Stillwater's Locci, Shenendehowa's Cukerstein lead top area finishers at New Balance indoor nationals

PHOTOGRAPHER: Erica Miller

Stillwater's Gianna Locci pictured during her National Letter of Intent signing ceremony in November 2021, was third in the girls' long jump at the New Balance Nationals Indoor Championships.

Stillwater’s Gianna Locci took third in the girls’ long jump and Shenendehowa sprinter Carter Cukerstein earned All-American status as an individual and part of a relay to highlight results from Section II competitors at last weekend’s New Balance Nationals Indoor Championships at the Armory Track and Field Center in New York.

Locci hit a mark of 19 feet, 10.75 inches in the long jump for her third-place finish.

Cukerstein was fifth in the boys’ 60-meter dash in 6.76 seconds, and teamed with Tyler Dedrick, Jason Gillan and Michael McElrath to finish fifth in the 4×200-meter relay in 1 minute, 29.72 seconds.

Shenendehowa also had a pair of other top-10 relays. Jason Colindres, Michael Clay, Andre Adonnino and Nathan Brimhall were eighth in the 4×800 and 10th in the distance medley relay.

Guilderland also had an All-American relay team as the fouromse of Kate Scanlan, Parker Steele, Kendall Barnhart and Maeghan Hickey took third in the 4×55 shuttle hurdle relay with a time of 34.99 seconds, setting a new Section II all-time best and running the fourth-fastest time in the nation this season.

–More from Clifton Park and Halfmoon – The Daily Gazette–

Other top-10 finishes in Championship division events came from Mohonasen’s Zionna Perez-Tucker taking seventh in the girls’ 200, Niskayuna’s Erin Boler finishing ninth in the girls’ 5,000 and Ballston Spa’s Mia Belanger finishing ninth in the girls’ high jump.

Among other strong finishes in Championship events were Stillwater’s Kelly Moran taking 14th in the girls’ triple jump and 24th in the long jump, Guilderland’s Cadence Brewer taking 16th in the girls’ weight throw, Shenendehowa’s Alexis Dochat finishing 19th in the weight throw and La Salle’s Gitch Hayes taking 20th in the boys’ 1-mile and 22nd in the 2-mile.

In Rising Stars events, Hoosic Valley’s Katie Rose won the girls’ race walk, Niskayuna’s Boler was seventh in the girls’ 2-mile, Shaker’s Leonni Griffin was seventh in the girls’ 800, Brewer was 11th in the girls’ shot put, Stillwater’s Kara Moran was 14th in the girls’ triple jump and 19th in the long jump, Scotia-Glenville’s Tyler Greene was sixth in the boys’ 2-mile and Saratoga Springs’ Ryan Bush was eighth in the boys’ 1-mile.

In Freshman events, Saratoga Springs’ Darren Pasek was 13th in the boys’ 1-mile and Shaker’s Charlotte Dunkel was 19th in the girls’ 1-mile.