ITraceresults

Interscholastic Meet(B/G) - 12/15/07	Christmas Relays(B-12/28; G-12/29)	Southern Tier Invitational(B/G) - 1/5/08
Jack Morse Relays(B/G) - 1/9/08	Kirschenheiter Relays(B/G) - 1/14/08	Grieve Invitational(B/G) - 1/23/08
Arcaro Invitational(B/G) - 1/30/08	Constantino Invitational(B/G) - 2/4/08	Section III Championship(G-2/11; B-2/13)
OHSL/CNYCL Championship(G-2/18; B-2/20)	Sec.III State Qualifier(B/G) - 2/27/08	NYS Championship(B/G) - 3/8/08)
	Nike National Championship - 3/15/08

Boys: It was a fairly typical opening meet for the boys, with a mix of expected performances and some surprises. The opening DMR relay of Tom Hopkins, Ron Ta, Billy Gabriel and Steve Houghmaster set the right tone for the season by winning that event with the best WG time in five years and a 4:32.6 1600 meter anchor by Houghmaster, who later tacked on a 2:07.6 800m opening leg in the 4x800. Other scoring events for the boys were tallied by the 55hh duo of Nick McMillan and Jessie Beadle(4th), the 4x800 relay of Houghmaster, Ta, Andy Incaudo, Sam Reedy(3rd) and the Triple Jump relay of Ben Zacharah and Zack Lafaver(5th). With a lot of work ahead, the boys' 7th place team finish was, nevertheless, their best opening in years.

Girls: The girls relied on their middle-distance talent to pace to a 4th place team finish. Like the boys, there were adventures as new athletes took to the track and the runways. No superlative performances were registered this day by the girls side, just good efforts and baselines set down for future improvements.

Girls: Strong two-person relay performances by middle-distance runners propelled the girls to a 5th place finish in the 26 team field. The team paired several runners for multiple events while moving some runners out of their ordinary events(Distance runners competed in the 200, 300 and 55 meter events). Although hoped for improvements in field events did not materialize, the season is still young. A training week is next, with select athletes competing in the 1/5/08 Southern Tier Invitational.

Boys: For the second meet, the boys have signaled a change in their fortunes this season, notching their best team finish in five years. After a near scoring miss in the 1000 meter relay(Billy Gabriel/Sam Reedy-7th), Steve Houghmaster and Ron Ta teamed to get things going in a big way by winning the 600 meter relay. Two events later, Tom Hopkins and Andy Incaudo paced the 'cats to 3rd in the 3200 meter relay. Ta returned to join Ethan Wojcik for a 5th place in the 800 meter relay. Stepping up at the end, Houghmaster and Gabriel confronted a strong sectional field in the 1600 meter relay for their second event. Digging deep, Houghmaster found one final gear to nip CNS's Nathan McNabb at the line to place first individually. Not far behind was Gabriel in 6th to give WG the win in that event. Select boys will join the girls in competing at the 1/5/08 Southern Tier Invitational.

Boys: Steve Houghmaster(600/1600)/Billy Gabriel(1000/1600)/Jon Richardson(200)

Girls: Hopes for a day of stand-up performances in a large-meet atmosphere did not materialize for most of the Wildcats as 'average' or sub-target results predominated. That was not the case with sophomore Katie Bott, however, as she grabbed a 6th place in her 84 athlete 600 meter field while running out of the 2nd heat. Katie's 1:43.62 lopped almost 6 seconds off her previous personal best in that distance and registered one of the top sectional times to date. The only other individual top-6 effort came from Sarah Kibby, a 5th in the 1000 meter, though freshman Brianna McGraw may have sent a signal that she's a rising sprint force with a 45.97 in the 300m, a sectional top-10 time in this still-young season. The girls will look to regain some of that necessary competitive fever at the 1/9 Morse Relays.

Boys: The early morning bus ride and the long waits between events didn't seem to phase the boys squad as they enjoyed a stream of personal records and outstanding performances. Tom Hopkins started things off with a 5th place in the 3200, while teammate Sam Reedy ran a personal record in his 2nd heat. Nick McMillan and Jesse Beadle followed with personal records in the 55hh, which set the stage for a big Wildcat effort in the 1600m. Steve Houghmaster took over the lead on lap six and was never seriously challenged as he won that event with a PR time of 4:28.27. Also in the hot-heat, freshman Billy Gabriel took a big step forward with a nifty 4:39.01 for 9th in that very tough field. Gabriel's time meets the qualifying mark for the Nike National Freshman Mile in March. Andy Incaudo came next, also running his personal best in the 1600m. That was followed with PR's by Ethan Wojcik(1000), Ron Ta/Ryan Gillett(600) and Zack Lafaver/Jon Richardson/Zac Karpinski(300). Ben Zachariah also has his best leap in the triple jump. The boys polished off a good day with an exciting 6th place in the 4x800 and their best relay time in the last three years.

