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 | NYSPHSAA New York Indoor State Meet
Saturday, March 8, 2008 - Barton Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca NY
(200m flat synthetic)
DyeStat onsite with John Nepolitan
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FULL RESULTS
Semi-Live Results
from Finishright.com (click on link that says "NEW YORK STATE MEET RESULTS AS OF (time)"
Nepo's Action Albums
Boys | Girls
| Top Highlights - meet story - more highlights - more photos coming
- Cardozo sr Dalilah Muhammad equals US#1 HJ with 5-9, with Cicero sr Monique Roberts right behind with 5-8
- Corning sr Albert Johnson authors a big LJ/TJ double, going 23-06.50 in the former, and topping one-time US leader Steve Crouse (Colonie sr.) in the latter, US#5 49-02.25 to 48-08.
- US#1s Nadonnia Rodriquez (300), Phyllis Francis (600), Meaghan Gregory (3000), and Jen Clayton (LJ) all win their specialties, with Rodriquez coming closest to her top mark with 38.72.
- Colonie sr Jim Kehrer comes up with a blazing US#8 7.35 to win the 55H final
- Already US#4, Carmel sr Kristin Reese wins a deep 1000 (6 under 2:58) in 2:52.86.
- James O'Neill sr Rob Quiller flies over 16 in the PV, hitting 16-01.
 
Left, Dennis Scruggs takes the 600; right, dramatic 1500 win for Jaclyn Marshall over Caitlin Lane & others. Photos John Nepolitan
More Highlights
- Middle College jr Janice Jackson races to a 8.05 over 55H.
- McQuaid jr Tomarris Bell suprises Cicero sr Andy Kahl in the HJ, 6-09 to 6-07.
- Showing the best kick, Kings Park sr Jaclyn Marshall's 4:38.97 1500 edges heralded rivals Caitlin Lane (4:39.06), Hannah Davidson, and Sarah McCurdy.
- Hollow Hills West sr Kyle Merber outkicks everyone for a 4:20.84 1600 win
- Bellport sr Dennis Scruggs wins the 600 in 1:21.83, a good flat-track time
- Ramapo jr Kevin Malivert takes the 55 in 6.42
- White Plains sr Tewado Latty claims the 300 wiht a strong flat-track 34.90
- Anchored by Jen Clayton, Suffern comes from behind for a solid flat-track 1:43.63 4x200
- Warwick Valley nips Fayetteville-Manlius in a competitive 4x800, 9:16.95-9:17.66
- Warwick Valley makes it a sweep in the 4x800s with a 7:59.51 on the boys side
- Brockport sr David Gross puts 59-01.25
- Lancaster soph Melissa Kurzdorfer takes the shot in 44-04.50
Story by John Nepolitan
Fastest kids on the block – In the trials and semi finals of the 55 meters, Klarissa Ricks (Holy Names) and Whitney Fountain (Columbus) had established themselves as the two to beat. Each won their trial and semi final. In the final, the pair got out together and burned down the center of the track with Ricks dipping at the line to take the state title. She crossed the line in 7.16 with Fountain right behind in 7.17 with Brianna Cromartie (Aquinas) in third in 7.19. Fountain would have a busy day, also earning a medal in the long jump and placing 7th in the hurdles. The boys short dash later in the day saw Kevin Malivert (Ramapo) dominate the competition winning his trial and semi before powering away from Nickolei Mahlung (Bishop Loughlin) for the 6.42-6.48 win.
The 55 meter hurdles belonged to Janice Jackson (Middle College). After posting the fastest times in the trials and semi, Jackson grabbed the lead at the 1st hurdle and was not really challenged on her way to an 8.05 win, easily beating Elizabeth Mott’s(New Rochelle) 8.13. As the day began to come to a close, Colonie Central HS would be in many of the meet’s finals. First up would be Jim Kehrer in the hurdles and his 7.35 win would get the juices flowing for the upstate school as they lined up for the 4 x 800 and 4 x 200 relay and Steve Crouse stepped onto the triple jump runway.
Nadonnia Rodriques (Boys & Girls) entered the weekend as the overwhelming favorite based on being the national leader in the 300 meters. She did not disappoint as she charged out hard to grab the lead after the first 150 meters, and was never challenged all the way to the finish that she crossed in 38.72. Tewado Latty (White Plains) must have watched Rodriques, as he used the same plan in taking the state crown in the boys race in a fine 34.90.
