State track qualifier: Hollowood is back in groove

Nagging health issues slowed down Sar­atoga Springs junior Keelin Hollowood and Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons senior Jordan Pantalone a year ago, but both distance runners are in top form now and hope to be a factor when they compete in the New York State Track and Field Championships next weekend at Cicero-North Syracuse High School.

Hollowood captured the girls’ 2,000-meter steeplechase in a personal-best time of 6:55.32, while Pantalone clocked a 9:35.54 to take the boys’ 3,000 steeplechase Friday during Day II of the Intersectional Qualifier at Knox Field.

After Colonie’s Kyle Plante shattered the Section II record in the 400-meter dash Thursday, she helped the Garnet Raiders break another Section II mark on Friday in the 4 x 400 relay with a time of 3:49.90, the best time in the state.

Winners from Divisions I (large school) and Division II (small school) earned spots in the state meet, and runners-up can also go if they meet set standards in their event, either in the qualifier or in the class meets.

The top-seeded Hollowood finished sixth at the state steeplechase event a year ago, but it wasn’t her best season by a long shot after battling flu-like symptoms that left her short of breath.

In fact, although Hollowood has been to the state championships seven or eight times in both cross country and track since she began running varsity as a seventh-grader, most of her top times came early in her career.

As an eighth-grader, she burned a 4:33.02 in the 1,500 for the seventh-best performance in Section II history. She also clocked a 9:54.7 in the 3,000 meters as an eighth-grader.

“Last year was tough, because I was sick a lot,” she admitted. “I had bronchitis, laryngitis and the flu just about all season. I’ve been lucky this year, though, because I’ve been bas­ically healthy.”

Hollowood, who was part of Saratoga’s 12th consecutive Class A girls’ cross country championship last fall, said that although she trains all-year for cross country, indoor track and outdoor track, she doesn’t practice the same amount each time of year.

“It all depends on the season,” she said. “When I’ve been sick, I try to train through it. I try not to let it bother me.”

“I’m very pleased with how Keelin ran today,” said Saratoga Springs co-coach Linda Kranick. “She’s been to the states probably four times or more in cross country, and she went to the states last year in track. I’d say she’s been seven or eight times, but it’s hard to keep track. We’re very happy with her time today.”

Kranick said that although it’s difficult to train year-round when you are involved in both cross country and track, it’s not uncommon anymore.

“All the sports are doing it now,” she said.

Hollowood agreed.

“I’m used to training a lot, and if I’m not feeling well, I still train. The only time I don’t train is if I can’t get out of bed,” she said with a smile.

“I’m happy with how all of our athletes did today,” Kranick added. “We’ve got a lot of ninth-graders on our team this year, and you have to be patient with them. The older runners, like Keelin, know the routine.”

Meanwhile, the top-seeded Pantalone pulled away from Colonie’s Jordan Johnson to win the boys’ steeplechase race in a crisp pace that was well ahead of his previous season’s best (9:45.1).

“I was fourth or fifth for most of the race, and that’s exactly where I wanted to be,” said Pantalone. “Then I really kicked it in. I felt very relaxed and in great shape, but I did notice that the time was a lot faster than I thought it would be. We were really running hard out there. I was hoping for a time in the high 9:30s, and I got a 9:35, so I was very happy. It was just what I was hoping for.”

Pantalone said that even though he earned a berth in the state meet a year ago, he ran very poorly because of a kidney ailment.

“I’m completely healthy now, and I plan on getting some revenge. I want to show them that this is the real me,” he said.

The rainy, windy conditions played havoc with some of the field events, including the shot put, where Fonda-Fultonville’s Sarah Wyzomirski qualified for her first state meet.

“I would have done a lot better, but it was very slippery and wet on the surface,” she said. “I threw a 110, but they claimed I fouled. The footing was tough. I didn’t have any problems holding the shot, but some of the girls did. Like I said, I would have been able to throw better, but I’m very happy to be going to the states.”

Wyzomirski entered the qualifier seeded second in both the shot and the discus.

“I’m going to the states with the hope of winning a state title, but I’ve got to admit that I’ll have to throw it a lot better at the states to win,” she said. “Today was tough.”

Also headed to his first state meet will be Middleburgh’s Jon­athan

Zapata, who won the Division II 110-meter hurdles in 15.71.

“I felt great today. My time was just what I was hoping for, and it feels great to be competing in my first state meet,” Zapata said.

Emma Willard senior Molly Shap­iro leaped a section-best 39-0 in the Division II triple jump, good for third all-time.

Another highlight for the girls was Shenendehowa’s 4 x 800 meter relay team, which edged Saratoga Springs. Liz Predmore, Gina Stalica, Bailey Kowalczyk and Kristen Jordan comprised the team, which clocked a 9:11.46 to Saratoga’s 9:12.93.

