COLONIE — Seventeen athletes from Saratoga Springs earned victories at the 2023 Section 2 Group 1 Championships at Colonie High School on May 24.
The Saratoga girls squad placed second as a team (146 points), trailing only Guilderland (183 points). The Saratoga boys team placed second, finishing with 135 points. The Shenendehowa boys squad was first with 141 points as a team.
The Ballston Spa girls squad placed seventh as a team, totaling 30 points, while the Scotties’ boys team placed 11th with a total of 10 points.
Saratoga’s Sheridan Wheeler won both the 400-meter hurdles and the 2,000-meter steeplechase, while McKinley Wheeler earned wins in the 3,000-meter run and as part of the Blue Streaks’ 4x800 relay team. The relay squad also included Anya Belisle, Heidi Berglund, and Alycia Hart.
Emily Bush won the 1,500-meter run, while Amelia McBain won the pole vault. On the boys’ side, Saratoga’s Joao Dos Anjos Neto also took home first place in the pole vault, and Evan Rando placed first in the pentathlon.
The Blue Streaks’ 4 x 400 relay squad of Charles Dybala, Andrew Hope, Aidan Slavett, and Connor Varian placed first, while the 4 x 800 relay team of Thomas Isenovski, Hope, Luke Dacey, and Owen Blaisdell also came away with a victory.
See below for top finishers from both schools:
Saratoga Girls
(2nd place, 146 points)
Sheridan Wheeler won both the 400-meter hurdles (1:04.57) and the 2,000-meter steeplechase (6:38.05), finishing second in the 3,000-meter run (10:00.67). McKinley Wheeler took first place in the 3,000-meter run (10:00.30), second in the 1,500-meter run (4:33.33), and fourth in the 800-meter run (2:15.98).
Emily Bush won the 1,500-meter run (4:32.34), also placing third in both the 800-meter run (2:14.72) and the 3,000-meter run (10:03.19). The team of Anya Belisle, Heidi Berglund, Alycia Hart, and McKinley Wheeler won the 4 x 800 relay (9:27.43). In the 4 x 400 relay, the team of Bush, Hart, Sheridan Wheeler, and Elena Evans finished second (4:06.35).
Amelia McBain won the pole vault (10’ 0”), placing seventh in the long jump (16’ 0.5”) and eighth in the triple jump (33’ 7.5”). Genevieve Duchaussee took second place in the 100-meter hurdles (15.64), high jump (5’ 0”), and shot put (35’ 4.25”), finishing sixth in the 400-meter hurdles (1:10.16).
Annabelle Schuck placed second in the long jump (17’ 2.5”), and sixth in the triple jump (34’ 1.75”). Sloane Mulcahy took fourth in the high jump (4’ 8”), while Belisle finished fourth in the 1,500-meter run (4:46.45).
Hart placed fifth in the 400-meter dash (1:00.63), while Natalie Wilding finished fifth in the 2,000-meter steeplechase (7:53.90), and Claire Braxton took seventh place in pole vault (7’ 0”).
Saratoga Boys
(2nd place, 135 points)
The team of Charles Dybala, Andrew Hope, Aidan Slavett, and Connor Varian won the 4 x 400 relay (3:26.00), while the team of Thomas Isenovski, Hope, Luke Dacey, and Owen Blaisdell won the 4 x 800 relay (8:15.46). Joao Dos Anjos Neto, Tucker Zeh, Nick Baldwin, and Ethan Straughter placed second in the 4 x 100 relay (44.03).
Dos Anjos Neto won the pole vault (14’ 0”), and took second in the long jump (21’ 5.25”), while Evan Rando took first place in the pentathlon (2,612). Straughter finished second in the 200-meter dash (22.64), third in the 100-meter dash (11.22), and seventh in the long jump (20’ 0.75”).
Slavett placed second in the 400-meter dash (51.00), while Blaisdell was third in the 800-meter run (2:01.16). Jacob Bernd finished fourth in both the 800-meter run (2:01.20) and the 1,600-meter run (4:26.36), while Mason Talarico took third in the 1,600-meter (4:23.61) and ninth in the 3,200-meter run (9:44.37).
Caleb Yuhasz took second in the 3000-meter steeplechase (9:51.89), with Hudson Shaw in third (10:21.00) and Leydon Hemsworth in eighth (10:36.47). Dybala finished third in the 400-meter hurdles (57.10), while Evan Griffiths placed fifth (59.96).
Billy Thobae finished fourth in the shot put (41’ 4.75”), while Varian placed fifth in the 400-meter dash (51.66). Cooper Brandriss finished sixth in the 3,200-meter run (9:38.08), with Darren Pasek in eighth (9:43.76).
Jayden Cox took seventh in the discus (109’ 7”), while Owen Dagostino finished ninth in the high jump (5’ 6”). Michael Briscoe was ninth in the pole vault (10’ 6”).
Ballston Spa Girls
(7th place, 30 points)
Harriet Healey took second place in the 400-meter dash (57.82) and fourth in the 400-meter hurdles (1:08.33).
The team of Healey, Petrina Zborovsky, Tatiana McCray, and Gabrielle Bozeth finished fourth in the 4 x 100 relay (50.79). Bozeth, Candace Warlikowski, Zborovsky, and Healey combined to place fifth in the 4 x 400 relay (4:18.82).
Zborovsky finished fourth in the 100-meter dash (12.61) and 10th in the 200-meter dash (26.74). Bozeth placed fifth in the 200-meter dash (26.06) and eighth in the 100-meter (12.77), while Emily Hye finished seventh in the 2000-meter steeplechase (8:19.32).
Ballston Spa Boys
(11th place, 10 points)
Brandon Russell placed second in the discus (126’ 3”) and eighth in the shot put (39’ 5.5”). Isaiah Hannah took sixth in the 110-meter hurdles (15.60), while Joseph Fodera finished sixth in the 1600-meter run (4:43.32). Devin Hemraj placed seventh in the 400-meter hurdles (1:02.44), and eighth in the 110-meter hurdles (15.77).
The team of Jacob Armer, Silas Bashant, Michael Miller, and Matthew Meerdink finished seventh in the 4 x 800 relay (8:53.63). Emmett Hansen finished seventh in the pole vault (11’ 6”), while Kala’i Leahey-Makanani took eighth in the 200-meter dash (23.12).
