Forks Rules the Valley!
Chenango Forks Track and Field traveled to Chenango Valley Wednesday night. It was cold, windy, and raining. On a team of 34 new to Varsity track, it was their first ever away dual meet. Against our cross-river rivals, and if the rumors about STAC are true, it will be our final time competing against CV as members of the same division.
Adding to that pressure, our squads had a total of sixteen athletes unable to participate in the meet.
But our teams rose to the occasion and earned a set of true complete team victories, each setting the stage for our battle against Waverly to decide the Divisional Championship in two weeks.
Triple Winners Lead the Girls
Arianna Hepler and Ceci Kasmarcik both walked away with three event wins on the night and leading our girls to an 88-44 win. Arianna captured the 1500m, the 800m, and a leg on the winning 4x400 relay. Ceci added wins in the 400m, and the 4x400 along with the 4x800.
In the field, Jillian Howell led a girls sweep in the throws, continuing her dominant start to the season. Lily Packard, Olivia Dobbish, and Giana Michitti swept the triple jump. Maya Padmanabhan won the pole vault.
Not to be outdone, the girls distance group put together a remarkable double sweep. In the 1500m, 8th graders Arianna, Michaela Wood, and Becca Yahner went 1, 2, 3 to claim the top three spots. In the 800m, Arianna, Alyx Clutz, and Katherine Yahner repeated the feat with another sweep demonstrating great depth for the team!
Rounding out the win was Jaime Prince’s 200m Dash victory and Grace Hogan and Avery Raab running on both the 4x800 and the 4x400 winning teams (with Avery also finishing second in the 400 Hurdles.
Sprint Group Takes Care of Business
On the Boys’ side of things, our sprint group answered with their own sweeps and strong performances guiding us to a 72 to 59 win.
Lincoln Raab, Max Harkness, and Abdul Bumbrey swept the 100m. Max and Abdul went 1, 2 in the 200m. While our 4x100 relay of Abdul, Chase Tuttle, Camden Sturdevant, and Logan Kuss took the win to round out the sprint group's contributions.
The Boys field group added wins from Jackson James in the pole vault, Dylan Raab in the triple jump, Lincoln in the long jump, and Michael Moppert in the shot put.
Porter Sirgany finished second in the 800 and Joe Rullo ran a huge PR in the 3200!
The gutsiest performance of the night belonged to Jackson James, who placed in the 400m hurdles and then came right back to win the 800m. Stacking a hurdle race and an 800m back-to-back is one of the harder doubles in the sport. Jackson approached Coach Groover and Motell and asked to do the Hurdles as he knew the team needed points wherever we could. This despite having NEVER hurdled before! That kind of effort is what builds our culture and program!
Lily Packard turned in the girls gutsiest night. Carrying around a box of tissues because she was so sick and missing the next day of school, Lily was able to win the Triple Jump (her first time competing in the event) and finish second in the 200 Meter Dash! Again, with heart like this, our team is building our program into one of the most decorated in the school!
The Waverly dual will determine the division championship for both the boys and the girls.
All Time Points Updates
Several athletes have moved up on the all time points list. Here is where things stand for our top performers and the athletes who scored their first varsity points this season.
Boys Top Performers
All Time Points
Sam- 15th
Lincoln- 21st
Max- 24th
Michael- 79th
Girls Top Performers
Jaime- 44th
Ceci- 62nd
Grace Harkness- 73rd
Jillian- 86th
First Varsity Points This Season
Boys: Brysen, Jackson James, Dylan, Jaxon, Joe, Cam, Chase, Jack, Porter, Kuss, Max Harris, Sawyer, and Jackson Miner.
Girls: Olivia, Maya, Lily, Avery, Pati, Grace Hogan, Giuliana, Michaela, Becca, Izzy, Madison, and Lizzy.
That is twenty five athletes who scored a varsity point for the first time this season. Twenty five athletes earning their first varsity point in a single season is a sign of program wide growth and the development happening across every event group. The future of Blue Devils Track and Field is bright!
Be sure to check out last weeks episode and sent us any questions or topics you would like us to talk about on next weeks episode!
