ITraceresults

(Click on Competition for Team Results/Summary/Outstanding Performances as they become available)

Division I

West Genesee 114

CNS 93

Corcoran 37

ESM 29

Central Square 21

Fowler 18

Mexico 17

Nottingham 13.5

J-D 2

Following weeks of weather delays and/or meet cancellations, the 'cats finally found a balmy spring evening and used it effectively to get in their much needed first competitions. Team members scored in many events and won 5: Elizabeth McMahon--3000m; Colleen Smith--2000SC; Katie Rothenberg--1500m; Janet Jackson--Discus; 4x400 Relay. Elizabeth's 3000 and the 4x400 relay of Katie Bott, Kristin Waters, Stephanie McGrath and Elizabeth both established meet records. For her double efforts, Elizabeth was named Athlete-of-the-Meet for Division 1 schools. Of note, Olja Kuljanin set a personal mark for third place in the Long Jump while opening her high jumping career with a 4-8 leap. The team next travels to CNS for a double-dual meet involving Baldwinsville.

Meet Summary: The Wildcats were thoroughly dominated by a deep CNS squad. The absence of two top performers for the 'cats hurt them more in their loss to Baldwinsville. On a cool, rainy day with a late start due to water on the track, the 'cats could not muster the fight needed. Hidden among the stats, however, were some solid performances and hope for the future, including continued improvements in the 1500 by Katie Rothenberg, the 3000m by Colleen Smith, the pole vault by Ruth DeLallo, the 400m by Katie Bott and the 200 by Brianna McGraw.

Meet Summary: Maybe these Wildcats just like going to invitationals. Following a tough double-dual meet loss on 4/25, their rebound was evident on a misty/rainy day in central New York. The team enjoyed 17 top-8 ribbon performances shared among runners, throwers and jumpers. 'Close-shave' second-place races went to Katie Bott in her first 200 meter dash and the 4x800 relay squad of Katie Rothenberg, Stephanie McGrath, Maggie Nealer and Sarah Kibby who ran the section's second fastest time of the season. Not to be outdone, Bott pulled away from the field with a scorching first 200m to win the 400 meter dash, also a sectional second-best time. Earlier, Sarah Kibby had also ran a commanding race to win the 400 intermediate hurdles. And the 'cats ran away from the field in their final leg to win the 4x400 relay. Weather aside, it was a good day to be a Wildcat.

Meet Summary: It was a slugfest most of the afternoon, with Liverpool and the Wildcats trading event wins and critical places. In the end, however, the 'cats came up a little short, although their day was dotted with many personal records and smart performances. The list of PR efforts is long, a good sign for the weeks ahead. West Genesee enjoyed seven first place finishes: Sarah Kibby--400IH; 4x800R; Katie Bott-400m; Elizabeth McMahon--1500/3000m; 4x400R; Olja Kuljanin--Long Jump. Kibby was especially impressive with a her 400IH only .2 off the school record and a nice PR in the 100hh. The 4x400 Relay of Elizabeth McMahon, Stephanie McGrath, Colleen Smith and Katie Bott clocked one of Section III's best to date in winning that event with a 4:14.8. Of note, Brittany Jones tried Long Jump for the first time and earned a 2nd place finish with a 14-7 leap. Thanks to our press-box parent crew for great work: Stefanie Rothenberg - Announcer; Judy Ellis - Scoring.

Meet Summary: A new Wildcat tradition at invitational meets is the placement of the 'PR chair' in front of the team tent. Time in the chair requires a personal record performance during the meet. That chair was conspicuously empty this Saturday as the 'cats went almost uniformly flat in their RFA Invitational events. Maybe there was something in the water. Maybe it was the brisk breeze hitting the backstretch head-on. There are plenty of maybe's but few quality performances as the girls struggled through a tough afternoon. Even the sectional-leading 4x400 relay managed only a 4th place with one of their slowest times of the season. No Wildcat took home a blue ribbon, though they Elizabeth McMahon(800m) and the 4x800 relay came closest with second place efforts. And those scarce PR's? There were two: Liz Johnston in the 400m and Maggie Nealer's split in the 4x400 Relay. And Ruth DeLallo came oh-so-close in the pole vault as her final attempt at a PR vault had the grazed cross-bar wobble, wobble, then fall into the pit. The team will think about the day a little, identify possible corrections, then move on to their important dual meet contest with RFA.

