Archive: Sports

The girls of Lansing Track and Field captured the Section IV Class C Championship Thursday night, adding to their IAC Large School title and second consecutive undefeated dual meet season record. Last year, the team finished fourth among Section IV schools; this year, the Ladycats were dominant, finishing 71 points ahead of runner-up Newark Valley.

As has been the case all season, the Lansing girls demonstrated their strength in both on the track and in the field. A sweep of first, second, and third place in the 400H (senior Emma Dhimitri, freshman Catalina Zaloj, and sophomore Destiny Little) as well as in the pole vault (senior Emily Gallagher, juniors Miya Kuramoto and Meghan Matheny) in addition to the one-two finish in the 800M by freshman Catie Eisenhut and junior Mikaela Garcia contributed 62 points to the Lansing score. Dhimitri also placed second in the 100H and triple jump, missing the school record by just a half inch in a new personal best. Zaloj secured entry into state qualifiers in all of her individual events, ending as the runner-up in high jump and racing to fifth place and new personal best in the 100H.

Gallagher not only won the vault but also was victorious in the long jump, earning another individual double victory amongst many this season. Eisenhut also stood atop the podium multiple times, winning the 1500M in addition to the 800M and joining teammates Zaloj, Garcia, and Dhimitri in winning the 1600M relay. Sophomore Allison Keefe was runner-up in the 3000M run, securing her slot in this week's State Qualifier and her teammate, junior Leigh Miller, finished in fourth after leading off the fourth-place 3200M relay team (Miller, senior Caroline Taylor, senior Sam Mauser, and freshman Teresa Garcia). Senior Ashley Smith finished in third for the shot put, guaranteeing entry into this week's qualifier after a strong season in the event. Notably, Newark Valley's Courtney McNeil continued her dominance in the sprints, winning the 100M and 200M sprints as well as anchoring the winning 400M relay (and following that up immediately with an anchor leg of the 1600M relay for the Cardinals).

The boys of Trumansburg continued their successful season as they won the boys title by 89 points. Just three points separated runner-up Sidney from third-place Elmira Notre Dame (with Tioga just three points behind END and Oneonta 2 points back in fourth). Starting with the first event in which the Raiders went 2-3-4 in the steeple behind Watkins Glen's Shawn Rutledge and finishing with a win in the 1600M relay, Trumansburg was strong from start to finish. Austin Grunder was a double winner in both the 200M and 400M sprints as well as anchoring the winning 4x400. Josiah Lopez earned double victories as well for TBurg, winning both the long jump and triple jump. For the Bobcats, juniors Joey Miller-LaBar and Mike Lapar went 1-2 in the high jump, earning 18 points towards the team's seventh place finish of 15 teams. Miller-LaBar also tied for fifth place in pole vault. Sophomore Dakota Edwards earned his ticket to State Qualifiers with his third-place finish in the 100M sprint; he also jumped to a new personal best and fifth place in the long jump. Also earning points for Lansing were junior Alex Powers (6th place, shot put) and senior Braydon Jackson (5th place, discus).

Click here for complete results of the Section IV Class C Championships.

At press time, the top individuals from all Section IV schools will have just completed the two-day State Qualifier meet in which athletes will race, jump, vault, and throw to earn the chance to compete at the NYSPHSAA Championships at Union-Endicott on June 9-10.