Cameron Turner Photo
Norwich advances a multitude of athletes to states, various records fall
VESTAL – The culmination of a year’s worth, or better, of hard work is what the Section IV NYS Qualifier for boys and girls Track and Field is.
Chenango County sent representatives from each of the possible schools to the two-day tournament – held at Union-Endicott on Thursday, May 31, and at Vestal on Thursday, June 1.
Norwich, Greene, Unadilla Valley, Harpursville-Afton, Bainbridge-Guilford and Oxford each sent at least two athletes to the meet – with Norwich dominating both in numbers and sheer success.
Norwich – who sent 15 individual athletes, three boys relay teams and two girls relay teams – will now advance three of those athletes to the New York State meet along with two of the relay squads.
Zack Race of Norwich, a junior who is regarded as the fastest Tornado to set foot in Norwich High School will be advancing to the state meet for the second year in a row – this time in three events.
Race dominated his field of events, running a qualifying time of 11.08 in the 100m dash, only to follow that up in the finals with a stellar 10.94 for the first-place win. This time in the finals edged out Race’s rival on the track, Sincere Williamson of Binghamton who ran a 10.96 in the finals.
Norwich sophomore, Eric Conant would keep pace with the pack in his 100m performance – running a qualifying time of 11.69, followed up by a finals time of 11.49 – a time that earned him a fifth place finish.
Bainbridge-Guilford’s Nick Petrutoni, a sophomore, would run a 12.16 in the qualifying heat; while Unadilla Valley’s Geoff Keach, a senior, managed a 12.28 – neither would qualify for the finals.
Race would return to the track to put on an even better show, blazing his way to a second first-place finish at the meet in the 200m dash. Race, already the record holder for the 200m at NHS, bettered his mark in the finals – a mark that qualifies him for the national meet.
After running a 22.14 in the qualifying round of the event, Race again saw himself pitted against the Binghamton senior, Williamson, who ran a 22.41. Race would use a slingshot method around the corner to explode into the straight away, pulling away for the win – running a blazing fast 21.83 – making him the lone athlete in the race to run in the 21 second range at the meet.
“21.83 was a huge personal record and also qualifies him (Zack Race) for nationals,” said Norwich head coach Shaun Horan.
Race will run both the 100m and 200m at the NYS Championships. Race wasn’t done just yet.
An integral part of Norwich’s deadly 4x100m relay – David Berger, Zack Race, Ky’sawn Veale, and Eric Conant – entered the finals ranked as the number one team after running a faster qualifying time than Binghamton at 43.83 to 44.26.
The script would flip in the finals where Binghamton edged Norwich for the ultimate crown, running a 43.67 to the Tornado’s 44.26 – however, due to Binghamton being classified as a large school, Norwich would claim the small school win and will advance to the New York State championships.
The time of 43.83 that Norwich ran in the qualifying heat does best the school record that the squad already owns.
Unadilla Valley’s 4x100m relay team – Ben Avolio, Jordan Mirabito, Alex Taylor, and Geoff Keach – would claim a eighth-place finish overall with a time of 46.38.
The girls side for Norwich will be advancing two individual athletes and one relay team following the state qualifier.
Norwich’s girls 4x800m relay team – Nicole Jeffrey, Katie Gawronski, Meghan Komendarek, and Hailey Colabelli – smashed a school record in the event to chase down a state meet berth.
The Tornado squad ran a 10:01.06 time in the finals, placing third overall, behind large schools Corning and Elmira, taking the small school win.
“We’re going to states,” said coach Horan running toward to the finish line as Colabelli passed through.
Norwich jumper, junior Caroline Stewart, had previously hit the state mark for qualifying earlier in the season – however, solidified herself a ticket to the state meet with her performance in the long jump.
Stewart would finish as the top small school long jumper – second-place overall – managing her best leap at 17’2.5”.
Finishing in fifth-place in the event was fellow long jumper from Norwich, junior Emily Shattuck who jumped 16’7”.
Oxford’s Jade Munson finished in eighth-place at 15’1.50”; while Unadilla Valley’s Maggie Merlo finished in ninth-place at 15’1.25”.
Norwich’s lone thrower at the competition, senior Kara Evans would round out the crop of Tornado athletes advancing to the state meet. Evans competed in the discus, launching her best toss to the distance of 109’1”, placing her third overall.
Other top-finishers in the meet came not only from Norwich’s team but from other Chenango County teams.
Boys Events
110m hurdles:
Despite missing a trip to states in the event, Norwich’s Ky’sawn Veale, a senior, would earn a trip to the finals in the event. Veale sprinted to a 16.30 time in the qualifying heat – only to better that mark and grab a personal best time of 16.03 in the finals where he placed third overall.
400m dash:
Norwich’s Scott Tomanocy and Unadilla Valley’s Ben Avolio would both compete in the event. Avolio would rank eighth overall with a time of 52.48, while Tomanocy finished in fourteenth-place with a time of 53.53.
800m run: Norwich’s Gabe Gawronski ran a personal best time in the event, where he placed third overall with a time of 1:56.83.
“Gabe Gawronski in the 800 was a huge PR and really took him to the next level,” said coach Horan.
400m hurdles:
Connor Nial of Norwich would finish second in his heat in the event, however, would manage to land in ninth-place overall in the final standings with a time of 1:00.95.
Steeplechase:
Norwich senior, Ben Ericksen, would scratch the 3200m run to a attempt a push for the Steeplechase. Ericksen would run to the tune of a 10:27.81 – placing him in sixth-place, grabbing a spot on the podium.
1600m:
