JOHNSTOWN - Broadalbin-Perth's Austin Becker was already thinking about being on the podium before his 800-meter race at the State Qualifying Meet at Knox Field on Thursday.
Except the podium Becker was thinking about standing on resides at Cicero-North Syracuse High School, the site of the New York State Track and Field championship meet next week.
Becker had yet to qualify for states.
Article Photos
Broadalbin-Perth’s Austin Becker, right, leads Bethlehem’s Matt Crawford and the rest of the pack during the 800-meter run during the state qualifier at Knox Field. Becker qualified for state championships with a time of 1:54.82. (The Leader-Herald/Erich Neuhaus)
With all the confidence in the world, and racing with schools twice Broadalbin-Perth's size, Becker dashed next to Shaker's Christian Delago to the finish, taking first place in the Division II (small school) 800-meter run with a time of 1:54.82 and officially punching his ticket to Cicero next Friday with a chance to stand on top of the podium with New York's best runners.
This is Becker's second consecutive year qualifying for states in the 800.
"I want to go a lot farther than I did last year, finishing 32nd," the tall, slender runner said, sporting his staple look: a big afro with a red Nike headband. "I'd like to win and even podium is good enough for me. I'd like to thank my coach [Jeff Richards] for all the hard work he put in for me. Hard work pays off."
Also for the second consecutive year, Becker will be joined by teammate MacKenzie Ottati, who qualified by winning the Division II 400-meter hurdles in the race of the day.
Ottati, a junior, was in third place behind Fonda-Fultonville's Katie Wisniewski and Duanesburg's Abby Schaible when the trio jumped over the last hurdle about 40 meters from the finish. With a frantic sprint to the finish line, Ottati edged Schaible by just 0.08-seconds with a time of 67.11.
"I knew I just had to go. I couldn't lose that race," Ottati said. "That's my race and I just wanted it."
"She found that little extra that she needed too," Richards said. "She showed that the race isn't done until you cross the finish line. She didn't give up."
Official results weren't available until over an hour after the race, so Ottati anxiously awaited around for the results.
"It was so nerve-wracking," she said. "We were all so close, so you never know."
Becker and Ottati's qualifying times makes for a proud coach Richards.
"They did their job," he said. "Obviously it's a great feeling and hopefully we get more tomorrow."
So will Amsterdam track coach Kevin Wilary, who already has one athlete's reservation on the Section II bus to Cicero next week with freshman sensation Izaiah Brown.
Brown, who is the second fastest freshman in the country in the 400-meter dash and broke the New York State freshman mark at the Eddy Meet this year, cruised to the Division I (large school) title over Queensbury's Zach Vanderzee by over a second with a time of 49.52.
"It's pretty impressive that a 15-year old can go out and run in the 49's, consistently," Wilary said. "I can't wait to see what he does next week."
Brown, who also finished sixth in the long jump (5-08), mentioned he hates when people are in front of him, even in the grocery store. That hasn't been problem all year on the track and he doesn't think that's going to stop next week, saying his coaches design his workout routine specifically geared for the 400.
"Every practice, every meet I feel I'm getting stronger with everything," said Brown, out of breath from his victory. "I'm extremely excited; can't wait to get [to Syracuse]."
Today, Brown will be cheering on teammate Matt White, who has positioned himself nicely in the pentathlon with a 340 point lead over Glens Falls' Justice Spear, who has 1,801 points.
White easily took the 110 hurdles, but still didn't have his best day.
He "only" cleared 6-0 on the high jump, when he said he can clear 6-4, and had a shot put throw of 42-8, saying he can throw as high as 48-8.
He'll compete in the long jump and the 1,500 to round out his event.
Despite sitting pretty in standings so far, White said he'll still feel jitters, especially in the 1,500.
"I'm always going to be nervous at the beginning at any race, but I'm gaining confidence with my coaches helping me every day," said White, who mentioned he's more of a sprinter than a long distance runner. "They've been putting in the work in helping me get faster and I feel that I have been getting faster in long distance."
Wilary is confident in White in the 1,500, and is enjoying what he sees out of his stud athlete so far.
"It's really exciting watching Matt do all his events," he said. "I mean, the pentathlon - it's great to watch, following kids around and seeing what they're doing. Matt is just doing a fantastic job. He's delivering. He's been doing what he's been practicing."
Qualifying for states is the goal for all the athletes, but if some don't qualify, a school record is just as pleasing.
Mayfield/Northville's Tom McClellan finished sixth among Div. II athletes in the 3,200, but broke Mayfield's 25-year old school mark of 9:46.1, with his time of 9:44.91.
"Feels great, really great," the senior said. "It was scary throughout the whole race because guys I'm usually with are crushing me, but I'm just happy I got it."
McClellan sprinted the final 200-meters to set the new record.
"I heard 9:30, and I was like 'I got 15-seconds to get down here,' and I did," he said.
Also in the 3,200, Fonda-Fultonville's Matt Hoffman took fourth (9:33.35) and teammate Michael Scott took fifth (9:36.88).
Other top 6 finishers for the Braves were, Tom Lyons taking third (51.78) in the 400 and Kyle Guiffre taking third (46 10-1/2) in the shot put.
Canajoharie's Seth Ferguson took fifth (59.06) in the 400-meter hurdles, while Teddy Mead took fourth in the pole vault (12-06).
Fort Plain's Avery Johnson took fourth in the Div. II shot put (45 1-1/2) and discus (139-11), with Broadalbin-Perth's Nick Coveney taking third (141-09) in the discus and fifth (45-00) in the shot put.
In the Div. I shot put, Gloversville's Cody Webber finished third (44 05-1/2).
Also for Gloversville, which competed in Div. I events, John Knox finished sixth (9:44.77) in the 3,200.
Amsterdam's Luis Laboy took second (21 02-3/4) in the long jump.
Placing top-6 in the girls events, Fonda-Fultonville's Kim Geniti took second in the 800-meter (2:21.73), setting a new personal record, while Jamie Kasza took fourth (10:48.94) in the 3,000-meter run with Wisniewski taking third (67.56) in the 400 hurdles.
Mayfield/Northville's Mary Ryan took fourth (2:22.97) in the 800, while Broadalbin-Perth's Sarah DePalma finished fifth (11:06.42) in the 3,000.
Section II NYSPHSAA qualifiers
(state meet representatives highlighted)
Girls
Div. I
400: 1. Kyle Plante (Col) 53.38; 2. Blessing Uzoeshi (Alb) 57.98; 3. Samantha Taillon (Beth) 59.22; 4. Kyniqua Marable (Alb) 59.86; 5. Elyse Manosh (BHBL) 60.34; 6. Carina Singletary (GF) 61.08.
800: 1. Taylor Driscoll (Sar) 2:12.06; 2. Kirsten Kaminski (Col) 2:12.14; 3. Kristen Jordan (Shen) 2:16.41; 4. Kailyn Bolzano (Col) 2:18.26; 5. Megan Kellogg (Q) 2:19.56; 6. Gina Stalica (Shen) 2:20.07.
3,000: 1. Elizabeth Predmore (Shen) 9;58.31; 2. Margaret MacDonald (Sar) 9;59.16; 3. Maggi Szpak (Sar) 10:02.65; 4. Felicia Sciortino (Nisk) 10:18.77; 4. Maryanna Lansing (Shak) 10:18.79; 6. Tara Peck (Sar) 10:22.06.
400 hurdles: 1. Kristen Hayes (Shak) 63.24; 2. Abby Marco (Guild) 64.67; 3. Katie Nerney (BHBL) 64.81; 4. Ronke Osipitan (Col) 66.06; 5. Colleen Rice (Q) 67.16; 6. Anka Parzych (nisk0 67.81.
Div. II
400: 1. Madaline Kenyon (Duan) 58.23; 2. Kaitlin Close (HN) 58.61; 3. Dana Kupiec (Sal) 60.09; 4. Brianna Blunck (CA) 60.55; 5. Amanda Roney (Mid) 61.03; 6. Sam Reagon (Schal) 61.37.