Mid-distance - Phyllis Francis (McAuley) entered last year’s state meet almost unknown, but made people aware of her as she ran to the state championship. This year Francis would have a target on her back, but she would be facing one of the hot finds of the indoor season in the form of Charlene Lipsey (Hempstead). From the gun Francis would get to the front and not allow Lipsey to get by. Passing through laps of 29.8 and 61, Francis held the lead all the way to the finish line, defending her title in 1:33.11 – Lipsey’s 1:34.17.
Dennis Scruggs (Bellport) won the Bishop Loughlin Games 600 back in December in a swift 1:20.28 from the unseeded section, but under meet rules he could not use that time for seeding. So without another fast time Scruggs would find himself in the unseeded section again and once again he would have the fastest time of the day when the final results were posted. Jumping to the lead off the break and passing the 400 mark in 51, Scruggs would maintain all the way to the finish posting a 1:21.83 clocking then sit back and see if the seeded heat would beat him. A rough and tumble seeded heat would result in Terrance Livingston(Great Neck South) coming home first in 1:22.14 and Scruggs would have another championship from the unseeded section.
The girls 1000 was one of very high powered fields featuring a number of All Americans. Passing through splits of 33 – 70 and 1:46, Kirstin Reese (Carmel) led the field that was a step behind the times posted by the unseeded section, but a quick shift of gears by Reese would bring her past the 800 meter post in 2:19 and now she was clear of the field and ahead of the unseeded section. Looking stronger than she has all season, Reese continued driving all the way to the state title, crossing the line in 2:52.86 over Lillian Griebesland(Warwick Valley) 2:54.15. In 3rd and 4th were All Americans Emma Miller-Bedell (Tappen Zee) 2:55.21 and Brianna Welch (North Shore) 2:55.65.
The boys 1000 saw Michael Schieck (Chaminade) jump to the front with Frankie Dioguardi (Massapequa ) and Chris Stogsdill (Marcellus) right behind. Passing through splits of 28-61-1:32 saw Schieck still in front, but Stogsdill was a step behind looking ready to pounce. The opportunity to get past never presented itself as Schieck continued to push the lead through a 2:03 split with one lap to go and held on for the 2:33.45-2:33.66 win.
Distance - New York, especially the Albany area, is known for its high quality girls distance running and the final placings in the 1500 and 3000 showed how the area dominates the state. In the days first final, Burnt Hills’ Meaghan Gregory jumped to the lead of the girls 3000. A slow early pace, passing the 1500 meter point in 10:30 pace would see Gregory begin a long drive for home. Over the next laps one by one contenders would fall off until a small group of Gregory, Mary Kate Champagne (Seton Catholic), Shelby Greany(Suffern), Suejin Ahn (Ward Melville) and Molly Pezzulo (Burnt Hills) formed at the front. In the pack that had fallen off was the Emily Lipari(Rosyln), the cross country state champ from this past fall. Over the last lap Greany would attack, but Gregory was not going to be denied after doing most of the pace work and dug down to take the state title in 10:07.92 – 10:08.90 over Greany.
Pat Dupont (Fairport) would also try to jump to the front of the 3200 field and pound out a win to go with his state cross country crown from this past fall. Just past the half way point, reached in 4:36, it looked like a 2 man race as DuPont and Julian Sheinbaum (Scarsdale) had gapped the field. Over the next six laps DuPont was able to put daylight between himself and Sheinbaum and looked to be the winner. Back in the pack with 400 meters to go Demetri Goutos (Saratoga Springs) was fighting just to get a medal and found himself chasing Alex Leuchanka (Warwick Valley) behind the two leaders. Getting past Leuchanka, Goutos kept sprinting and off the final turn had caught DuPont and pulled away for the win in 9:26.02 to DuPont’s 9:28.58.
Kyle Merber (Half Hollow Hills – West) has had a dream season, first getting an unexpected 3rd at the Boston Indoors Games and then backing that up with a Millrose Games championship. After Merber showed a long, hard drive to take the Millrose title, many were left wondering just how they would attack him. An opening 2:13 800 left the field looking at each other and behind the pace set by the unseeded section, won by Evan Tsembelis (Grand Island) in 4:23.42. At that point, Merber would put the pedal down and run a 65 followed by a 62 to take the state title in 4:20.84. Behind Merber, Alex Hatz(Fayetteville Manlius) would be closing fastest of all, cutting Merber’s 4-second lead at the 1200 meter point down to 2 to get second. For his efforts in the unseeded section., Tsembelis would earn the bronze medal.