Boys: Steve Houghmaster(1600)/Billy Gabriel(1600)/Nick McMillan(55hh)/Ron Ta(600)/Tom Hopkins(3200)

Girls: Gradual improvements will probably be the story of this season. Personal records did characterized the evening, although the girls' 5th place came through just three top-6 two-person scoring events. The girls DMR posted their best time of the season with a second place effort. The 4x800 relay chipped in a 5th place while the shot put relay of Vanessa Mangovski and Jessica Andrianos powered to a third place, with Vanessa's best toss good enough for a 4th place individual finish. A short turn-around puts the team back on the track this coming Monday.

Boys: It was an admixture of excellent performances and runner faux pax's that marked the boys' long night at Manley House. A bevy of personal bests powered efforts for the evening, balanced by Billy Gabriel's unfortunate fall on the last lap of his 1200m opening leg of the DMR. That might have spelled the end of the evening for other relays, but starting with Ron Ta's 400m(53.6), followed by an excellent Tom Hopkins 800m leg(2:07.5), the comeback culminated with a brilliant 1600 meter closing leg by Steve Houghmaster(4:25.1). The DMR crossed the line in third, only 1.5 seconds off the school record. Another excellent performance by the SMR squad ended in disappointment when exhausted anchor leg Ron Ta was DQ'd for dropping his baton after finishing. They boys regroup for Monday's Kirschenheiter Relays.

Girls: In their final relay meet of the season, the girls put together a nice team effort. Personal records were in abundance. The 4x800, 4x1600 and SMR relays all enjoyed top-6 finishes, but the best finished was registered by the 2-person relay of Jessica Andrianos and Vanessa Mangovski, with Vanessa finishing 4th overall. A one-year old Wildcat record fell when Katie Bott, Brianna McGraw, Olja Kuljanin and Sarah Kibby teamed for 3rd place finish in a strong field with a 4:22.08 effort.

Boys: A number of solid efforts highlighted the best team finish to date for the boys squad. That included a 4th place hurdle relay finish, WG's best in years, and a 4th place in the SMR with another best effort in several years by Wildcats. The marquee event for the 'cats, however, came appropriately at the long end of the evening when the 4x1600 relay stormed from behind to race by Baldwinsville and Liverpool to capture that race with a school record of 18:54.16. The distance squad is hoping other records fall this sason.

Girls: With several key runners either taking the night off or moving to different events, and with the field event athletes performing sub-par, the Wildcats dropped right into the middle of the pack in team scoring. Though a number of athletes enjoyed seasonal or all-time best performances, none of those were scoring efforts--except Katie Bott. Katie waited all night for her lone 600m event, and the wait was worth it. Battling for second place with F-M's MacKenzie Carter, Katie turned on the jets in the final 150 meters to register her personal best in that event(1:41.57) and the second-best WG time to Elizabeth McMahon's 1:40.10 record.

Boys: Like the girls, the boys had several key runners sitting out the evening and they also saw sub-par field-event performances except for a fine first-effort at shot put with only 5 days of practice by Ben Zachariah. Steve Houghmaster put in some faster racing with a personal best 4th place in the 1000m while Tom Hopkins joined the sub-10 club in the 3200 as he battled to a 4th and a personal best.

Girls: Parsing team members to ensure competition opportunities continued, with the expected team results. To be sure, some girls had off-nights competitively--perhaps the mid-winter blahs. The highlight was obvious. Katie Bott raced to a 4th in the seldom-held 500m. In this event, which saw a new Section III record, Katie's 1:20.82 was a West Genesee best, eclipsing Sarah Kibby's mark set only last season. The girls look ahead to their final regular-season invitational next week.

Boys: It hasn't been often in the past ten years that the boys team gets one-up on a girls team finish, but this was the night as the gradual improvement of boys indoor track continues this season. Scoring was scant but what there was was encouraging. Steve Houghmaster continued a solid season with a 2nd place in the once-run 3000m. For the first time this season, the 'cats put their 'A' squad on the track for the 4x200 and although they have work to do with hand-offs, they notched a 5th place overall. The team also made improvements with their 4x800, running an 8:30.16 for their best time in that event in quite a few years. At next weeks Constantino Invitational, the team will once again sit some athletes out to provide last opportunities for others.

