Our March track meet is usually the smallest of the indoor season, but despite the slight confusion presented by Daylight Saving Time, it was by far our largest of the year and one of our largest ever, with 248 athletes and numerous spectators. This month, a record 13 teams competed, including St. Dominic’s Academy from New Jersey, and we racked up 556 event participations. Full results are available on the FLRC website, and we have over 1,500 photos in our public album from Dirk Swart —contribute yours, too! (Photos below each event writeup are from those events, but not necessarily of the people mentioned.)
2 Mile
In a nod to recent indoor and outdoor world records, our long-distance race for the month was the venerable 2 mile, which requires 16 laps (plus 18 meters) on Barton’s track. Although a lead pack ran together for much of the race, by the end, it had dwindled to Jack Frank of the Cornell Running Club and Gabriel Diamante, with 52-year-old Scott Weeks of the Groton Project working his way up to join them. In the end, Frank kicked in for the win in 10:24, with Diamante and Weeks essentially tying for second in 10:26. On the women’s side, 15-year-old Lauren Kosek took the tape in 11:58, outpacing Ella Zilli of the Cornell Running Club, who crossed in 12:09. Also of note—14-year-old Madigan White racewalked the distance in 17:32.
60m
The most popular event of the day was the 60m, with 112 runners across 17 heats. Kyren Young of Watkins Glen recorded the fastest time for the second month in a row with a 7.00, though hand timing isn’t precise enough to separate that from the 7.01 run by Edson Jean-Baptiste of Morrisville State College, so we’ll call it an effective tie. Megan Wong of the Cornell Track & Field Club led the women with an 8.50, just ahead of 12-year-old Molly Doran of SOAR, who flew through in 8.68.
Most amusing was the leadoff 60m heat, where 1-year-old Cora Schrafel participated in her first 60m toddle, coming in a bit behind 2-year-old Eloise Jackson of the SOAR Running Club.
400m
This meet featured a 400m in addition to the 60m and 200m, giving sprinters another option. The Cornell Track & Field Club dominated, with Ryan Lyppens winning in 52.27, beating teammate Riki Sampson’s 52.80. For the women, Lauren Rogers made it a sweep for the team with a 1:07, but second place was even more notable, with 72-year-old Coreen Steinbach of the Greater Philadelphia Track Club running a 1:23 that converts to a smoking fast 57-second age-graded time.
1 Mile
After that, we returned to the middle distances with our traditional 1-mile race, which didn’t disappoint. After a self-appointed rabbit dropped out at 800m, it came down to a three-man race, with Lucas Baker taking the win in 4:30 thanks to a strong kick unmatched by Callum Coots of the Cornell Running Club (4:31) and Jay Bartishevich (4:32). Ella Whiffen put the Cornell Running Club back on top in the women’s race with a 5:24, followed by 41-year-old Jennifer Selig of the Bunny Gang team in 5:41.
200m
The final individual running event of the day was the 200m, where Kyren Young of Watkins Glen took his second win for the day in 23.39, this time convincingly ahead of Edson Jean-Baptiste of Morrisville State College in 23.75 and Roosevelt Lee in 23.84. On the women’s side, Erica Chiang won in 28.43, beating Megan Wong of the Cornell Track & Field Club’s 28.77.
Long Jump
Throughout the meet, Brett Shelton of the SOAR Running Club managed the long jump, with 64 athletes completing a jump. The top spot for the men went to Dan O’Malley of the Cornell Track & Field Club with a jump of 20 feet, ¼ inches. Ross Bush of the Groton Project took second with 19 feet, 6 inches. The Cornell Track & Field Club also won the women’s competition, with Megan Wong jumping 15 feet, 9 inches, followed by Abby Wagner of the SOAR Running Club in 12 feet, 9¾ inches.
High Jump
In the high jump, managed by SOAR’s Steve Wagner, Morrisville State College’s Isaac Sylvain led the way with a jump of 6 feet even, with Ross Bush of the Groton Project clearing 5 feet, 8 inches for second.
For the women’s high jump, Ruby Feenan of the Trumansburg Track Club and Emma Smith and Alessandra Castaneda, both of St. Dominic’s Academy, tied for first with a height of 4 feet 2 inches. All told, 23 athletes cleared the bar.
4x200m Relay
The last event of the long day was the 4x200m relay, where we had a whopping 22 teams across five heats. Cornell Track & Field Club teams took first, third, and fourth in 1:39, 1:42, and 1:53, with Watkins Glen breaking up the pack in second in 1:41.
Although many people were a little tired from losing an hour of sleep to Daylight Saving Time, our volunteers did a great job managing so many heats for so many runners. Tonya Engst, Carl Franck, Amy Dawson, Scott Dawson, Jesse Koenecke, and Melissa Wallace arrived early to help set up. Tonya continued to run the registration desk and answer questions with Rebecca Lambert. Tom Rishel reprised his traditional role as our starter, Patrick Boyle once again did a great job as head timer, and Heather Cobb and Sandy Gregorich managed the heats. Laurel Gilmer and Jesse Koenecke kept HyTek Meet Manager running smoothly for results, Ronke Ilegbusi recorded bibs for longer races, and Truck Rossiter counted laps and ran the backup timer. Our sprint timing team was Jon Lewis, Truck Rossiter, Militsa Yaneva, Crosby Woods, Tristan Lambert, Kate McCormick, and Anne Shakespeare. Dirk Swart took photos, and Jamie Slater sold FLRC clothing. Special thanks to Steve Wagner of the SOAR Running Club for managing the high jumps with the able assistance of Kathleen Sullivan, and to Brett Shelton of SOAR for the long jump with help from Jasmine Wagner.
Our next track meet isn’t until June 18, when we’ll return to Lansing High School for an evening outdoor meet on one of the longest days of the year. Hope to see you there!