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Local runners advance to today’s finals, Hanlon takes first for Dunkirk

Area’s best of the best on display

OBSERVER Photo by Roger Coda: Chautauqua Lake’s J.C. McCroskey hands the baton to teammate Evan Blakeslee in the 4x100-meter relay at Friday’s County meet at Karl Hoeppner Field.

The Fredonia Lady Hillbillies had a strong showing on Day 1 of the high school track and field County meet at Karl Hoeppner Field.

Sydney Swan ran the 800-meter run in 2:26 to take fifth place while Lauren Kluck placed sixth in the discus at 89-feet-4-inches.

The 4×100 relay team advanced to today’s finals. The team consisted of Deidra Osula, Fotini Landis, Georgie Gens and Lydia Lanski. They finished the race in :53.3.

Lanski also advanced to today’s finals in the 100 hurdles with a time of :17.0 to take first place. Also in the 100 hurdles, teammate Mindy Waag finished at :17.3, good for fourth place.

In the 100, Osula made it to the finals as she took fourth with a time of :13.25. She also made it to the finals in the 200 as she took third at :27.28.

In the finals of the 400, Swan placed seventh at 1.00.03.

Claire Stokes jumped 4-10 in the high jump to finish third.

For the boys, Fredonia track athletes benefitted from the short travel and being at a location that the athletes have been at many times before.

Diego Rey led the Hillbillies with a second-place finish in the finals for the 800. He finished with a time of 2:01.97.

“It’s the county meeting but it’s Division 1, 2 and 3 of Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and Allegheny counties, Diego Rey placing second in the 800 as a sophomore is outstanding,” Fredonia boys coach Bob Ball said. “To run that time is an outstanding performance for him.”

Also in the 800, Mike Meredith finished in 11th with a time of 2:09.75.

In the shot put, Nate Shuart placed sixth with a season best of 40-3; Jake Guerra placed seventh with a distance of 39-7.5.

Josh Johnson placed fifth in the 3,200 with a time of 10:19.93.

In the semifinals, the top 16 move on to the finals on Saturday.

Rian Budzinski, at a time of :55.5, had his season best in 10th place and Kevin Redfield, in 13th, had a time of :56.21 in the semifinal for the 400.

In the 110 high hurdles, Hessen Bahgat placed 14th and Meredith 15th. Bahgat had his best of the year time at :19.26, while Meredith had his best of the year at :19.33.

Joelle Colon placed fourth in the 100m in the semifinals with a time of :12.28.

“It was a good day for us, especially with the little bit of wind,” Ball said. “We have seen a lot of season bests and personal bests. You like to see that at the end of the season. It was a real positive day for us as far as that goes.”

Coach Ball noted that the team has profitted off of knowing Dunkirk’s track so well as they played on it two years ago.

“I think it’s a combination of end of the year performances and running on Dunkirk’s track,” the coach added. “It’s a familiar venue for us. It feels like home for us.”

In the 800 finals, Silver Creek’s Jaylah Cossin placed third at 2:24.45.

Dunkirk’s Emilee Hanlon took first place in the high jump with a leap of 5-0. Teammate Faith Rivera was fourth at 4-10.

Rivera also placed fourth in the long jump, soaring 14-11 1/2.

Chautauqua Lake’s Joshua Janicki placed second in the pole vault, finishing with a hight of 11-6.

Action continues today at Karl Hoeppner Field with a 10 a.m. start. Action is expected to wrap up around 2 p.m.

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