Kayla Quarshie of Port Jervis, Gabby Fanning of Cornwall, and Sarah Rudge of Onteora lead the field with about 50 meters to go in the 800-meter run. The race was one of the first events of the state qualifying meet.
For Gabby Fanning and Seth Goitia, finishing second was as good as winning. They were runners up in the state qualifying meet last weekend. But their times were fast enough to get them into the state championships in North Syracuse on June 10-11.
Gabby was in first for most of the 800-meter run at Monroe-Woodbury on Thursday afternoon, June 2. But she picked up company as she came down the final straightaway. Sarah Rudge of Onteora moved up on her left and Kayla Quarshie of Port Jervis advanced on her right.
The three girls ran by side, with Gabby dropping back a step or two at the finish line. To the uninformed viewer, she was third. But Sarah was part of a different division. She was running for a berth in Division 2, which includes schools with lower enrollments.
Gabby was second in Division I. And since she had met the state standard earlier in the season, she earned a trip to North Syracuse.
Seth Goitia qualified on the following day when the meet continued in Middletown. He finished less than a tenth of a second behind the winner. Seth’s time, 49.22, was the third fastest in Cornwall history.
A few other Dragons had noteworthy efforts. Freshman Liz Manderson established a personal record in the discus (107-3), but finished third. Katie Murphy had her longest triple jump of the season (34-11) but was still 2.5 inches behind the person in second.
Kristen Henry scored more points in the pentathlon than she did when she won the county and section titles. She was embroiled in a battle with Kellyann Averill of Saugerties that went down to the final event.
Kristen had moved ahead after winning the high jump on day 2 of the competition. But Kellyann regained the lead with a blistering 2:24 in the metric half mile. She finished with 2,641 points compared to Kristen’s 2,618.
BOYS — 100 m: Jaron Wallace (5) 11.60. 200 m: Wallace (4) 23.37. 400 m: Seth Goitia (2) 49.22*. 800 m: Connor St. Germain (5) 1:59.88. Shot put: Hadonel DesGraviers (3) 40-11. Discus: DesGraviers (5) 120-7.
GIRLS — 100 m: Kayla Meade (5) 13.14, 100 hurdles: Katie Murphy (4) 16.26. 400 m: Gabby Fanning (4) 60.10. 800 m: Fanning (2) 2:16.45.* 2000 steeplechase: Hannah Mellino (3) 7:32.48, Molly Cameron (6) 7:41.03. 3000 m: Meredith Hickman (6) 10:53.11. Discus: Liz Manderson (3) 107-3. High jump: Murphy (3) 4-10. Triple jump: Murphy (5) 34-11. Pentathlon: Kristen Henry 2,618 points (2).
*State qualifier
