By SPENCER BATES
SALAMANCA — The first ‘true’ Super 8 track and field meet is officially in the books.
The Salamanca track and field team has a long, storied history in hosting the Super 8, but for the first time ever, with its new state-of-the-art facility, the meet was held at Salamanca on a track with eight lanes, marking a new chapter in the competition’s history.
“I don’t know that I can even put it into words,” Salamanca boys track and field coach Michelle Hill said of her feelings about how the meet went. “It was absolutely incredible, starting with the ribbon-cutting, to the rededication (of the facility in honor of Bob Nugent and Louis Foy). … From being a Salamanca athlete on the track here, to coaching and now having that first true Super 8, I know Bob would be so incredibly proud. He’s the one who (dubbed the meet) ‘the best of the best’ and we were happy to do that to make him proud.”
In year’s past, the Warriors played host to the Super 8 Meet, but without a track designed for eight participants. Now, with a brand new eight-lane track, multi-purpose field, throwing and jumping pits, grandstand and press box, Salamanca is set for many more years of hosting to come.
“I mean, after being displaced for the year, I smile every time I walk out for practice,” Hill said. “We are truly blessed, because I think it is the best facility, right now, in the area. We are so lucky to have our supportive board and administration and our athletic department to help make sure that this happens for the kids.”
Of course, it was not all built in a day and the Warriors spent the entirety of their last outdoor season finding open spaces around their school campus to practice and, several times throughout the week, bussing to neighboring schools to train on their facilities. A wait that became tiresome, but one that resulted in facilities beyond what Hill and her counterpart, Salamanca girls track and field coach Laurie Lafferty-John, had ever dreamed of.
And the new facilities were a hit with more than just the Salamanca community.
Before the first event of the day, the grandstand was packed and one would have even struggled to find standing room along the fences surrounding the track. The hordes of people, supporters from the 21 schools that were in attendance for the meet was truly something to behold for the Salamanca coaching staff.
“Looking at the number of people that were here tonight, and … just seeing all the kids, these are the same kids that we see at all the invitationals, but this meet brings out something special,” Lafferty-John said. “I think, because we don’t keep a team score, everybody’s just going for places and trying to get on that podium. It’s a little bit more of a relaxed environment, even for the athletes, and I know definitely for the coaches. I just see all the camaraderie that’s going on, not just amongst my own team, but amongst my team and other teams and all the athletes. It’s just a great feeling.”
Allegany-Limestone’s Kamil Milliner (third lane from left) crosses the finish line in the 100m dash while Salamanca’s Kyle Lecceardone (left lane) looks to keep up with the pack. (Spencer Bates)
After the meet had wrapped up, a big point for Lafferty-John and Hill when talking to their team once everyone else had vacated the facility — with grand memories in tow, they hoped — was legacy. Not just the legacy of this year’s team or the new facility individually, but what the two mark when combined: A new chapter, a fresh leaf for the Warriors program to continue to flourish upon.
“I always see that there’s kids here that aren’t on the team, and that kind of amazes me, that they come even as spectators,” Lafferty-John said. “We’re always hoping that they see this kind of success, as far as running something like this, and how close knit our kids are and hoping that they want to be part of that. … We’re a fairly small school that deals with having so many sports, so our pool of athletes is watered down. So, to have the numbers that we have, we are thrilled with that. And I have to say that I think when the district allowed us to start the indoor program, that that has helped us grow as well.”
As for the meet itself, while no team scores were recorded, Wellsville found itself finishing the meet with the most athletes atop the podium with eight event wins. Four of which came from the boys meet MVP, Jayvontay Howard, who claimed individual first-place prizes in the long jump (22-03), triple jump (42-07.5), high jump (6-07), and helped his team to a victory in the 400m relay (:44.49). Jayvontay Howard’s distance in the long jump was also a new Super 8 Meet record.
The Lions truly separated themselves from the pack as the next highest tally of event wins by any school was three, collected by Clymer/Sherman/Panama, Maple Grove, Frewsburg, West Valley, Southwestern and Chautauqua Lake. The latter of those schools seeing one of their athletes take home the girls meet MVP.
