JOHNSON CITY – Taking the same path they did one year ago, the Norwich Purple Tornado boys track and field team claimed the Section IV Class B crown. The girls squad finished in second place behind the Golden Bears of Vestal.
The Lady Golden Bears have the fastest girls’ sprinter in the state for Division-II on their team––stiff competition for Norwich to beat. The Norwich girls who faced her gave it everything they had when racing with her.
The Purple Tornado’s Zack Race once again won two individual events – the 100 and 200 meter dashes – and was a leg of the winning 4x100 meter team.
Race, David Berger, Scott Tomanocy and Eric Conant sprinted their legs off at the event to clock a time of 43.82 seconds. The foursome has been untouchable this season, winning in every meet they have competed.
Another group that has been nearly untouchable for Norwich is the 4x400 meter relay team. After setting the school record a week ago at the STAC Championships, the runners of Nik Barber, Noah Bufalini, Tomanocy, and Gabe Gawronski.
Gawronski took home the Class B crown in the 400 meter dash, sprinting the one lap to a time of 50.91 seconds.
His kid sister, Katie Gawronski also brought home bragging rights. Her event was the 400 meter hurdles, an event where Gawronski finished as the STAC Championships runner-up.
Taking one lap around the track without the hurdles was Norwich’s Hailey Colabelli. Colabelli’s time of 1:01.96 was a second faster than a week ago and was the best time in the Class B race, sending her home with a Section IV title.
Running a time of 2:25.58 for the 800 meter run was the Tornado’s Nicole Jeffrey. Jeffrey took home first place and was just one second off from setting a new school record. She also placed fourth in the 1500 meter run earlier in the meet.
On the boys side of the same event, Gabe Gawronski took a third place finish and added more team points to Norwich’s total.
The Purple Tornado earned big team points with the results of the 200 meter dash finals for the boys. Norwich crossed the first three runners of the race. Race finished first with Eric Conant and David Berger coming in right after. The three earned Norwich a total of 24 points as they swept the top three spots on the podium.