Girls: The girls again withheld some runners from this meet, allowing them to train through for championship meets. Hoping for a good late-season 600m, Katie Bott suffered an off-day performance but finished 6th. Vanessa Mangovski again broke the 30' barrier as she placed 5th in shot put. Not in the scoring column, but with her second PR in two consecutive meets, Hannah Smith finished out the season running well in the 55hh. The girls ready for Sectionals next Monday.

Boys: With some guys 'on the bench,' the boys had trouble scoring points, but a number enjoyed good competitive efforts. That included a season's best by Jesse Beadle in the 55hh and a nifty up-tempo 1000 meter by Tom Hopkins for 5th place. Jon Richardson continued his improvement as he leapt 5-8 in the high jump for a 4th place tie. Select athletes head south on Friday to Cornell University's Barton Hall and the Hurley/Quinney Invitational in search of school records and important 2nd-qualifier standards for championships.

Boys: A limited number of athletes made the long bus ride to Cornell after school for this late-running meet. The earlier competing athlete fared best. Later into the evening, the long wait affected performances. This was a meet for personal records and attempts to achieve either Sectional or League championship standards for second athletes. Those achieving either standard were Sam Reedy(3200m), Zac Karpinski(3200m/600m), Jon Richardson(600m), Nick McMillan(300m), and Ethan Wojcik(1000m). Zac Karpinski enjoyed the unique distinction of entering two events for the first time and reaching championship standards in both! And a 3200/600 double is no small feat. The toughest race of the night had to be the DMR effort by Tom Hopkins, Ron Ta, Billy Gabriel and Steve Houghmaster. Foregoing earlier relays or individual events to 'run fresh' and perhaps grab not only a school record but a national championship qualifying standard, the harsh realities of late-night racing were born out as the relay did not take to the start line until almost 11:00pm. While they had no difficulty besting the field for first place, they fell short of the mark desired and will have to wait until 2008/09 for another shot. Fortunately, all relay members can return for that attempt. The championships squad now prepares for next Wednesday's Section III championship.

Boys: Zac Karpinski(3200m & 600m)/Sam Reedy(3200m)/Jon Richardson(600m)/Ethan Wojcik(1000m)/Nick McMillan(300m)

Girls: February was not kind to the girls team. They limped into Sectionals having several athletes battling injuries. Coupled with poor performances by some others, their hoped-for top-5 sectional team finish was not to be. Their best event finish occurred early with a strong third place effort in the 4x400 relay behind Brianna McGraw, Katie Bott, Kristin Waters and Melanie Murphy. Their time meet the State Qualifier standard and all return in 08/09 to pursue the school record of 4:17.12. Another bright spot belong to Vanessa Mangovski, who placed 6th in the shot put and can look forward to a very successful indoor season next year. Other scorers for the 'cats were Katie Bott, 4th in the 600 meter, and a 4th place for the 4x800 squad. The most bittersweet note of the meet was the final scholastic events by senior leader Sarah Kibby, who will be sidelined this spring while rehabilitating a knee injury. She garnered a 6th place in the 1000m, ran a leg of the 4x800 and will be missed.

Boys: It was a glass half empty/half full kind of meet for the boys. Yes, the did earn their highest team finish since Indoor Track was re-instated at WG in 98/99. But they were oh-so-close to 6th and not far off from 5th. Had they notched step-up performances from all team members, they might have grabbed that vaunted top-5 finish. But in track, every place counts, some more than others, and the several that really counted got away from the Wildcats. But for the positives. The 4x400 relay opened the night with easily their best effort of the season and only a few seconds shy of the State Qualifier standard. Tom Hopkins continued his string of solid 3200 meter runs with a 'tactical' race that netted third place for the team and a 10:00.34 time despite T-hop not feeling 100%. Steve Houghmaster threw himself into the speed mix of the 1000 meter and came away with a personal record and a third place. In a tremendous step-up effort, Ron Ta ran away from the field of his slower-heat in the 600 meter, clocking a huge PR that jumped him into 6th place against fast-heat competitors. Not long after that, Houghmaster stepped back onto the track looking for 1600 meter team points and decided to take the lead in the first lap. He never relinquished it in winning and becoming a Sectional Champion for the second time in as many seasons. Not far off him, freshman Billy Gabriel placed 5th for a nice Wildcat scoring duo in that event. The 4x800 did not perform well later and managed only a 5th place. That and zero points from field and throws events meant 7th place for the team. But they do return nearly their entire team next year....