Meet Summary: For a second consecutive dual-meet, the Wildcats found themselves in a good old fashioned slug-fest between two battling teams. RFA, with a number of quality athletes, took the battle of first-places, winning 9 of the 17 events. But as is sometimes the case, the story of a meet victory is written behind the leaders, with the crucial 2nd and 3rd places tipping the balance. West Genesee captured 10 of the 14 possible 2nd places--and that proved the difference as they emerged with the victory. It certainly helped that the distance squad entered the meet with a grab-places-and-points mentality. With that attitude, the 'cats were able to send waves of runners at RFA in every distance event. The result was a 4x800R win and 1-2-3 sweeps in the 1500 and 800 meter events. They allowed the Black Knights only 1 of 32 possible points, a third place in the 3000 meter. That domination opened the door for the Wildcats--and other team members took advantage. After being swept in the shot put, Janet Jackson and Jessica Andrianos stepped into the discus circle and made amends by going 1-2 with sectional top-10 tosses. Olja Kuljanin and Brittany Jones took 2nd place disappointments from the long jump and triple jump respectively, walked over to the high jump and went 1-2 with identical 4' 8" leaps. Then came the stunner. Expecting a very strong, favored RFA 4x100 relay late in the meet, the 'cats received even worse news when one of their legs withdrew with a shoulder injury. 8th grader Brianna McGraw was given 5 minutes of baton practice by Assistant Coach Delsole, then inserted as the anchor leg. Olja Kuljanin jumped all over the opening leg and matched RFA. Brittany Jones ran the backstretch strong and stayed within 2 meters, setting up a ferocious third leg by Jamy Bliss. Bliss caught and passed her competitor as she gave up to the baton to McGraw, who hit the finish straight with RFA's closer a few meters off her shoulder. It would have been safe money to bet the veteran RFA sprinter would walk down the Wildcat neophyte, but that didn't happen. McGraw held off the Black Knight and gave West Genesee the victory and the points that ensured a team victory. The Wildcats improving 4x400 relay of Elizabeth McMahon, Maggie Nealer, Katie Bott and Colleen Smith finished the track day by locking up with a very good RFA team, providing a thrilling contest that was won by RFA in a section-leading time. The 'cats were only a second back in 4:11.7, their best time in the past 10 years. This great team victory provides the team the opportunity of a 3-3 winning season if they can prevail over Utica on 5/14.

Meet Summary: After sitting in a construction-caused traffic jam on the NYS Thruway for and hour and a half, the team was 10 minutes away from abandoning their attempt to get to Utica-Proctor in time for their final dual meet of the season. Traffic broke just in time, the team arrived at Utica a half-hour after the scheduled meet time and started the meet on less than 10 minutes of warm-ups. Athletes in the first two event simply went on adrenalin, which seemed to work. Behind Sarah Kibby, the cats swept the 400IH, then placed 2-3 in the 1500 meter with PR performances from Maggie Nealer and Colleen Smith. Then reality--and the effects of a two and a quarter hour bus ride set in. The team managed only a second place in the next two events--the 100m and 100hh--and ran lethargically in being beaten in the 4x800. Meanwhile, the team managed on a third place in the long and triple jump events, and suddenly the Wildcats hopes for winning season were looking slim. They rallied, however, going 1-3 in both the 400 meter behind Katie Bott and the 3000 meter behind Katie Rothenberg. Utica came right back, winning the 200 meter despite Bott's 26.9 effort in a photo-finish second. With Brittany Jones forced to accept 2nd in the high jump due to a tie-breaking jump-off, West Genesee was in trouble with the 800 meter next and the Proctor distance ace on the line. Serendipity and practice efforts struck as the cats, led by Kibby, powered to a 1-2-3 finish and put the team back in scoring contention. West Genesee won both the 4x100 and 4x400 relays as well as Ruth DeLallo's first place in the pole vault. When word came out of the throwers area that West Genny had swept the shot and gone 2-3 in the discus, victory was theirs. The long ride home was a little less long as the team enjoyed it's 3-3 dual meet campaign and third straight winning season.