The girls 1500 start list was deep and full of talent from the Albany area. Saratoga’s Hannah Davidson would lead the field through splits of 70-2:28 and 3:46. At the 1200 point Caitlin Lane (Greenwich) would jump to the front and begin a long steady drive for the finish line. Lurking in the pack were some strong kickers in the form of NSIC 800 meter champion Sarah McCurdy(Bay Shore) and Jaclyn Marshall (Kings Park). Still up on her toes and looking strong, Lane held the lead down the back straight for the final time, but off the last turn Marshall had passed everyone else and now set her sights on the finish line. She was able to just get past Lane in the last steps to take the state crown 4:38.97 – 4:39.06.
Relays always provide an exciting conclusion to the New York State meet and 2008 was no different. Boys and Girls attempted to win both the girls 4 x 200 and the 4 x 400. With just one leg to go in the 4 x 200 it looked like they may pull it off, but Jen Clayton of Suffern came from behind to earn her 2nd title of the day. For Clayton it had been a busy day, getting 7th in the 55 final, jumping 18’ 9-3/4” to take the long jump title, and running the trials and finals of the 4 x 200. Boys and Girls took the 4 x 400 in 4:00.19 while Suffern claimed 4 x 200 gold in 1:43.63.
Dalilah Muhammad (Benjamin Cardozo) was trying for a unique tripe – hurdles, high jump and 4 x 800. After taking the high jump in 5’ 9” she decided not to jump any more and jogged over to the start of the hurdles where she would get 4th. Then it was right over to the start of the 4 x 800. After 2 legs Cardozo was behind as 2 time NTN Champs Fayetteville Manlius was out front trying to break the race wide open. While the national cross country champs had a nice lead, hanging close would be Warwick Valley. Tori Pennings would bring Warwick from a few steps behind for the win 9:16.95 – 9:17.66 over FM. Later in the day the Warwick boys would also find themselves a step behind the leader as Kellenburg was on top. Anchor man Mike Fox waited until to make just one move and attacked down the final back straight to give Warwick both 4 x 800 crowns.
The boys sprint relays 4 x 400 top seed Ramapo found themselves behind Newburgh entering the anchor leg. Ramapo’s Mike Abelard moved quickly up on the shoulder of the leader and then attacked for home coming up the final 50 meters. Powering all the way through the line for the 3:24.09 – 3:24.27 win. Fresh off the energy of Jim Kehrer’s hurdle win, Colonie found itself in the lead at the 1st exchange. Matt June ran a strong 2nd leg for Colonie to string out the field. Midwood would grab the lead coming into the half way point and go on for the 1:31.70 – 1:32.41 win over Colonie.
Melissa Kurzdorfer (Lancaster) and David Gross(Brockport) each entered the meet as the top seed in the shot put, Kuzdorfer having thrown 46‘ 6-3/4” and Gross 58’ 7” earlier this season, and both would live up to that honor. Kurzdorfer would win with a toss of 44-04.50 while Gross would get his gold with a 59’1-1/4” throw.
Saving the best for last, two of the day’s best performances came as fans were filing out the doors to hit the road home. In the boys pole vault, Rob Quiller(O’Neill), son of West Point coach Jerry Quiller, had not gotten over 15’ prior to March. In a few short days Quiller blew over 15’ 6” to qualify for the state meet then upped his personal best to 16’ 1” in taking the state crown. State leader Brian McGovern(Mt St Michaels) was not able to battle Quiller as he was home recovering from appendicitis.
Then over on the triple jump runway a great battle was unfolding. Earlier in the day Albert Johnson (Corning) had taken the long jump title spanning 23’ 6-1/2”. Then in the triple jump, Johnson was sitting in 4th place after the preliminary round with state leader Steve Crouse(Colonie) in front with a 48’ 8” leap. Johnson would bound out to 48’ 8” himself in the opening round of the finals then on his last jump extend out to 49’ 2-1/4” to which Crouse could not respond. Johnson would be the meet’s sole double individual champion.
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