By TIM BIRNEYValley Sports Report
ENDICOTT — Junior Dominic Palmer reached the state standard in the Pentathlon, and that, paired with his second-place finish here Thursday afternoon at the Section IV Track & Field State Qualifier, punched his ticket to the New York State Championships next weekend.
As a team, Tioga finished third in Division C with 28 points, while Lansing claimed the team title with 41 points, and Trumansburg was second with 35 points.
Palmer will join senior Andrew Earley (400-meter hurdles) and junior Gavin Albrecht (pole vault), who both qualified Wednesday, at the state meet in Middletown.
"Our boys had a great showing," said Tioga coach Eric Gutierrez. "Sending three athletes to States is the most we've sent in at least 20 years.
"All three of the boys have the school record in their respective event.
"I'm proud of our boys, they really put in a lot of practice and hard work this year," noted Gutierrez. "Even the boys who did not make the podium this year were running and jumping well.
"James Miller ran his fastest time of the season and ended up breaking into the top-five performances we've had at Tioga in that event," added Gutierrez. "And both Ryan Chamberlain and Elijah Bellis were top 10 in their events."
Palmer finished second in the pentathlon with a school-record 2,944 points, topping the state standard of 2,901 points.
Oneonta's Beckett Holmes won Section IV gold with 3,321 points.
On Thursday, Palmer finished third in the long jump with a leap of 17-feet, 10-inches. He was sixth in the 1,500-meter run in a time of 4:48.61.
On Day 1, Palmer finished second in the 110-meter hurdles and the shot put, and was third in the high jump.
"Dominic Palmer was the surprise of the meet," said Gutierrez.
"After he decided to compete in the Pentathlon at the State Qualifier, he started focusing on some of the events that he has not been doing this year," noted Gutierrez. "In two weeks of work, our coaching staff saw huge improvements.
"Although he only scored around 2,100 points his first time, we knew he was going to score hundreds of points more, but he surprised us all.
"As soon as we saw the results of Day 1, we knew he had a chance at qualifying for States and started talking what had to happen," added Gutierrez. "He stepped up to the challenge and what a performance."
The Tigers nearly advanced the 1,600-meter relay, and actually thought they had advanced for a short period of time, but it was not to be.
Chenango Forks won the 1,600-meter relay in a time of 3:30.27, edging out Tioga, which clocked in with a school-record time of 3:30.73 — more than 10 seconds faster than their seed time of 3:40.86.
However, the Blue Devil foursome was disqualified, and the Tioga foursome of seniors Trevor Wheeler, Andrew Earley, Kameron Joyce, and junior James Miller appeared headed to Middletown.
Chenango Forks, however, won its appeal of the disqualification, and was awarded the gold medal.
"Our boys 4-by-400 team finished (second), and destroyed the school record by more than 5 seconds," said Gutierrez. "There was a disqualification that put them in first place in Division C, but I got the news (Chenango Forks) applied and was reinstated — it was a great race, but a heartbreaker at the same time.
Earley finished third in the 110-meter hurdles in a time of 15.71 seconds.
He also finished eighth in the triple jump with a mark of 40-feet, 3/4-inches.
On Day 1, Albrecht broke his own school record in the pole vault, clearing the bar at 14-feet, 9-inches to win Section IV gold.
"Gavin has had a great season, but has been running and jumping three or four events at every meet this year," said Gutierrez.
"It was really nice for him to just focus on pole vault this meet.
"Winning the event with his best jump of the season so far is great momentum going into States next week," added Gutierrez.
Earley, who has the school record at 56.91 seconds, won Division C title in the 400-meter hurdles in a time of 57.4 seconds.
"Andrew has been putting in the extra hours to get to this point and took home a lot of hardware," said Gutierrez. "He was close in the 110 hurdles, placing third, ran in the 4-by-4 that also almost made it to States ... and he just missed making finals in the triple, but his top event has been the 400 hurdles.
"He runs them so well," he noted. "I think the big change in temperature affected his steps over some of the hurdles, but he adjusted, dug in, and ran a great time.
"He is going to be ready to run his best race of the year next week," added Gutierrez.
The longtime Tioga coach believes all three of his athletes have a good chance to medal.
"States will be exciting since all of three of our athletes hit the state standards in their events, and that's not easy," said Gutierrez.
The Tioga girls didn't have anyone in action Thursday, but freshman Vida Rossi placed second in the long jump Wednesday.
"Our girls' team is small in numbers, but young and capable," said Gutierrez. "They performed well, but there were some heartbreaking close performances.
"Grace Howey did well in the 100, beating her seed by four places, and the girls 4-by-100 just missed finals, placing ninth overall," he noted. "Sadie (Marshall) had a great start in the 100 hurdles, but ended up hitting a hurdle hard.
"Vida Rossi was second (in Division C) in the long jump," said Gutierrez. "She has been working back from an injury over the last three weeks ... she was just beat out by a few inches for States. She is one tough girl and still pulled off a good performance in the long jump, and ran anchor in the 4-by-100.
"These girls are going to be ones to watch for next season," added Gutierrez.
The New York State Track & Field begins Friday at 1 p.m. at Middletown High School.
———————————
IN PHOTO 1 and TOP PHOTO: Tioga's Dominic Palmer. ... PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.