Jada Cole led the Eagles, grabbing first in both the triple jump (36-03.5) and high jump (5-04). Her distance in the triple jump marked a new Super 8 record as well.
Chautauqua Lake’s Jada Cole was named the Super 8 girls meet MVP after winning two events and setting a new Super 8 record in the triple jump. (Spencer Bates)
Along with the new Super 8 records set by the MVPs, new meet records were recorded in the girls shot put (Kaylee Oswald, Wellsville, 42-07), boys pole vault (Caden Inkley, Randolph, 15-03) and girls 2,000m steeplechase (Olivia Harmony, West Valley, 7:48.59).
Locally, Salamanca and Allegany-Limestone finished the meet with a first-place finish apiece.
Ryanna Brady took the top spot in the girls 3,000m run for the Warriors, finishing with a time of 11:33.61. Meanwhile Caitlyn Kellogg finished first in the girls long jump for the Gators with a distance of 16-10.5.
Kellogg was also responsible for one of the three second-place finishes A-L was able to grab, finishing the girls 200m dash with a time of :26.68. The other second-place finishes for A-L belonged to Kamil Milliner in the boys 100m dash (:11.29) and the girls 400m relay team of Brogann Howard, Madison Honeck, Maya Lyle-Hess and Kellogg (:51.69).
Olean, in lieu of finishing without an event win, took home two second-place finishes from the meet. One of which belonged to Jaeda Clark for her time of :17.06 in the girls 100 hurdles, while the other was collected by Blake Kinnaird for his height of 12-06 in the boys pole vault.
Salamanca’s Brady, on top of earning the only first-place finish for the hosts, also grabbed their only second-place spot with her time of 5:13.61 in the girls 1,500m run.
Allegany-Limestone’s Caitlyn Kellogg (second lane from left) approaches the finish line in first place in the 200m dash. (Spencer Bates)
A-L finished with five third-place finishes while Salamanca, Olean and Portville all finished with one apiece to round out the local podium positions.
BOYS
AT SALAMANCA
100: Cooper (GV/B) :11.1, 200: Cooper (GV/B) :22.42, 400: Ohl (SW) :50.63, 800: Brown (SW) 1:58.37, 1,600: Klahn (WV) 4:32.83, 3,200: Tharnish (WV) 10:02.29, 3,000 Steeplechase: Kent (Frews) 10:35.87, 400 relay: Wellsville (Davis, Howard, Clark, Scott) :44.49, 1,600 relay: Maple Grove (Oste, Kraft, Carlson, Verbosky) 3:28.67, 3,200 relay: Maple Grove (Erlandson, Lewis, Kraft, Verbosky), 110 hurdles: Scott (Wells) :14.53, 400 IM hurdles: Davis (Wells) :57.96, long jump: Howard (Wells) 22-03, triple jump: Howard (Wells) 42-07.5, high jump: Howard (Wells) 6-07, shot put: Kavic (SW) 49-11, discus: Lukasiak (CL) 152-10, pole vault: Caden Inkley (Rand) 15-03.
GIRLS
AT SALAMANCA
100: Lennon (Frews) :12.55, 200: Lennon (Frews) :26.34, 400: Kaiser (Fred) :59.83, 800: Flikkema (CSP) 2:28.29, 1,500: Mays (SC) 5:09.74, 3,000: Brady (Sal) 11:33.61, 2,000 Steeplechase: Harmony (WV) 7:48.59, 400 relay: Falconer (Dossey, Madonia, Lundmark, Roth) :50.82, 1,600 relay: Fredonia (Russo, LaBarr, Tonelli, Kaiser) 4:08.98, 3,200 relay: Clymer/Sherman/Panama (Green, Warner, Cooke, Flikkema) 10:30.39, 100 hurdles: Simmons (MG) :16.65, 400 IM hurdles: Mitchell (CSP) 1:09.15, long jump: Kellogg (A-L) 16-10.5, triple jump: Cole (CL) 36-03.5, high jump: Cole (CL) 5-4, shot put: Oswald (Wells) 42-07, discus: Oswald (Wells) 125-02, pole vault: Lundmark (Falc) 10-09.