One of the most interesting races for the boys was the 4 x 100 meter relay, where top-seeded Shaker was disqualified and Schenectady (Mukhta Barros, Ammar Brown, Jordan Moses and Malik Murray) won in 43.61.

BOYS’ EVENTS

Division I

100 — Malik Murray (Schenectady), 11.17; Jeff Hrebenach (Saratoga), 11.19; Derrick Smith (Niskayuna), 11.21.

200 — Joe Carr (Burnt Hills), 22.19; Akeem Valace (Green Tech), 24.11.

1,600 — Philo Germano (Albany), 4:18.54; Ethan Hausamann (Shaker), 4:18.90; Matt Crawford (Bethlehem), 4:21.51.

110 hurdles — Jake Alviene (Columbia), 14.93; Steven Kuznia (Saratoga), 15.07; Joe Hermey (Queensbury), 15.43.

400 relay — Schenectady (Mukhtar Barros, Ammar Brown, Jordan Moses, Malik Murray), 43.61; Colonie, 43.84; Columbia, 43.95.

1,600 relay — Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake (Joe Carr, Michael Danz, Dan Fernandez, Robert Kirsty), 3:20.30; Shaker, 3:21.41; Bethlehem, 3:23.39.

3,200 relay — Saratoga Springs (Jay Navin, Evan Quinones, Jonah Williams, Spencer Patterson), 7:51.56; Queensbury, 8:06.29; Colonie A, 8:20.65.

Pentathlon — Matthew White (Amsterdam), 3,362; Justice Spear (Glens Falls), 2,867; Kiante Garland (Green Tech), 2,635.

3,000 steeplechase — Jordan Johnson (Col­onie), 9:48.29; Daniel Phillips (Shaker), 9:58.96; Brent Freestone (Saratoga), 10:08.00.

Division II

100 — Kody Bardin (Granville), 11.35; Aaron Dudley (Hudson Falls), 11.40; Kadeem Chung (Hudson), 11.45.

200 — Deryck VanAlstyne (Maple Hill), 23.05; Connor Hartigan (Albany Academy), 23.32; Eric Adams (Coxsackie-Athens), 23.51.

1,600 — Austin Lane (Greenwich), 4:14.49; Jake Urys (Mekeel Christian), 4:18.70; Seth Bulich (Catskill), 4:21.10.

110 hurdles — Jonathan Zapata (Middleburgh), 15.48; Gavin Clark-Gartner (Ichabod Crane), 15.52; Jason Summers (Chatham), 15.81.

400 relay — Chatham (Raphael Joseph, Billy Whitbeck, Sam Mackerer, Tyler Rivera), 45.37; Granville, 45.44; Maple Hill, 45.92.

1,600 relay — Catskill (Zack Berzal, Nick Goffredo, Seth Bulich, Zack Vosburgh), 3:29.14; Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons, 3:30.46; Broadalbin-Perth, 3:30.64.

3,200 relay — Fonda-Fultonville (Matt Hoffman, Michael Scott, Cameron Gilligan, Tyler Angioli), 8:11.47; Schuylerville, 8:23.54; Cohoes, 8:30.21.

Pentathlon — Brenden Archer (Schoharie), 3,002; James Stevens (Rensselaer), 2,899; Zach Haskin (Cobleskill-Richmondville), 2,447.

3,000 steeplechase — Jordan Pantalone (Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons), 9:35.54; Ross Wightman (Chatham), 9:36.02; Justin Ferguson (Broadalbin-Perth), 9:54.11.

GIRLS’ EVENTS

Division I

100 — Natasia Brown (Albany), 12.30; Ellery Bianco (Saratoga), 12.60; Arnelle Thomas (Bethlehem), 12.76.

200 — Natasia Brown (Albany), 25.56; Ellery Bianco (Saratoga), 25.87; Blessing Uzoeshi (Albany), 25.87.

1,500 — Maryanna Lansing (Shaker), 4:42.61; Megan Kellogg (Queensbury), 4:46.15; Caroline Hampton (Shenendehowa), 4:48.41.

100 HH — Nikari Carota (Queensbury), 15.03; Emma Torncello (Shaker), 15.31; Jaleah Owens (Burnt Hills) 15.34.

2,000 steeplechase — Keelin Hollowood (Saratoga), 6:55.32; Maggi Szpak (Saratoga), 7:05.77; Emily Burns (Guilderland), 7:17.34.

400 relay — Albany (Uzoeshi, Marable, Brown, Montague), 49.08; Shaker (Hayes, VanDenburgh, Torncello, Duffey), 49.36; Shenendehowa (Benson, Jacques, Osaheni, Klein), 51.24.

