NORWICH – Norwich made it three-for-three at the REK Friends Forever Invitational sweeping the boys’ and girls’ titles Friday night at Norwich.
The boys’ squad used strong performances in the field events to eke past Greene (83.5 to 78), while the girls were impressive polling 81.5 points to outdistance runner-up Oxford, who finished with 51.
“Greene pretty much had the edge in the running events, but we won three field events, and that is what put us over the edge for the boys,” said Norwich co-head track and field coach, Paul Sims. “Our girls’ team is very solid and has a lot of depth in different places. It was a great night and we finished just before it started to rain.”
Norwich gained command finishing one-two in the long jump led by Jesse Prosser. Mike Reilly picked up a win in the triple jump, and Robert Murray grabbed the top spot in the pole vault.
Steven Spittler added two wins for Norwich in the 1600- and 3200 meters to give the Tornado their first win of any kind this season. “The last couple of meets, the boys were beaten pretty handily,” Sims aid. “A meet like this is a good confidence boost; we definitely needed that.”
Kyle Smith grabbed a pair of wins for Oxford taking the shot put and discus. Smith’s toss of 117-1 in the discus was a new school record.
Norwich’s girls did not command their usual number of individual wins, however, the depth of which Sims spoke clearly won out over the rest of the eight-team field.
Katie Benenati cruised to a victory in the 100 meters, Cassidy Griffin took the high jump, and Hannah Killean won the pole vault. Norwich’s 400-meter relay team of Benenati, Sarah Bonnell, Elisha Eddy, and Cleo Daoud remained unbeaten timing a season-low 51.8 seconds.
Emily Woodford of Oxford nipped Benenati in the 200-meter final timing a 27.5 in one of the meet’s most closely-contested events.
Greene walked away with the top individual honors. Robert Sigona, who captured the 100- and 200-meter dashes, was named the most outstanding male performer. For the girls, Anna Crumb earned wins for the Trojans in the 800- and 1500-meter races.
Norwich hosts Owego Tuesday night, and competes at the S-E Invitational Friday.