Girls: Short-handed, the girls battled successfully for the runner-up position to dominate winner and previously crowned sectional champion Fayetteville-Manlius. The nine-girls squad was forced to forego some events while having athletes double and triple in others, but it worked as the girls tied their 05/06 finish, their best league finishes since indoor was reinstated in 98/99. They did it with a succession of seconds(4x400,, 600m, 4x800, 4x200, Shot Put, Long Jump), three thirds(1000m, 1500m, 300m) one fourth(3000m) and one 6th(High Jump). Plenty of personal records sparked the good ending to their team season, with highlights provided by an improving Colleen Smith(seasonal PR's in 1500/400 relay leg) and a gut triple by Brianna McGraw competing with a sore hip. The team advances Katie Bott(600m), Smith(3000m), Vanessa Mangovski(SP) and the 4x400 relay to the 2/27 State Qualifier Meet. The ohh-so-close award goes out to the 4x200 relay of Katie Bott, Bri McGraw, Melanie Murphy and Olja Kuljanin who lost a .18 fight to F-M for the league title in that event. Their best effort of the season was also only 1.39 seconds shy of the State qualifier standard and .89 seconds off a school record. The good news is 3 of the 4 return next winter.

Girls: Colleen Smith(1500 & 4x400)/Brianna McGraw(4x400 & 300)/4x200 Relay/Vanessa Mangovski(SP)

Boys: Billy Gabriel, the Wildcats 2007/08 qualifier for the Nike National Freshman Mile, capped a long, long indoor season with a great effort in the elite 25 runner national field. Billy, however, had the unenviable distinction of finishing 7th, only .21 seconds out of 6th and All-American status. Following a short rest, he turns to outdoor track and takes aim at a qualification for the outdoor freshman mile in Greensboro, N.C. this June.

                       Finals
1 Burleigh, Brayden         11 Midlothian HS,Midlo    4:31.21
2 Byrne, Kevin              11 Runner's High,Mills    4:35.33
3 Morgan, Jack              11 Mountain Bro,Birmin    4:35.46
4 Carter, George            11 Blacksbg Hs-Boys,Bl    4:37.61
5 Jablonski, Matt           11 Loyola Blake,Cockey    4:37.96
6 Place, Sam                11 Kinetic RC,Saratoga    4:39.92
7 Gabriel, William          11 West Genesee,Syracu    4:40.13
8 Carter, Austin            11 St. Xavier HS,Goshe    4:40.19
9 Roadside, Dustin          11 Egg Harbor Twp,Egg     4:40.61
10 Nestor, Daniel            11 Una-Ct-Madis,Madiso    4:43.36
11 Schoepfer, Brian          11 W Windsor-Pl So,Pri    4:43.46
12 Rawls, Robert             11 Triton Regional,Run    4:44.30
13 Ivey, William             11 Columbia TC,Columbi    4:44.91
14 Melendez, Angelo          11 Black Diamond,West     4:45.06
15 Lloyd, Mitchell           11 Mountain Bro,Birmin    4:46.37
16 Keith, Stephen            11 Una-Md-Walke,Walker    4:46.43
17 Valenski, Andrew          11 Massapequa HS,West     4:47.14
18 Propst, Bryan             11 Hoover TC,Hoover, A    4:48.91
19 Newcomb, Kieran           11 Awesome Power,Brook    5:00.66
20 Andrews, Anthony          11 Paterson Cat,Paters    5:05.29
21 Pugh, Graham              11 Hoover TC,Hoover, A    5:05.48
22 Walling, Ryan             11 Western Cary TC,Car    5:08.79
-- Hertgen, Matthew          11 Toms River Hs-No,To        DNS
-- McNair, Ian               11 St. John's-OH,Sylva        DNS
-- Brown, Wendall            11 Una-Md-Distr,Distri        DNS

Congratulations to the boys and girls Indoor Track Teams, both designated as NYS Scholar-Athlete Teams. Congratulations also to the following West Genesee NYS individual scholar athletes:

Billy Gabriel/Jon Richardson/Sam Reedy/Ron Ta/Tom Hopkins/Ian Vernon/Tony Terzolo/Mike Plunkett

Katie Riley/Lindsey Feraco/Kristin Waters/Jessica Emanuelli/Katie Bott/Jame Kurtz/Sarah Kibby

Jessica Andrianos/Ashley Spinelli/Kayla Murphy/Brianna McGraw/Danielle Barone