Meet Summary: Cool, brisk weather seems destined to be the norm for this '07' season. The Wildcats traveled to Cicero-North Syracuse for this year's OHSL contest. As usual, the WG Fine Arts Department had scheduled music concerts in conflict with our contest and then pressured team members to forego their league championship events or risk failing grades. Nice way to run an educational institution. The threats compromised several performances for team members. Those unaffected enjoyed some excellent efforts and into the final 3-4 events, the 'cats were battling for a third place team finish. Early on, Sarah Kibby ran one of her best 400IH's of the season as she placed third. Katie Rothenberg next stepped into a good battle in the 1500 meter. 'Roth' hooked up with the lead pack and powered to a PR, sub-5:00 performance for 4th place. The 4x800 relay of Elizabeth McMahon, Stephanie McGrath, Kristin Waters and Kayla Murphy locked up in a good battle with CNS but fell short by a few meters in the final stretch to place 2nd. Next up was freshman Katie Bott in the 400 meter. She took command at the 200 meter mark, then walked away from her closest competitors to become League Champion. On short rest, Rothenberg stepped back on the track to tackle the 1500/3000 double. Smart racing kept her at the back of the lead pack through the 1600. She paced well, then went negative her final two laps to take 4th with a sub-11:00, another personal record. Bott then tacked on a 5th place in the 200m to her solid evening before Colleen Smith dropped her personal record in the 2000 steeplechase by 10 seconds as she battled to 2nd. E. J. Reedy followed her home in 4th. Sarah Kibby returned for a 6th in the 100hh before the 4x100 relay of Olja Kuljanin, Brittany Jones, Jamy Bliss and Brianna McGraw took 4th. Bott, Maggie Nealer, McMahon and Smith closed out the track events with a 3rd in the 4x400 relay. Off-track, the Wildcats suffered through a poor day as they scored no field event points in the jumps. The same was true of the shot put, but Janet Jackson and Jessica Andrianos went 3-4 in the discus. The team returns to CNS Saturday for the Coed Invitational.

Meet Summary: It was a tough ending to a tough week of too many competitions and too many athlete's with 'scheduling conflicts.' Saturday performances suffered as a result. The "PR chair" at the team tent had no takers as no one managed a personal record. With athletes being pulled out of events by parents for other activities, with athletes being pulled from events due to injury or illness and with the meet moving too slowly, it was certainly not a great day to be a Wildcat. However, gaining a winning dual meet season on Monday and seeing some solid OHSL Championship performances on Thursday made it a 2 out of 3 week, so the 'cats will take that and prepare for the sectional championship.

Meet Summary: Summer arrived in a hurry as the 'cats closed out their team season with a hot sectional championship day on the RFA track. This edition of the Wildcats replicated last year's 6th place finish, missing some scoring opportunities while taking advantage of others. In an indication of the division's strength, the 4x100 relay ran a PR and gained a Open Qualifier standard time of 53.01 but failed to make finals. Olja Kuljanin, Brittany Jones, Jamy Bliss and Brianna McGraw will look to take that event into 52 second territory at the Open Qualifier. Katie Rothenberg also ran a solid 3000m only several seconds off her PR, but failed to crack the top-6 in a strong field, placing 8th. Sarah Kibby did crack the top-6, placing 5th. Elizabeth McMahon continued her comeback from an early-May injury with a 3rd in the 800 and a sub-2:20. Though hampered by a slow opening 200m, Katie Bott moved away from the pack in the homestretch of the 400m to place 2nd with a 59.88. Colleen Smith had a tougher day in the 2000SC where she was well off her former best but still placing 5th in that field. The 4x800 Relay did not run up to expectations but battled to a 3rd place while Bott returned to the track to grab 6th place in the 200 even though running out of a slower heat. In her third event of the hot day, McMahon rose to the challenge and ran probably her toughest race of the season in the 1500m. She held the lead into the final 300m when she was overtaken to finish 2nd with a solid 4:51.80. The 4x400 relay of Maggie Nealer, Colleen Smith, Katie Bott and Kristin Waters chipped in a 6th place to end the track day and team season for West Genny. Off track, it was close-but-no-cigar for the 'cats in the LJ(7th), the TJ(8th) and discus(8th). Only Jessica Andrianos broke through with a season's best toss of 99-3 in the discus to grab 3rd. Katie Rothenberg, Sarah Kibby, Katie Bott, Elizabeth McMahon, Jessica Andrianos and Colleen Smith have all qualified for individual events in the 5/31 Open Qualifier meet. The Wildcats have also qualified their 4x100, 4x400 and 4x800 relays.

