The Inside Track
Sunday May 31, 2009

Sunday May 31, 2009: Going into the Section 2 Class A Championship Meet, the Shaker Boys had to be considered a strong contender, especially after the large margin of victory in the Suburban Council Championship a week earlier. However, no one could have predicted the path the team would eventually take to capture the school’s first Sectional title in 32 years. The first relay event, the 4x800M started on a positive note for Shaker as the team of two freshman (Mike Libruk and Christian Delago) and two seniors (Chris VanZetta and Craig Weiss) finished first. The 110M Hurdles were a big boost to the team’s chances as Ebube Abara and JQ Chandler both crossed the line ahead of the rest of the field in a time of 15.3 seconds. Valuable points were also added in the same event by Brendan Dolan who finished 5th. The optimism faded as one of Shaker’s top sprinters was disqualified for a false start in the 100M and another was injured during the 4x100M relay, eliminating any chance of points in both situations. Robert Johnson finished in 4th place for Shaker in the 100M, soph sprinter Bryan Letourneau was 2nd in the 200M and junior Matt Conti was 2nd in the in the 400M and 6th in the 200M keeping Shaker competitive in the shorter distances. Another junior, Chris Herman, earned a 3rd place finish in the 800M, a race in which soph Dave Marthy also tied for 6th. In the longer hurdle race (400M), Chandler, Abara and Dolan ran 1-2-5 to add 20 more points to the team total. However, the results were mixed in the early field events. Shaker’s leading long jumper this season, fouled on each of his attempts costing points that had been expected from that event. Shot putters Jesse Boice (2nd) and sophomore Naquan Lewis (6th) along with Andrew Boldish (6th) in the discus contributed to the team scoring. Matt Dustin was able to add a point with his 6th place in the high jump. The 3000M Steeplechase helped the Shaker effort with a second place from Craig Weiss and a 4th from sophomore Casey Gilboy. A 5th place by junior Ryan Egan in the 3200M added a couple more points to the total. The 4x400M relay team of Chandler, Dolan, Herman and Abara captured third place. Only two events remained and Shaker was still trailing Shen by double digits. Shaker’s two star triple jumpers delivered in a big way as they have all year. As the meet was nearing completion, seniors Prince Abban and Mike Ofosu moved up to 1st and 5th place in the triple jump as the team edged closer to first place. It all came down to the final race in the five-event Pentathlon where senior Matt Bendon and sophomore Brian Gallagher (see story below) were battling to finish high enough to gain a victory for the entire team. As they were cheered by their teammates, the two athletes carried the hopes of the entire team as they battled for valuable points that would be needed for a team title. Gallagher won the pentathlon and Bendon finished 4th. When the scores were tallied, Shaker captured the Championship by 3 ½ points…in a year full of outstanding performances, exciting finishes and a true team effort throughout the season.

One of the little known stories leading up to the final event of the Class A Championships began even before the outdoor season with sophomore Brian Gallagher, who had set several grade records in hurdle events in both indoor and outdoor track over the last couple years. As he looked at three of the best hurdlers in school history in the two grades above him, he considered his options for helping the team during this season. He made a decision to begin preparing for the demanding five-event Pentathlon: 110M Hurdles, Shot Put, High Jump, Long Jump and 1500M. With help from his coaches, and alongside teammates like Matt Bendon and Sterling Green and several other teammates with individual event experience, he went to work preparing for the big end-of-the-season meets. Brian’s first ever Pentathlon was on April 16 at the Fonda-Fultonville Steeplechase/Pentathlon where he gained valuable experience. Throughout the season, he looked for opportunities to improve his skills in events like the long jump and shot put in which he scored at the Frosh/Soph Championship Meet on May 14. A week later at the Suburban Council Championships, he began to receive some of the recognition often given to his older, better known teammates when he won the pentathlon. Little did he know months ago, that his strong performance in the last event of the Class A meet would earn him first place in the Pentathlon and give Shaker enough points to win the school’s first Outdoor Track Sectional Championship in 32 years!

The Girls team completed the Class A Championship with a 4th place finish in the Sectional Meet on May 27. The top individual performance by a Shaker athlete had to be the first place finish by Molly Nephew in the Pentathlon. She was joined by Julia McCane as a scorer in the 5-event Pent which includes the 100M Hurdles, Shot Put, Long Jump, High Jump and 800M. Carly Brundige provided a big boost to the team score with her second place performance in the 100M while Emma Risler also added a second in the 800M. Other individual scorers were Natana Gordon (400M Hurdles), Madison Rowland (HJ), Kate Roberts (200M), and Jackie St. John (LJ). As usual, the relay teams provided valuable scoring with a second in the 4x100M, fourth in the 4x400M and a sixth place in the 4x800M.

There seems to be a growing level of frustration among athletes, coaches and fans with the decision by Section 2 officials to use hand held timing instead of automated timing for championship track meets. The hand held timing is supposed to save money, but supporters of automated timing argue the cost difference would be manageable since not as many paid officials would be needed to time races. Supporters of automated timing believe that the accuracy would be greater and the results are available much sooner.

While the team champions have been determined in recent weeks, the focus now shifts to this week’s State Qualifying Meet to be held Thursday and Friday (6/4 & 6/5) at Knox Field in Johnstown. The meet will determine which individuals and relay teams will represent Section 2 in the New York State Meet the following week in Cicero (near Syracuse). Several Shaker athletes from both the Boys and Girls teams are eligible to participate in the State Qualifier and some are eligible in more than one event. This meet is considered more of an individual competition than a team event. Three of the four Shaker athletes who qualified for the State Meet last year (Craig Weiss, Matt Conti and JQ Chandler) will be competing this week in an effort to earn a return trip this year. The first place finisher in each individual event and each of the first place relay teams will automatically qualify for the NY State Meet. The second place finisher can only qualify for the State Meet if they have met the State standard for their event in each division.

It will be interesting to see where the Shaker Boys team ranks in New York State after all the year-end information has been updated in the armorytrack team rankings. The last ranking had Shaker as #12 among all Class A (large) schools in the State. However, that number could move into the top 10 if all the meet information, including the Sectional Meet is added to the system.

The Boys Track Banquet & Awards will be held on June 10th from 6-8 PM at the Elks Lodge Pavilion. The cost is $8 per person and can be returned to Coach Couture. Mrs. Blizinski is coordinating volunteers. Click here for information form

Thanks to Mr. Weiss for providing pictures from the sectional meet. Click here to check out the sectionals photos along with other photos from throughout the season.