The Fredonia Hillbillies 1,600-meter relay team received a send-off on Thursday prior to its trip to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Track & Field Championships at Cicero-North Syracuse High School. Pictured, from the left, are Alex Field, Jayden Yerico, Fredonia head coach Bob Ball, Matt Linder and Ledreth Velez-Olmo. Submitted Photo

CICERO — The Fredonia boys 1,600 meter relay team broke a 30-year-old school record last season and won the Section VI championship, but couldn’t advance to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Track & Field Championships because of COVID-19 mandates.

The Hillbillies will get that long-awaited opportunity today when Alex Field, Matt Linder, Jayden Yerico and Ledreth-Velez-Olmo compete at Cicero-North Syracuse High School.

The journey to central New York has had its share of challenges.

Fredonia’s fastest member of last year’s relay, Oliver Madriaga, graduated, leaving some big shoes to fill this spring.

“Oliver was our fastest guy last year,” said Fredonia head coach Bob Ball. “He set the 400-meter school record and that was a 30-year-old record, too.”

Madriaga’s absence left Ball with the task of putting Velez-Olmo — the slowest member of last year’s relay in the anchor spot, and Yerico, a sprinter last year, would be moved to the second spot, ahead of Linder.

Saying that it worked out would be an understatement as the quartet set a new school record of 3:29.73 to win the sectional Division 2 title and qualify for the state championships.

“They’re happy to get here,” stated Ball. “You can definitely see the excitement. Without the opportunity the last few years, they’re just excited to be on the big stage.”

Stepping up for Fredonia was Yerico, going from a sprinter to running a grueling 400-meter leg.

“It was Jayden’s idea to join from the 100- and 200-meter,” stated Ball. “He started at 58 seconds in the beginning of April, but has steadily improved. The more he’s ran it and gotten used to it, that quarter mile has continued to improve. He’s worked hard to be that fourth guy.”

While Yerico runs the second leg as the newcomer, Velez-Olmo has taken the new role of anchor after being the slowest leg of last year’s group.

“Ledreth was the slowest on the squad (last year) to now being the anchor,” added Ball. “Running cross country this year helped him, and indoor track helped him with the 600 meters.”

Velez-Olmo has worked all season to be the best, getting his first taste of state championships indoors, qualifying in the 600 meters and, this weekend, he’ll run the 400 meters.

“Running three sports a year could be tough for him, but it turned out to be very valuable for him,” stated Ball. “During the season I didn’t use him heavily until about the second week of May and it paid off. Now he’s fresh and he’s peaking at the right time.”

Individually, Velez-Olmo is the 11th-ranked 400-meter runner in Division 2 and is a longshot to win it all, but that won’t stop him from running it. Where some teams might decide to pull a solo runner out of the race for the better chance at the relay, Velez-Olmo has told Ball that he feels running the 400 meters gets him warmed up for the relay.

“We have the luxury of keeping him in it,” stated Ball. “He wants to stay in it because it makes him stronger for the relay. It’s made him that much hungrier to run and he likes the fact that it gets him ready for the relay.”

While Velez-Olmo might miss out on the podium individually, the relay team is ranked fifth, and what separates two through five is all within a second.

“All the big meets coming down have been our best performances,” Ball said. “The competition has really pushed us. Our times have come steadily down and we’re peaking at the right time.”

A big reason for that is the consistency Linder and Field provide as the third and first legs.

“Matt Linder was our second-fastest guy to Oliver last year,” added Ball. “He will go third for us. We know if we’re even and does any catching up for us that we’ve pretty much got it.”

Just like Velez-Olmo, Linder brings experience from states as a qualifier in the 300 meters indoor.

“Matt came to track last year for his first year,” Ball stated. “He’s been steady from the start. He’s a difference maker and a set-up guy. He likes his role as the third guy.”

Field will give Fredonia the jump-start and has literally done so this season. Individually, Field runs in the 400 meter hurdles which prepares him to run that same race without any obstacles.

“Alex Field runs 400-meter hurdles all year long and that makes him strong,” Ball added. “Alex and Jayden’s job is to keep it close. Matt is there to catch us up and, as long as we’re in the race, we like our chances when Ledreth gets it.”

After Velez-Olmo competes in the 400-meter final at 3:10 p.m. today, the boys will get ready for their run at 6 p.m.

“They’re ready for the challenge,” Ball stated. “Right now the focus is to worry on what we need to do and our guys know where we need to focus. The biggest thing is to run our race.”