800: 1. Leah Triller (HN) 2:15.80; 2. Kimberly Geniti (FF) 2:21.73; 3. Morgan Cooper (HN) 2:22.77; 4. Mary Ryan (MN) 2;22.97; 5. Kristin Schmidt (CA) 2:27.93; 6. Lexy Payne (HV) 2;28.31.
400 Hurdles: 1. Mackenzie Ottati (BP) 67.11; 2. Abby Schaible (Duan) 67.19; 3. Kim Kocienski (HV) 67.28; 4. Katie Kwasniewski (FF) 67.56; 5. Shannon Lenzi (Schu) 69.18; 6. Hannah Jepson (Hud) 69.67.
3,000: 1. Kaylee Scott (HN) 10:06.86; 2. Alicia Clark (Gran) 10:08.00; 3. Madeline Montague (Green) 10:24.08; 4. Jamie Kasza (FF) 10:48.94; 5. Sarah DePalma (BP) 11:06.42; 6. Kelly Pasko (MH) 11:07.62.
Boys
Div. I
400: 1. Izaiah Brown (Am) 49.52; 2. Zach Vanderzee (Q) 49.52; 3. Sean Fitzgerald (LaS) 50.88; 4. Max Seiler (Beth) 51.06; 5. Mike Fast (Beth) 52.20; 6. Aidan O'Malley (CBA) 52.36.
800: 1. Christian Delago (Shak) 1:54.73; 2. Matt Crawford (Beth) 1:55.23; 3. Luke Carpinello 9Beth) 1:56.58; 4. Philo Germano (Alb) 1:56.88; 5. Calleb Mellon (Shak) 1:57.52; 6. William Marois (Shen) 1:57.60.
3,200: 1. John Vallencorsa (Shak) 9:27.46; 2. Evan Little (LaS) 9:32.67; 3. Andrew Tario (AP) 9:35.02; 4. Kyle Groote (Col) 9:38.54; 5. Ben Fishbein (Beth) 9;40.61; 6. John Knox III (Glov) 9:44.77.
400 Hurdles: 1. Steven Kunai (Sar) 54.39; 2. Josh Penk (Col) 56.90; 3. Kevin Otty (AP) 57.81; 4. Stephen Martinelli (LaS) 60.09; 5. Connor Kimmey (Beth) 60.67; 6. Mike Grogan (Beth) 60.92.
High jump: 1. Matthew Gaffuri (Alb) 6-03.0; 2. Keilan McMillan-Moss (Schen)6-02.0; 3. Drew Duguid (Beth) 6-00.0; 4. Adrian Bergere (Beth) 5-10.0; 5. Jake Abbuhl (Beth) 5-10.0; 6. Izaiah Brown (Am0 5-08.0.
Pole vault: 1. Phil Charbonneau (Shen) 13-09.0; 2. James Steck (Shak) 13-06.0; 3. Dan Gavin (Shak) 13-00.0; 4. Justin Bopp (Col) 13-00.0; 5. (tie) Dan Radtke (CBA), Dennis Turner (SG) 13-00.0.
Long jump: 1. Jayson Gayle (Col) 21-11.25; 2. Luis Laboy (Am) 21-02.75; 3. Justice Ramsay (Shak) 20-04.75; 4. Austin Drescher (Shak) 20-02.00; 5. Sean Baker (BHBL) 19-06.25; 6. Justin Hickok (Shen) 19-05.25.
Triple jump: 1. Franklin Abban (Shak) 44-01.25; 2. Brian Guntharp (Shak0 42-04.25; 3. Prezi Oki (Shak) 41-05.50; 4. Jordan Crump-King (Shak) 41-04.00; 5. Mukhtar Barros (Schen) 40-11.75; 6. Brian Greenberg (Beth) 40-09.00.
Discus: 1. Parker Buetz (Beth) 142.08; 2. Jon Rogers (AP) 139-05; 3. Rahphael Duncan (Col) 134-05; 4. James Lauro (Col) 134-0; 5. Anthony Santoro (SGF) 126-09; 6. D'Angelo (Guild) 126-03.
Shot put: 1. Scott Kasson (Sar) 50-06.0; 2. J.T. Buttimer (Shen) 47-09.5; 3. Cody Webber (Glov) 44-05.5; 4. Jon Rogers (AP) 43-04.0; 5. Donovan Miller (GF) 40-00.0.
