The Salamanca Warrior boys track and field team finished third in the CCAA Division 2 at the CCAA Championships meet in Falconer. “It wasn’t ideal weather on Friday and Saturday for personal records, but that did not stop some of our athletes from performing at their best,” coach Michelle Hill said. The highlight for the boys’ team was their 3200 meter relay who were division champs and they would finish fourth overall among all three divisions. Senior Mason Brewer set the tone for the relay running five seconds faster than his best. Teammates Knox Johnson, Payton Bigler and Aiden George all followed suit and collectively took off 11 seconds. This was also a sectional time for the boys.
“They were incredibly exciting to watch on Saturday morning,” Hill said. Kyle Lecceardone had an outstanding weekend in the sprints. He ran his PR in the 100m which earned him third in his division and seventh overall. He was close to his best in the 200m finishing third in his division and fifth overall. “Kyle is a senior and a fantastic leader on this team,” Hill said. Easton Chudy was only four inches off his best in pole vault with a 9-06 and would place third in his division and eighth overall. The 400 relay of Dakota Colts, Perry Winship, Remy Follman and Kyle Lecceardone didn’t have a season best time but would place second in their division and fifth overall. Other PRs came from Aiden George in the 800 meter and the 1600 meter. “Aiden is one of those disciplined and determined runners. He is a consistent hard working athlete every day at practice. It is so good to see him peaking at the right point of the season,” Hill said. Camron Bowser jumped for a PR in long jump (17-09.50) and Russ McComber had a five foot improvement in discus with 80-02. The boys will return to Falconer on Friday for their Class C meet.
Ryanna Brady finished first in the 3000 meter run to help the Salamanca girls claim second place in CCAA Division 2. “The CCAA Championships created an opportunity for us to possibly capture a Division 2 title but it was not to be,” coach Laurie Lafferty-John said. “We fell short to Allegany-Limestone by 18 points. There were definitely places we just didn’t perform where we were capable of and then add in a couple scratches due to injury and work conflicts and it became too much to overcome.”
Out of the 18 events, Salamanca had six Division 2 champions with a surprise win coming in the 4 x 100 relay with Rhiannin Chase, Summer Downey, Leilene McComber and Jamila Nelthrope. “It wasn’t our best time of the year, but with the weather and rain, we showed up and grabbed the win, in addition to being 2nd overall out of 18 teams.”
Individually, Ryanna Brady (2:33.30) won the 800 meters and the 3000 Run (11:06.26) in PR fashion. Brady took off five seconds in the 800 and 16 in the 3000 from her personal best. In addition she was the overall winner in the 3000 meters. Izabella Milks was also a double winner in the high jump 4-8 and the triple jump (31-10). It was a hard weekend to post PRs in the jumps with temperature and rain. Jamila Nelthrope added a crown in the 200 meters with her best time of 26.61.
Other personal bests were posted by Milks in the 100 Hurdles (18.35) second Division 2 , Lailee Pierce in the 1500 (6:05.07) fifth in Division 2, Kaylin Lemon in the 400 Hurdles (1:20.9) fourth Div. 2, Thia Chudy in the 3000 (13:39.27) improving 23 seconds and taking 6th in Div. 2.
Other place finishers for the warriors were Nelthrope second in the 100 meters and fifth in the long jump with a personal best, Gabriella Bly was second in the steeplechase, fifth in the 800, Leilene McComber was 2nd in the 400 meters with her best time of the season and 5th in the 200, Summer Downey second in the 400 hurdles, Aubrey Domres was third in the Discus, and Arleigh Chudy was fifth in the pole vault. The 3200 relay team of Downey, Bly, Lemon and Brady took second, 1600 Relay of Kyla Dry, Lemon, McComber, and Daisy Lichy also grabbed second.
The Class C Sectional will be on Friday at Falconer.
