Section V Class B Championship

by Reggie Henderson

Mercy pulled out a squeeker with 108 points over Pittsford Mendon’s 106.  For two teams to get 214 out of 495 available points in a meet with 13 teams competing is pretty incredible.

In the sprints Mercy’s Maggie Pryslak and Mijoi Powell represented Mercy really well with Pryslak winning both the 300 and 600 and Powell taking second in both the 55 and 300.  Mendon comes on strong as the distance get longer though with Kylie Ryan and Christiana Mott taking 2nd and 5th in the 600 to equal the points scored by Pryslak’s win in that event (but Mercy got an extra one with a 6th by Caitlyn Garbarino).  At 1000M Mendon really scores with Shaylyn Tuite winning, Lilly Pieper taking 4th and Shauna Goldman scoring a point at 6th.  Tuite goes on to be a double winner by taking the 1500M and teammate Krista Roncone taking 5th.  Mercy answered in the 1500M with a 4th by Bridget Hanna.  The 3000M goes to Mercy with a 2nd by Bridget Hanna (nice job placing in both 1500-3000) and Leah Strassburg scoring a point in 6th, but Mendon holding their own with a 3rd by Allison Hallock.  Finally on the track Elsie Ikpot of Mercy scores an unanswered 10 points in the 55M hurdles. (sounds like Mendon needs a hurdler). Track event tally: Mercy 60, Mendon 43.

On the field, Mendon scored 14 unanswered points in the high jump with Mirin Brown and Nelson Trotter taking 2nd and 3rd.  Brown scored another 2nd place for Mendon in the pole vault and another point by Carrie DeMoulin in 6^th (14 points by Brown, not bad).  Mercy had freshmen Sarah Bronk come out and take 3rd in the vault, an event that hasn’t been a strong point for them in the past.  Mercy’s Ikpot added to her win in the hurdles by taking 2nd in the Triple and 4th in the long jump, Mercy will miss that 22 point scorer next year.  Mendon squeeked out a point in each event with Trotter getting 6th in the triple and and the long jump on top of the 3rd she took in high jump ( I guess Trotter can jump).  Mendon takes the shot with a 4th by Morgan Deuel.  So for the field events, it’s Mendon 29, Mercy  18.

Racewalk played its role, with Mendon’s Megan Cackett winning to score 10, but Mercy held their own with Maggie Ciaccio placing 2^nd.

So… it’s down to the relays with Mercy at 86 and Mendon at 82.  Mendon’s distance runners dominate the 4x800M winning the event to Mercy’s 4^th place.  (Mendon 92, Mercy 90).  4x400 Mercy and Mendon dominate everyone with Mercy winning and Mendon in 2^nd. (Mendon 100, Mercy 100).  So we’re down to the 4x200, the last event, with the score exactly tied at 100 points each,  and Mercy edges out Mendon, 1:57.37 to 1:57.93 for 2^nd and 3^rd place in the event, and 1^st and 2^nd in the meet. (Mercy 108, Mendon 106).

Taylor Hudson of Victor was a double winner dominating the high jump with a 5-6 win (2^nd place was 4-10), and winning the long jump with a 16-4.25.

Whew… I’m not writing that much about the other championships, but on to the Boys.

GREECE OLYMPIA!  The Mercy and Mendon girls teams weren’t the only ones to score 100 Tuesday night.  Olympia took the boy championship with 107 points!  Joining them in dominating the competition was Victor at 91.  Olympia managed to score 21 points in a single event, the 55M Hurdles, Mark Ilunga 1^st, Jermaine Junious 2^nd, Brandon Forster 5^th, Sean Alexis 6^th.  Sounds like somebody set the hurdles up in the hallways.   They had 14 points in the 55M Dash with Shawn Charles exploding a 6.44 to break ahead of the pack that’s been bunched up between 6.58 and 6.62.  That time also puts Charles at 2^nd in the state to a 6.43 run by a sprinter from Long Island.  Following right behind was Athena’s SOPHOMORE Brian Smith at 6.51 which puts him at 4^th in the state and the 2^nd fastest time by a sophomore in the UNITED STATES.  Craig Hardgers rounded out the event total of 14 for Olympia with a 6.81 for 4^th.  Olympia scored another 14 points in the pole vault with Forster taking 2^nd place (and having a really close attempt at a school record 12-9) and Troy Lodato 3^rd.   Next up was 10 points in the 600M with JeanLuc Kasamabyi taking 2^nd and Gayang Ayol taking 5^th.  Three Olympia Spartans cleared 5-10 in the high jump with Jermaine Junious and Javante Coley tying for 4^th and Craig Hardgers scoring again with a 6^th.  Seven more points in the Long Jump with Charles adding a 3^rd to his 55M win and Sean Alexis taking 6^th.  Junious took a 3^rd in the triple jump adding to his 2^nd in the 55M Hurdles.  And Mark Ilunga scored a couple points in the Shot Put (on top of his hurdles win).  Although the meet did not really come down to the wire in the relays for Olympia, they still needed those points to win.  They took first in the 4x400M, 2^nd in the 4x200M, and 4^th in the 4x800.

Cory Cox of East was a double winner with a 45-7.25 in the triple to win by more than 2 feet, and a 22-7.5 in the long jump.