Pentathlon: 1. Matthew White (Am) 2,141; 2. Justice Spear (GF) 1,801; 3. James VanDoran (Q) 1,679; 4. Kiante Garland (GT) 1,547; 5. Kyle Wolfe (BHBL) 1,484.
Div. II
400: 1. Griffen Kelly (Wat) 50.52; 2. Billy Whitbeck (Chat) 51.42; 3. Tom Lyons (FF) 51.78; 4. Steve Ott (Sal) 52.10; 5. Joe Barber (Schu) 52.51; 6. Liam Lynch (Renn) 52.97.
800: 1. Austin Becker (BP) 1:54.82; 2. Jake Urys (MCA) 1:56.25; 3. Seth Bulich (Cat) 1:57.47; 4. Adam Forti (BKW) 2:00.62; 5. Griffith Eddy (RCS) 2:00.66; 6. Mark Korycinski (IC) 2:04.28.
3,200: 1. Austin Lane (Green) 9:21.39; 2. Jason Lange (NDBG) 9:23.18; 3. Derek Struck (BKW) 9:33.28; 4. Matt Hoffman (FF) 9:34.35; 5. Michael Scott (FF) 9:36.88; 6. Tom McClellan (MN) 9:44.91.
400 hurdles: 1. Gavin Clark-Gartner (IC) 56.35; 2. Zack Berzal (Cat) 57.43; 3. Jonathan Zapata (Midd) 57.78; 4. Jared Wilkins (HF) 58.43; 5. Seth Ferguson (Canj) 59.06; 6. Andrew Archambeault (Duan) 59.91.
High jump: 1. Isaiah Turek (IC) 6-02.0; 2. Collin Stewart (MCA) J6-02; 3. Jason Summers (Chat) 6-00.0; 4. Tyler Rivera (Chat) 5-10.0; 5. (tie) Chris Richardson (Moh), Ryan Pappalau (Gal), Jacob Miller (Gal), Roscoe Quint (MH), Zack Vosburgh (Cat), Noah McKnight (Coh), 5-08.0.
Pole vault: 1. Ben Becker (BKW) 13-06.0; 2. Vinny Saccocia (Voor) J13-06.0; 3. Gabe Gerhardt (CR) 13-00.0; 4. Teddy mead (Canj) 12-06.0; 5. Hammad Bhatti (AA) 11-06.0.
Long jump: 1. Isaiah Turek (IC) 21-04.50; 2. Aaron Dudley (HF) 20-11.50; 3. Kadeem Chung (Hud) 20-06.00; 4. Billy Campbell (Coh) 20-03.25; 5. Kyle Hartigan (Tam) 19-09.00; 6. Lucas Whitehouse (Green) 18-09.75.
Triple jump: 1. Jelani Currie (AA) 45-03.0; 2. Devon Willis (Schal) 44-05.00; 3. Frank Murkowski (Still) 41-03.00; 4. Collin Stewart (MCA) 40-02.00; 5. Austin Fahrenkopf (Renn) 40-00.0; 6. Aaron Kippins (BM) 39-11.0.
Discus: 1. Mike Chiudina (CA) 152-09; 2. Alexei Buchanan (AA) 148-00; 3. Nick Coveney (BP) 141-09; 4. Avery Johnson (FP) 139-11; 5. Alan Kissinger (Gal) 137-10; 6. Aaron Kippins (BM) 135-0.
Shot put: 1. Will McFee (Green) 50-09.00; 2. Mike Chiudina (CA) 47-08.50; 3. Kyle Guiffree (FF) 46-10.50; 4. Avery Johnson (FP) 45-01.50; 5. Nick Coveney (BP) 45-00.0; 6. Dakota Lash (Sal) 43-07.50.
Pentathlon: 1. Brenden Archer (Scho) 1,841; 2. James Stevens (Renn) 1,810; 3. Chris MacArthur (TH) 1,468; 4. Zach Haskins (CR( 1,445; 5. Jesse Hitchcock (Sal) 1,304; 6. Zakery Maurer (Renn) 1,220.