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Mike LaparJunior Mike Lapar finished third in the high jump. Photo by John Lawrence

The athletes who converged on the track at Odessa-Montour Fiday night took advantage of dry skies between the rain whenever they could as they competed in the Legends of the Night Invitational.

In the girls competition, the teams from Newark Valley and Lansing pulled away from the field of 23 teams, finishing 1-2 with final scores of 121 and 112 respectively over third place Spencer Van Etten (43 points).  Newark Valley swept the relays and saw highly-ranked Courtney McNeil climb atop the podium three times as she won the 100 and 200 meter sprints and anchored the 400m relay. 

Pole vault(Left to right) Junior Miya Kuramoto, senior Emily Gallagher, and junior Meghan Matheny swept the pole vault with their top three finishes. Photo by John Lawrence

Lansing, meanwhile, filled the top three positions on the pole vault awards stand (Emily Gallagher, Miya Kuramoto and Meghan Matheny) and cheered for Catie Eisenhut's decisive double win in the 1500 and 800 meter races.   Emma Dhimitri also took home an individual win for the night (and a champion's t-shirt) in the 400 meter hurdle race.  With teammates stepping up in events on the track and in the field and earning awards throughout the night, the ongoing competition between the Cardinals and Bobcats promises to inspire strong performances for both teams.

Girls TeamLansing girls take home the runner-up trophy. Photo by Becca Lovenheim

Relay Team6th place 4x800 relay team of (L-R) Phillip Linnik, Torsten Gartenberg, Sean Ross, and Aiden Burt. Photo by John Lawrence

Catie EisenhutFreshman Catie Eisenhut leading the 1500m race. Photo by John Lawrence

DiscusSenior Braydon Jackson threw to a third-place finish on the podium in discus. Photo by John Lawrence

In the boys competition, Trumansburg emerged as the winning team with 95.5 points over runner-up and host Odessa Montour (64 points).  Tioga was third, and fueled by strong field performances, Lansing came in fourth.  Trumansburg swept all of the jumps, with Josiah Lopez winning both the long and triple jumps and Dominic Mikula vaulting to the top of podium despite several rain delays as the storms rolled through in the latter half of the track meet.  Zach Elliott of Odessa Montour won both the discus and shot put.  Lansing saw podium performances in the throws (Braydon Jackson and Alex Powers) and vertical jumps (Michael Lapar, Joey Miller-LaBar, and Ethan Burt). 

The Bobcats then hosted their final home meet of the season, an IAC Divisional Meet against Trumansburg and Dryden and unscored against Whitney Point.  Before the meet began, a ceremony was held to honor the ten graduating seniors: Braydon Jackson, John Koch, Mikey Koch, Devin McCartney, Emma Dhimitri, Emily Gallagher, Sam Mauser, Clara Montague, Ashley Smith, and Caroline Taylor.  On one of the very few sunny days thus far this season, each senior was escorted to the field by family members as favorite memories, inspirations and gratitude were shared.  The efforts, leadership and role played by these athletes were recognized as posters and photos adorned the fences and families, teammates and fans applauded.

SeniorsUnderclassmen applaud their senior teammates. Photo by Kristen Burt

Track SeniorsThe ten graduating track and field seniors and their families. Photo by Kristen Burt

Track and field events began immediately following, and athletes from all four schools aimed to better their personal bests at this last regular season meet.  In the boys competition, Trumansburg won against both Lansing and Dryden, with a Blue Raider taking the overall win in all but four events.   Lansing bested Dryden in double dual scoring.  Jackson took home a senior night victory with his win in the discus along with a runner up throw in the shot put.  Lansing girls completed their second consecutive season of sweeping their conference division meets, winning against both Trumansburg and Dryden.  The girls of Trumansburg bested Dryden.

Gallagher added a personal best and another record to her long resume on this last home meet of her high school career, vaulting to 12'6" for the event win and a new facility best.  She was also a member of the winning 400 meter relay team (with Meghan Matheny, Gwen Gisler, and Miya Kuramoto) and won the long jump.  Dhimitri also continued her success as she closes out her competition days at Sobus Field, winning the 100 meter hurdles, 400 meter hurdles, and anchoring the top 1600 meter relay team (also run by Cat Zaloj, Catie Eisenhut, and Mikaela Garcia).  Smith also took home a senior night victory with the best throw of the night in the discus.

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