FONDA – In his final season as head coach, Fonda-Fultonville’s Mike Benton got quite the parting gift from his team Thursday.
On their home track, the Braves claimed the boys’ team title in the Section II Group 3 Championship.
Fonda-Fultonville finished with 117 points to top runner-up Broadalbin-Perth, which finished with 112.5 points. Taconic Hills (70), Hoosick Falls/Tamarac (63) and Cohoes (57.5) completed the top five. Johnstown was ninth with 17 points.
“The boys did well last year, and it’s tough to go back-to-back,” Benton said. “We moved up to Group 3 from Group 4 this year, but we still did well. I have to save that this is the best overall team I’ve coached.”
The Braves won the Group 4 title last spring.
“The boys really sent me out with a great season in my last season as coach,” Benton said. “This has been a great group of athletes and they all stepped up this season.”
In the girls’ meet, Schuylerville won the team title by a 106-89 margin over last year’s champion, Broadalbin-Perth. Fonda-Fultonville (78 points) was third, Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk (68) was fourth and Hoosick Falls/Tamarac (67) was fifth. Johnstown was 11th with 8 points.
“It’s been a great day,” Schuylerville coach Sierra DeJoseph said. “We kind of puzzled things together and it worked out to our advantage. The girls have worked really hard, and we’re really happy.”
BOYS
Alessandro Saltsman, a senior who will compete for UAlbany next year, was dominant in picking up wins in the shot put and discus. Saltsman won the shot put with a throw of 54 feet and the discus with a throw of 186-4. He won the shot put by nearly a 10-foot margin and the discus by more than 45 feet.
“I’ve put a lot of hours in here,” Saltsman said. “It’s finally hitting me that this was my last home meet. I didn’t quite go out the way I wanted to. I threw short of both of my goals, but it was nice to go out with a pair of wins.”
Fonda-Fultonville also got wins from Carter Petersen (pole vault), Mathieu Dettenrieder (3,000 steeplechase) and Allen Booth (800).
Petersen won the pole vault with a school-record height of 15-3.
Fonda-Fultonville will now turn its attention to next week’s state qualifier at Shenendehowa.
“Now I’m going to get ready for state qualifiers and states. I’ve got a lot of technical things to clean up,” Saltsman said. “I want to get to 200 feet in the discus and get the state record. That’s my biggest goal right now.”
It was Broadalbin-Perth’s second straight runner-up finish in the Group 3 Championships.
Hunter O’Dell won the triple jump for the Patriots.
“We had a really good day,” Richards said. “The kids performed today. They left it all out here. They had an amazing season. It was great to have a normal season, instead of a seven-week season like we had last year.”
Taconic Hills’ Neil Howard picked up wins in the 110-meter hurdles, long jump and 400-meter hurdles. Howard also was second in the pole vault for the Titans. Eli Russo won the 3,300 meters for Taconic Hills.
Ichabod Crane’s Baden Seabury won the 100 and 400 meters, and the Riders also won the 4×800 and 4×400 relays.
John Clinton won the 1,600 for Hoosick Falls/Tamarac, which also won the 4×100 relay.
Schuylerville’s Daryl Headen (high jump) and Cobleskill-Richmondville’s Charlie Foote (200) also posted wins.
GIRLS
Schuylerville picked up wins in six different events on the way to the team title.
Keira Rogan on the 1,500 and 3,000 for the Black Horses, while Nikki Stark (400 hurdles), Adeline Ballou (2,000 steeplechase), Ryan Stark (pole vault) and Meaghan Lynch (long jump) also won events.
Fonda-Fultonville won the 4×800 relay, while Adrianna Wojcik won the 100-meter hurdles for the Lady Braves.
“We had high expectations for the girls, and they kept up with the boys this season,” Benton said. “They had a good year. We’re a small school and we put the kids through a meat grinder to be competitive with the bigger schools. Every kid does multiple events and doesn’t get much of a break.”
Hoosick Falls/Tamarac’s Emma Waugh (100, 200) and Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk’s Uchenna Uba (shot put, discus) each won two events.
Also posting individual event wins were Ichabod Crane’s Kiley Melanson (400), Albany Academy’s Erin Boler (800), Albany Academy’s Lucie Frazier (high jump) and Ichabod Crane’s Allison Flint (triple jump).
Hudson won the 4×100 relay and Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk won the 4×400 relay.
BOYS
Team scores
Fonda-Fultonville 117, Broadalbin-Perth 112.5, Taconic Hills 70, Hoosick Falls/Tamarac 63, Cohoes 57.5, Ichabod Crane 45, Cobleskill-Richmondville 38, Schuylerville 29, Johnstown 17, Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk 14, Catholic Central 12, Rensselaer 6, Catskill 6, Holy Trinity 2.
Individual results
3,000-meter steeplechase – Dettenrieder (FFCS), 10:27.44. 100 hurdles – Howard (TH), 15.07. 4×800 relay – Ichabod Crane (Sweeney, Barkley, Christian, Wall), 8:30.13. 100 – Seabury (IC), 11.23. 1,600 – Clinton (HF/T), 4:49.21. 4×100 relay – Hoosick Falls/Tamarac (Gregory, Price, Bartlett, Angell), 44.83.400 – Seabury (IC), 49.69. 400 hurdles – Howard (TH), 56.96. 800 – Booth (FFCS), 2:06.39. 200 – Foote (C-R), 23.63. 3,200 – Russo (TH), 10:30.01. 4×400 relay – Ichabod Crane (Greer, Barkley, Wall, Seabury), 3:35.20. High jump – Headen (Schuy), 6-0. Pole vault – Petersen (FFCS), 15-3. Long jump – Howard (TH), 21-10.5. Triple jump – O’Dell (B-P), 42-8.25. Discus – Saltsman (FFCS), 186-4. Shot put – Saltsman (FFCS), 54-0.
GIRLS
Team scores
Schuylerville 106, Broadalbin-Perth 89, Fonda-Fultonville 78, Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk 68, Hoosick Falls/Tamarac 67, Ichabod Crane 64, Albany Academy 43, Hudson 28, Taconic Hills 17, Cohoes 11, Johnstown 8, Catholic Central 8, Cobleskill-Richmondville 2.
Individual results
2,000-meter steeplechase – Ballou (Schuy), 8:06.12. 100 hurdles – Wojcik (FFCS), 16.96. 4×800 relay – Fonda-Fultonville (Fuller, Young, Miller, Slezak), 10:54.94. 100 – Waugh (HF/T), 13.24. 1,500 – Rogan (Schuy), 5:08.84. 4×100 relay – Hudson (L. Carr, T. Carr, Goldstein, Mann), 54.28. 400 – Melanson (IC), 1:01.12. 400 hurdles – Stark (Schuy), 1:11.14. 800 – Boler (AA), 2:21.03. 200 – Waugh (HF/T), 27.15. 3,000 – Rogan (Schuy), 11:26.69. 4×400 relay – Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk (Ortiz, Canham, Tournageau, Pagnotta), 4:21.33. High jump – Frazier (AA), 5-1. Pole vault – Stark (Schuy), 8-9. Long jump – Lynch (Schuy), 16-6.5. Triple jump – Flint (IC), 34-4.25. Discus – Uba (RCS), 133-11. Shot put – Uba (RCS), 37-6.
Categories: -Sports-, High School Sports
