ROCHESTER — The indoor track and field season continued with its postseason on Saturday morning at Rochester Institute of Technology for the Wayne-Finger Lakes Championships.
More than 20 schools were represented in the meet but it was two local schools that saw multiple athletes lead their team to titles.
Newark and Midlakes secured six championships each and it was Newark’s Jayda Solomon who shined brightest with three first-place finishes in various events. Solomon won in the 55-dash, 300-dash and long jump.
“I was hoping to win,” Solomon said about her mindset coming into the 300-dash. “I know it was going to be 50/50 because the girls right behind me were really close.”
In the 300-dash, Solomon competed in the final of the three heats. Clyde-Savannah’s Ashlyn Rattray gave Solomon all she could handle in the final heat as the two finished in the top-2 spots. Solomon crossed the finish line just a couple steps ahead of Rattray. Solomon won the event with a final time of 43.42 seconds while Rattray ended with 43.89 seconds.
“I’m hoping to win sectionals, get better and faster to set new personal bests,” Solomon added.
The only other Newark female to take home first place in the meet came in the weight throw where Brianna Wickman won with a final throw of 41-feet, 9-inches.
The Reds’ winners came from Kayden Hughes, who won in high jump with a final jump of 6-feet, 2-inches, and the 800-meter relay team. Alongside Hughes was Ty DeTaeye, Jordan Frank Javon Jones and Dominick Wilson.
Zachary Rozelle’s 1000-run was one of Midlakes’ six wins on the day. Rozelle finished with a time of 2:49.66.
“I just wanted to play it conservative and then kick it up to win,” Rozelle said about his mindset coming into the event.
The 1000-meter run came down to the final stretch before Rozzelle was able to beat Harley/Allendale-Columbia’s Oliver Simmons, who finished in second place.
“I’m pretty confident that I can run the 1000 in sectionals again and I’m hoping to win there,” Rozelle said.
Midlakes’ Tyler Lantrip won multiple events for the Screaming Eagles after winning both the shot put and weight throw.
Lantrip’s win in shot put came from a final launch of 41-feet, 2¾-inches. In the weight throw, Lantrip ended with a throw of 47-feet, 5½-inches.
Katelyn Wilkes and Alyssa Crance also took home wins for Midlakes. Wilkes won in the 3000-meter run with a final time of 11:03.06 while Crance won in the 600-meter run with a 1:46.28.
Wilkes along with Leah Newton, Jennifer Iraci, Emily Meath and Emma Ubbink were able to finish first in the 3200-meter relay at 11:40.03.
James Tette continued his astounding distance running for Penn Yan. After winning the Wayne-Finger Lakes and Section V championships in cross country in the fall, Tette won both the 3200 and 1600-meter runs on Saturday.
“It feels pretty dang good,” Tette said after winning in the 1600-meter. “I was a little bit tired because I ran the 2-mile and the 1000 right before this but I was like I have to go all out and win it today.”
Tette didn’t appear tired at all as he lapped several runners in the 1600-meter race.
“Pretty good,” Tette said about his season so far. “It was a little bit hard adapting to the indoor track because this is our first year doing indoor as a school, so it’s been interesting to try and improve our times on a smaller track, rather than a four meter one.”
Marion/Gananda’s Landon Wertz finished in second place in the 1600-meter after nearly finishing 20 seconds behind Tette.
Palmyra-Macedon’s Emma Robinson and Marcus Whitman’s Lana Burnett also took home first place in field events.
Robinson won in the pole vault with a final score of 8-feet flat while Burnett took first in the triple jump with a final score of 34-feet, ½-inches.
