High school roundup: WNY athletes qualify for state track meet with more to come (2024)

More than 30 Western New York athletes qualified for the New York State Public High School Athletic Association track and field championships Friday during the first day of the Section VI state qualifying meet at Alden High School.

There were three ways to qualify for the state championships during the qualifying meet: win an event, achieve a super standard mark or an at-large qualifying standard. Athletes may have qualified earlier in the season, as well.

Those who qualified will compete in the state meet on Friday and Saturday at Cicero-North Syracuse High School.

Here is a look at who qualified this past Friday. The meet concluded this past Saturday, but ended too late for results to make this edition.

Boys

Division 1: Nicholas Morgan, a Niagara-Wheatfield junior, won the 800 meters with a time of 1:58.7. Lancaster sophom*ore Carson Zuba captured the 3200 in 9:38.33. Williamsville East senior Surya Avasarala was first in the outdoor pentathlon with 1,814 points.

In field events, Jamestown senior Noah Burch captured the long jump at 23 feet, and Sweet Home junior Brenton Baker was second with a qualifying mark of 22-10. Calvin Kulik, a senior at Williamsville East, won the discus with a toss of 152-3.

Division 2: East Aurora senior Owen Rung captured the 3200 in 9:31.53, and Alden sophom*ore Gage Feider was second with a qualifying time of 9:36.32. Southwestern senior Neves Hoose was first in the outdoor pentathlon with 1,905 points. Maple Grove sophom*ore Ethan Verbosky won the 800 in 1:55.56, and Ryan DeFries, an East Aurora junior, was second with a qualifying time of 1:57.31.

In the long jump, Falconer sophom*ore Roger Markham won at 22-7, Maple Grove senior Jonah Foley was second at 22-5.25 and Maryvale junior Joseph Moussa was third at 21-11. Foley and Moussa achieved super standard qualifying marks, and Roy-Hart senior Jayden Swygert qualified with a leap of 21-4.25. He finished fourth. In the discus, Holland senior Ryan Oleksy won with a throw of 154-5, and Randolph senior Maverick Adams was second with a qualifying toss of 145-11.

Girls

Division 1: Williamsville North sophom*ore Melia Kupchanko won the 800 in 2:07.35, and Frontier junior Lillie Bogdan was second with a qualifying time of 2:08.33. Hamburg sophom*ore Natalie Farrell captured the outdoor pentathlon with 1,711 points. In the 3000, Williamsville North junior Kylie Davis won with a time of 10:18.69.

In field events, Melia Towns, a Lockport senior, won the triple jump at 38-6. Williamsville North sophom*ore Aria Catrabone was second with a qualifying leap of 38-2.5. Grand Island junior Brooke Christensen won the shot put with a throw of 36-6.25. Orchard Park senior Abigail Bernas cleared 11-6 to win the pole vault.

Division 2: In the 800, East Aurora junior Emilia O’Leary won with a time of 2:19.15. Teammate Kailyn Houghton, a sophom*ore, captured the 3000 in 10:38.89. Linnea Neureuther, a Springville senior, won the outdoor pentathlon with 1,940 points.

Nyla Wilson-Epps, a Tapestry Charter junior, captured the girls shot put with a heave of 36-6.5. Mikayla Johnson, a sophom*ore at Southwestern, was second at 36-1.5, a mark that qualified her for the state meet. Randolph senior Eve Adams won the pole vault at 9-6. In the triple jump, Tapestry Charter junior Janee Long won at 37-1.5.

Baseball regionals

Wilson took an early lead, but Bolivar-Richburg quickly tied the game then pulled away for an 8-1 victory in the Class C Far West Regional at Salamanca High School.

Bolivar-Richburg took a 2-1 lead in the second inning then posted three runs in each the third and fourth to eliminate Wilson (14-8).

In the Class D Far West Regional, Arkport-Canaseraga tied the game with a run in the bottom of the seventh then won it in the eighth, beating North Collins 5-4 at Salamanca High School.

North Collins (14-4) took a 3-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning before Arkport scored a run in the fourth and tied the game with two in the fifth. North Collins regained the lead in the top of the sixth before Arkport pulled out the victory.

Softball regionals

Bloomfield scored twice in the first inning and made the runs hold up as it eliminated Westfield in the Class C Far West Regional, 2-0, at Webster Schroeder. Westfield ends the season 16-6.

Friendship-Scio blanked Ellicottville 2-0 at Webster Schroeder in the Class D Far West Regional. Ellicottville ends its season with a 12-6 record.

State golf

The state golf tournament will begin Sunday and end Monday at Mark Twain Golf Course in Elmira.

Golfers with Sunday tee times representing Section VI are: Evan Steffen, junior, Maple Grove, 9:08 a.m.; Landon Arnold, junior, Orchard Park, 9:28 a.m.; Garrett Senfield, senior, Orchard Park, 9:40 a.m.; David Brooks, junior, Clarence, 9:52 a.m.; Enzo Clerici, junior, Orchard Park, 10:12 a.m.; Ben Northman, senior, Clarence, 10:24 a.m.; Tyler Delisanti, senior, Williamsville East, 10:36 a.m.; Robert Kozlowski, senior, Dunkirk, 10:56 a.m.; and Adam Cichowski, junior, Iroquois, 11:08 a.m.

Section VI has not had a state medalist since Kevin Crawford of Lockport in 2002, and hasn’t captured a state title since 1991.