “Lizzy” Tytler in the 1,000. Their finishing times were 3:00.21, 3:01.17 and 3:01.44 in the six-lap event.
"I tried to go out hard but Haylie was still right on my shoulder the first couple laps," Riley said. "It got a bit scrambled on the third lap. My plan was to be ready to move when I got a chance, and I did.
"I don't ever look back, so I didn't know that they were closing on me in the last lap."
Undefeated still
Brockport's Nathaniel Fisher hasn't lost a race this entire indoor season.
"Losing is not fun," he said. His specialty is the 1,000, where he's ranked 10th in the state. He's also finished No. 1 in some 600s, won four 3,200 races and after Friday's three-second 1,600 victory he says he's more than ready for states.
"I'm going to compete for a title. Why not? I definitely left something in the tank today." And that's after cutting three seconds off his best time. He's 23rd on the state list now, at 4:23.91, but No. 1 is just seven seconds faster.
"I've trained so hard these last four years and coach has inspired me so much I'm going to go out fast like Steve Fontaine and go for it."
Determined
It came down to the sixth and last throw for junior shot-putter Kaylee Oswald of Wellsville.
"I said to myself, 'Don't hold back now.’ I'd fouled on the fifth one, but I didn't want to be second. I wanted first."
She nailed it at 37-7.5.
"I took it right down to the wire, I guess."
Turn, turn, turn
Avery Brunner of Pittsford Mendon is the state's top freshman weight thrower now, and she did it by changing her number of rotations in mid-competition.
"I've been doing three turns right along," she said. "I opened today with a 44 throw, then a couple more in the 40s. but I wanted more, so I decided to add a turn."
She hit a 44, then a 45 and on the last throw a 47-7.5.
"This sort of environment brings out the best in some people. That's me. I work hard on the little things, and I always say 'iron shapes iron.' "
Lifetime PR
With the top two seeds passing up the 3,000 to run the 1,000 and 1,500, seniors Alexa Briggs of Churchville-Chili and Mallory Hildreth of Pittsford Mendon earned their first state trips.
"It's a lifetime PR for Alexa," said her distance coach, Chris Memelo. "A 10:27. She's peaked at the right time. We've been working all year to get her to this point. It wasn’t easy. The Mendon girl, Mallory, ran better than we expected. But Alexa opened it up and closed hard."
Top-seeded Haylie Smith of R-H and senior Ari Reback of Fairport qualified for states with second places in the 1,000 and 1,500 respectively.
Etceteras
A lack of sponsorship forced the elimination of awards, like medals and certificates . . . Former Penfield cross country and track coach Dave Hennessey, who was terminated unexpectedly by the school's new athletic director a year ago, said he will be coaching Mercy's outdoor track team this spring. "I'm back in the saddle," he said, adding that he'll decide later whether to continue with next fall's cross country season and the winter indoor season. He is the national leader in cross country dual meet victories with more than 1,300 boys and girls combined.
Jim Castor, retired assistant sports editor of the Democrat and Chronicle, has covered high school sports in the Rochester area for more than five decades. He can be reached at jcastor@jimcastor.com
Results
Section V State Meet Qualifier
At Nazareth University
*- Qualified for states. SR- Section V record
Top relay and top two individuals, plus third-place finishers who have met the state qualifying standard, and second-place relays that have met the state standard, qualify for state championships next weekend at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex, Staten Island. Medals to top three.
BOYS
55 meters: 1. *Tyler Pagano (McQuaid) 6.42, 2. *Perrion Williams (Franklin/Northeast College Preparatory High School/School of the Arts/World of Inquiry) 6.52, 3. *Rhoan Kaulder (McQuaid) 6.53; 55 wheelchair: 1. *Logan Corteaux (Red Creek) 14.69
300: 1. *Perrion Williams (Franklin/NE/SOTA/WOI) 34.77, 2. *Jalen McCoy (East Rochester) 35.34, 3. *Jaden Simmons (Edison/School Without Walls) 36.46; 300 wheelchair: 1. Logan Corteaux (Red Creek) 1:26.14; 600: 1. *John Elliot (Penfield) 1:24.31, 2. *Connor Hashim (Fairport) 1:24.32, 3. *Cole Grazioplene (Batavia) 1:24.34
1,000: 1. *Ethan Shea (Pittsford Mendon) 2:34.72, 2. *Brandon Yanguas (Irondequoit) 2:36.05, 3. Alexandre Leduc-Etile (Pittsford Mendon) 2:37.08; 1,600: 1. *Nathaniel Fisher (Brockport) 4:23.92, 2. *Austin Bubel (Fairport) 4:26.07, 3. *Ryan Giglia Jr. (Churchville-Chili) 4:26.58; 3,200: 1. *Jake Passalugo (Fairport) 9:36.23, 2. *William Tempest (Pittsford Sutherland) 9:31.65, 3. *Connor Domoy (Oakfield-Alabama) 9:24.47
55 hurdles: 1.* Kevin Brown (Webster Schroeder) 7.65, 2. *Diavantae Simmons (True North Rochester Preparatory Charter School/Uncommon Schools Rochester Prep) 7.68, 3. *Michael Ortiz (East) 7.89; Shot put: 1. *Sheldon Siverling (Batavia) 54-4, 2. *Peter Northrup (Penfield) 53-11.75, 3. Ethan Canfield (Dansville) 49-9.75; Shot put wheelchair: 1. *Logan Corteux (Red Creek) 10-2.25; Weight throw: 1. *Peter Northrop (Penfield) 64-8.25, 2. *Ethan Mitrano (Penfield) 58-1, 3. *Sheldon Siverling (Batavia) 57-1.5.