1,600 relay — Colonie (Plante, Kaminski, Kelly, Bousa), 3:49.9; Shaker (Hayes, VanDenburgh, Lansing, Lavender), 3:55.83; Niskayuna (Higgins, Moran, DeWald, Engvold), 4:02.40.

3,200 relay — Shenendehowa (Predmore, Stalica, Kowalczyk, Jordan), 9:11.46; Saratoga, 9:12.93; Colonie (Malecki, Schillaci, Capobianco, Kerin), 9:30.44.

High jump — Courtney Avery (Troy), 5-5; Madison Rowland (Shaker), 5-2; Grace Smith (Bethlehem), 5-2.

Long jump — Emily VanDenburgh (Shaker) 17-4.5; Emma Torncello (Shaker) 16-11.25; Eva Kiehl (Columbia) 16-5.25.

Triple jump — Eva Kiehl (Columbia), 36-9.5; Sarah Osaheni (Shenendehowa), 36-8.5; Emma Torncello (Shaker), 36-6.

Pole vault — Maddesen Weekes (Shenendehowa), 11-3; Kara Snyder (Colonie), 11-0; Kendra Lizotte (Guilderland), 10-9.

Shot put — Liz Hogan (Gloversville), 36-4.25; Cheila Diao (Shaker) 36-2.5; Caysie Capano (Troy) 35-11.25..

Discus — Caysie Capano (Troy), 119-3; Katie Vogel (Averill Park), 109-11; Chelsea O’Dea (Saratoga) 108-3.

Pentathlon — Jackie Kearney (Bethlehem), 3,069; Hannah Madison (Shaker) 2,822; Cali Palumbo (Columbia), 2,596.

Division II

100 — Molly Shapiro (Emma Willard), 12.75; Mariah Pettit (Canajoharie), 13.11; Keila Judge (Rensselaer), 13.28.

200 — Keishorea Armstrong (Emma Willard), 26.13; Mikaila Ford (Holy Names) 26.53; Mariah Pettit (Canajoharie) 26.67.

1,500 — Catherine Maloy (Holy Names) 4:39.58; Vicky Houser (Greenwich), 4:43.53; Talya Williams (Bishop Gibbons), 4:53.47.

100 HH — Anel Merceron (Cohoes), 15.97; Lindsay Therrien (Fonda) 16.26; Kim Kocienski (Hoosic Valley), 17.07.

2,000 steeplechase — Courtney Tedeschi (Berne-Knox-Westerlo), 7:09.38; Jacqueline Willsey (Holy Names), 7:12.36; Jessica Opal Bogdan (Broadalbin), 7:42.62.

400 relay — Emma Willard (Spencer, Armstrong, Steede, Shapiro), 51.02; Duanesburg (Kenyon, Wilkes, Schaible, McQueeney), 51.311.

1,600 relay — Holy Names (Ford, Triller, Cooper, Close), 4:01.85; Duanesburg (McQueeney, Schaible, Fisher, Kenyon), 4:06.31; Canajoharie (Custer, A. Logan, Pettit, J. Logan), 4:17.38.

3,200 relay — Holy Names (Close, Triller, Scott, Maloy), 9:14.06; Greenwich (Montague, Houser, Spiezio, Lapham), 9:34.40; Broadalbin-Perth (Bogdan, Monroe, DePalma, Vainauskas), 10:08.82.

High jump — Amanda Roney (Middleburgh) 5-3; Keishorea Armstrong (Emma Willard), 5-0; Alyson Insero (Holy Names) 5-0.

Long jump — Keila Judge (Rensselaer), 15-11.5; Kayla Miller (Bishop Maginn), 15-9.5; Lauren Archer (Schoharie), 15-2.

Triple jump — Molly Shapiro (Emma Willard), 39-0; Kayla Miller (Bishop Maginn), 35-3; Candace Haskell (Greenwich), 33-10.

Pole vault — Jenn Recveur (Ichabod Crane) 9-9; Jackie Boyce (Greenwich), 8-9; Emma Simpson (Voorheesville), 8-3.

Shot put — Sarah Wyzomirski (Fonda), 36-4; Brianna Seeley (Hudson Falls), 34-2.25; Meghan Bartlett (Johnstown), 34-00.75.

Discus — Heather Chapman (Granville), 107-6; Brianna Seeley (Hudson Falls), 103-3; Camryn Savoie (Fonda), 102-7.

Pentathlon — Isabella Borini (Schalmont), 3,082; Jessica Glode (Mayfield), 2,232; Alexa Baker (Ichabod Crane), 2,210.

Categories: High School Sports