Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Track and Field Team Stumbles after Fight with JD and ESM


Robby Johnson

            The Homer Track and Field Team competed in their second to last dual meet on their home track. The home meet brought some of the greatest competition all season for the team. Homer was pitted up against one of the strongest teams in Class A with Jamesville-Dewitt (JD).   Homer also went up against East Syracuse-Minoa in which their team was also on a solid foundation in the competition department. Winning was a rarity for the boys’ team but when it did happen it was surely enjoyed. The girls’ team also had a strong effort against the toughest competition they have had yet in the dual meet setting. The weather was the best weather the team has had all season which allowed many runners turn out personal bests.
Alex Fisher (12) in the 3200m
            First was the 4 x 800m to start up the day. The boys’ team consisting of John Osterhoudt, Anthony Pilcher, Tyler Hatfield, and Alex Fisher placed third with a time of 9:22.2. The girls’ team had Erin Leach, McKayla Crawford, Grace Gugerty, and Jade Auchmoody as anchor. The girls’ team finished second with a time of 10:05.2. Next on the track were the 110m and 100m hurdles. Robby Johnson finished fourth with a time of 18.7 seconds in the 110 Hurdles. Jekeytha Adkins and Sabina Clark put up good finishes as well in the 100 Hurdles. Adkins won her race 17.1 seconds in and Clark finished fourth with a time of 17.7 seconds.
            The 100m dash was the next event on the track. Dylan Shattuck, Matt Conger, Hannah McEvoy, and Erica Stevens all put up good times on the board. Shattuck placed fourth with a time of 12.1 second while Matt Conger finished behind him in sixth. Hannah McEvoy placed second with a time of 13.5 seconds with Erica Stevens right behind her finishing sixth in a very close race. Next was the 1600m and 1500m run as the boys’ had a tough time in the event. Luke Tesoriero was the only boy to place in the event and finished third with a 4:57.1.  Jade Auchmoody finished in third with a time of 5:15.6 and McKayla Crawford finished fourth.
            Runners went to their designated exchange zones to start the running of the 4 x 100m. The guys’ team consisted of Dylan Shattuck, Devon Drake, Jeremy Morris, and Jayden Gavidia. The team finished second with a time of 45.6 seconds. The girls’ 4 x 100 team had Hannah McEvoy, Lydia Brown, Lucy Connery, and Jekeytha Adkins. The team finished in 51.5 seconds. The girls’ team dominated in the 400m dash while the boys’ team struggled. Erica Stevens won the 400m dash in 62.9 seconds. Teammates Meghan Rahner and Laura Dart finished second and third, resulting in a Homer sweep of the event. Anthony Pilcher was the only boy to score in the event as he finished sixth.
Freideric Handelmann (11) getting pep talk
 from Coach Schneider during the 3200m 
            The next event was the second hurdle event of the night with the 400m Hurdles. Homer’s Erin Leach won the 400m Hurdles with a time of 70.4 seconds. Mary Keefe also finished sixth. Robby Johnson placed third in the event in 68.9 seconds. Next was the 800m run. The boys would have a great competition for third as Luke Tesoriero edged out John Osterhoudt for the spot by four tenths of a second. Tesoriero had a time of 2:16.0.  Jade Auchmoody had a great run and won the event in 2:26.7. Homer’s Grace Gugerty also finished fifth.
            The 200m dash would bring one of the biggest surprises of the night. The boys’ team had a field day on the rest of the competition. Jayden Gavidia won the 200m in his first ever attempt as he broke his respective class record. The record hasn’t been broken since the 1980’s. Among the others, Dylan Shattuck and Matt Conger placed fourth and fifth respectively. Erica Stevens placed second in 28.4 seconds as Hannah McEvoy and Lucy Connery finished 3 and sixth respectively. The 3200m and 3000m events were the second to last events of the night. Alex Fisher placed fourth in a time of 11:02.0. Frederic Handelmann was right behind him in sixth. McKayla Crawford finished third in the 3000m as she had a time of 12:07.7. Kennedy George was also in the sixth position.


Homer’s Laura Dart (12) after receiving a handoff 
from Meghan Rahner (10) in the Women’s 4 x 400m Relay
The final running event of the night was the 4 x 400m relay. The girls’ 4 x 800 team was made up of Erica Stevens, Meghan Rahner, Laura Dart, and Erin Leach. The team pulled through and won the event with a time of 4:24.4. In one of the most exciting races for the boys’ team, Anthony Pilcher, Jayden Gavidia, Austin Smith, and Jeremy Morris went on to win. Gavidia would be part of the only two running event victories that the boys’ team saw, making him easily one of the most valuble players of the meet.
            Last but certainly not least were the field events. In the Shot Put Mike Lavere placed sixth with a mark of 35’5”. Lavere also placed fourth in the Discus with a throw of 103’4.5”. Brynn Hyde and Hannah Agate would also have a good effort in the Shot Put and Discus. Agate placed fourth in Shot Put and sixth in Discus. Brynn Hyde placed fifth in shot put and second in Discus with a throw of 85’5”.
The Long Jump was another close fight in the end. Jayden Gavidia won his third event of the night in the long jump in his long jump debut with an incredible jump of 19’0.75”. Gavidia broke the prehistoric Sophomore Class Record in the Long Jump as well. Jekeytha Adkins placed second in the Long Jump with a jump of 15’2” as Lydia Brown placed fifth.  Homer also saw success in the Triple Jump. Jekeytha Adkins placed second with a jump of 31’5”.  Sabina Clark would finish right behind Jekeytha in third. Devon Drake would be the lone Homer Triple Jumper with a fourth place jump at 38’9.5”.
The High Jump brought some great performances as well. Austin Smith cleared the bar with a height of 5’10”.  Austin finished second at the end of the day. Laura Dart finished fourth with a jump of 4’6”. Lara Pluemer would place sixth. The field event that took the longest would be the pole vault. Austin Smith placed third in the pole vault with a jump of 10 feet. Jade Auchmoody also had a good day and placed second with a jump of 8 feet.
At the end of the day the team wouldn’t finish the way they hoped. With the two losses in the books, the boys’ team returns to a .500 winning average with a 3-3 record. The girls’ team was no longer undefeated due to the fierce competition of JD. The girls’ are now 5-1 in the dual meet setting. The Homer Track and Field Team thanks all of the parents who helped out in the meet as they made the running of the home meet very smoothly. The Trojans will be back on Wednesday, May 8th at their final dual meet of the season against CBA. Expectations are high for both teams at that meet. 
We would like to invite everyone to come to Wednesday’s meet as it is Senior Night. Jekeytha Adkins, Sabina Clark, Lara Pluemer, Jenna DeLine, Laura Dart, Emily Harrington, Anthony Pilcher, Matt Conger, Luke Tesoriero, Dylan Shattuck, Devon Drake, Austin Smith, Jeremy Morris, Alex Fisher, and Mike Lavere will all be stepping onto the field for the final time in a dual meet setting. With that, we leave you with the final score and some great snapshots of the meet.

The Final Score:
Boys:
   Homer 64- ESM 75
   Homer 34- JD 107
Girls:
   Homer 95- ESM 46
   Homer 58.5- JD 82.5