Long jump: 1. *Aiden Bryant (Midlakes) 23-8.5, 2. *Rhoan Kaulder (McQuaid) 23-6.5, 3. *Jahsiah Arnold (Rush-Henrietta) 21-11.25; Triple jump: 1. *Aiden Bryant (Midlakes) 48-8, 2. *Jaylyn Melton (TN/Rochester Prep) 45-10.75, 3. *Manny Robinson (Hilton) 45-1; High jump: 1. Gavin White (University Preparatory Charter School for Young Men) 6-8, 2. Tyrell Simmons (TN/Rochester Prep) 6-4, 3. *Brenton Paladino (McQuaid) 6-2; Pole vault: 1. *Nathan Sinclair (Rush-Henrietta) 14-0, 2. *Oren Welch (Marion/Gananda) 13-6, 3. *Luke Collison (Penfield) 13-6.
800 relay: 1. *Hilton 1:32.67, 2. TN/Rochester Prep 1:35.32, 3. Newark 1:36.71; 1,600 relay: 1. *McQuaid 3:27.91, *Hilton 3:31.59, 3. Wayne 3:34.30; 3,200 relay: 1. *McQuaid 8:07.38, 2. Spencerport 8:15.11, 3. Rush-Henrietta 8:16.96.
GIRLS
55 meters: 1. *Tamara Dorval (Pittsford Mendon) 7.19, 2. *Reese Cialini (Penfield) 7.31, 3. *Dallis Jones 7.331, 4. Shannon Schmeider (Alexander/Pembroke) 7.333; 300: 1. *Marykate Rudnicki (Fairport) 40.71, 2. *Anais Martinez (Franklin/NE/SOTA/WOI) 40.97, 3. *Tamara Dorval (Pittsford Mendon) 41.79; 600: 1. *Lia Brasacchio (Victor) 1:38.98, 2. *Stella Riley (Brockport) 1:39.42, 3. Rebecca Schroeder (Webster Schroeder) 1:39.59.
1,000: 1. *Campbell Riley (Batavia) 3:00.21, 2. *Haylie Smith (Rush-Henrietta) 3:01.17, 3. *Elizabeth Tytler (Irondequoit) 3:01.44; 1,500: 1. *Hannah Devine (Brighton) 4:49.81, 2. *Ari Reback (Fairport) 4:57.94, 3. Morgan Zimmet (Penfield) 5:00.11; 3,000: 1. *Alexa Briggs (Churchville-Chili) 10:27.19, 2. *Mallory Hildreth (Pittsford Mendon) 10:28.55, 3. Hannah Casler (Fairport) 10:36.77.
55 hurdles: 1. *Emma Goodell (Victor) 8.53, 2. *Jada Kendrick (Webster Thomas) 8.71, 3. *Leia Sheppard (Webster Thomas) 8.93; 1,500 race walk: 1. *Desilets Dubois (Brockport) 7:13.54, 2. *Jessica Sweet (Rush-Henrietta) 7:31.79, 3. Riley Carletta (Brockport) 7:37.98; Shot put: 1. *Kaylee Oswald (Wellsville) 37-7.5, 2. *Jane Carey (Webster Thomas) 37-5, 3. Ella Manelis (Brighton) 35-3.25; Weight throw: 1. *Avery Brunner (Pittsford Mendon) 47-7.5, 2. *Ava Wierda (Batavia) 47-6.5, 3. *Ella Manelis (Brighton) 44-.75
Long jump: 1. *Corintia Griffith (Webster Schroeder) 18-8, 2. *Shannon Schmieder (Alexander/Pembroke) 18-1, 3. *Elizabeth Brandt (Williamson) 17-10.75; Triple jump: 1. *Corintia Griffith (Webster Schroeder) 43-3, 2. *Elizabeth Brandt (Williamson) 37-5, 3. *Elsye Klump (Keshequa) 37-1.5; High jump: 1. *Shanell Miller (Irondequoit) 5-3, 2. *Cristina Paulk (Greece Olympia) 5-2, 3. Ameilya Jessup (Greece Olympia) 5-0; Pole vault: 1. *Paige Harding (Oakfield-Alabama) 11-3, 2. *Alexis Gerig (Hilton) 10-6, 3. Heidi Tran (Gates Chili) 10-3.
800 relay: 1. *Webster Schroeder 1:46.23, 2. *Fairport 1:47.26, 3. *Penfield 1:47.43; 1,600 relay: 1. *Victor 4:06.90, 2. Batavia 4:10.55, 3. Brockport 4:16.71; 3,200 relay: 1. *Fairport 9:46.41, 2. Churchville-Chili 9:51.93, 3. Rush-Henrietta 9:53.62.
Complete results online at www.yentiming.com or www.sectionvtrack.com
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Section V's top athletes compete in track and field state qualifiers