Meet Summary: Hot, muggy weather was the order of the day at the Section III Open Qualifier as athletes looked for shade and cooler temperatures near the CNS track. The CNS mist-ers were a well-appreciated complex accoutrement. The qualified Wildcats arrived ready for good performances--and they produced several. Jessica Andrianos made good on predictions and some excellent early-week practice throws as she broke the 100' barrier with a toss of 100' 9", her PR and a 5th place finish in Division 1. With three seniors and one junior ahead of her in those standings, the future looks promising for sophomore Jessica. Another young Wildcat, freshman Katie Bott, raced a blistering 27.2 first 200m in the 400 meter event but had trouble holding on to her speed as she placed third with another sub-60.0. Katie will clearly be heard from in her next three indoor/outdoor seasons. Elizabeth McMahon is also demonstrating old form in the championship season. Slowed by illness and injury for stretches of the spring, she is turning it up just in time. Elizabeth ran a gutsy and strong third 400 in her 1500m event to take 2nd and clock under the standard needed for advancement to states. With her best 1500 still ahead, the State Championship 1500m next Saturday will be an exciting one. The 4x100 Relay of Olja Kuljanin, Brittany Jones, Jamy Bliss and Brianna McGraw speed their way into the Division 1 finals where they finished 5th, a solid ending for a relay that lost two of its original members during the season. Three members of that relay return in 2008. Another excellent achievement was the 4th place finish of the 4x400 in a very credible 4:13.8, with Kristen Waters, Maggie Nealer and Stephanie McGrath all running personal records. After rest and hydration, Elizabeth returned to the track with her 'fresh' teammates Katie Rothenberg, Sarah Kibby and Colleen Smith to tackle the 4x800. It was a bit of a journey into the unknown as the relay had not broken 9:50 all season but was definitely capable of faster. Also, Colleen had run only one previous 800m. The hope was to hang close to, or push, Fayetteville-Manlius who was certain of running under 9:30. Katie did her part as the opening leg, coming in close to F-M at 2:24.4. Strategy dictated taking Elizabeth out of her tradition closer position. She responded brilliantly with a 2:17.4 split, overtaking and passing her F-M counterpart, Jessica Hauser to give the 'cats a 10 meter lead at the mid-point. F-M re-closed that gap against the WG third leg, Sarah Kibby, but Kibby then rode the F-M shoulder as the two teams came in basically dead-locked for the final leg. Colleen ran a blistering 1:08.5 first 400 stay in touch with F-M's Molly Malone. But Malone hadn't previously won the open 800 for nothing, and she was able to pull away from Colleen down the backstretch. F-M finished in 9:25.61, with WG not far off in 9:31.86. They had shattered the previous record of 9:39.12 but had to wait for a meet committees/ decision on whether they should be allowed to advance to the State Championship. The committee noted the quality of their effort and where it would stack up on a state level. In the end, they advanced the relay. The 'cats now have the welcomed task of demonstrating how much they belong on the Kingston track State Championship. The 2007 West Genesee season rolls on....

Elizabeth McMahon(1500m); Jessica Andrianos(Discus); 4x800 Relay; 4x400 Relay

Meet Summary: Elizabeth McMahon knew she had her work cut out for her. Running in the slower of two 1500m heats, she would have to push herself and run against the times in the seeded heat to follow. Tactically, it was an excellent effort. She stayed comfortably in the lead pack the first lap and passed the line in 1:11.1. Lap two was the working lap, a 1:16.3 which saw her move up as others slow and take the lead and cross the 800 in 2:27.4. On the third lap, she was on her own and was forced to push the pace solo, having built a 20 meter lead on the 2nd place runner. She pushed hard, running that lap with no drop-off in pace in 1;16.6. It took its toll, however. Coming off the final turn, she was chased down by Maddie Adams, who passed her with 80 meters to go and bested Elizabeth by less than a second. Elizabeth's 1:17.0 equivalent final 400 wasn't bad, but reflected the 2-3 weeks training time lost this spring to illness and injury. Lost time or not, it was a gutsy performance. Her 4:41.87 stood up well against the seeded heat. She finished on the medal stand for Division I in 6th place, and then placed 8th overall for a Federation medal place. That 4:41.87 is both a personal record for Elizabeth and a new WG school record. What a great way to close her individual scholastic competitive career.

The day did not turn out so bright for the 4x800 Relay who ran hard but did not rise to the occasion of competing in a state championship. None of the foursome--Katie Rothenberg, Elizabeth McMahon, Sarah Kibby, Colleen Smith--matched their Open Qualifier splits of the week before and the team time of 9:45.27 was well off their school record. Nevertheless, they achieved the qualification, and three of the four will have an opportunity to fight for a return in 2008. They are certainly capable.

A running season and a running year wind down for the Wildcats. Both were good. Stayed tuned for Wildcats 06/07, a review of the year's XC/IT/OT highlights.

Elizabeth McMahon(1500m - Division I 6th place; Federation 8th place; School Record)

2007 Team Awards

Most Valuable Athlete --

Most Improved Athlete --

Track 'Hammer' Award --