On an unseasonably hot May afternoon on the turf field in Ogdensburg the Canton Boys and Girls Track teams displayed some fantastic performances! As the turf temperature registered numbers in the 90 degree range, the boys team remained equally hot, remaining undefeated and moving to a 4-0 start. The Canton girls continue to look for their first team victory on the season and fell to 0-4. The boys outscored host OFA 98-35 and defeated Madrid-Waddington 98-24. The Canton Girls lost both team efforts as they were defeated by scores of 86-42 by Madrid-Waddington and OFA 79-44.
The day belonged to the Bears as they dominated the field with first place efforts from multiple performers. At the top of the Bears line-up was senior member Chris Schuckers posting four first place finishes on the evening. Schuckers continues to excel winning the 110 hurdles with a time of 19.54, the 400 hurdles in 1:03.80 and the 200 dash in 25.53. He capped off an incredible solo effort by also tying for the top spot in the high jump with junior Chris Downs.
The other four win medalist for the Bears was Nick Lyndaker. Lyndaker continues to prove himself as the top distance runner in Section X as he took top honors in the 1600 with a time of 4:44.7 and showed off his range by also winning the 400 dash in a time of 58.40. Lyndaker also ran on two winning relays for the Bears to complete his resume of top finishes on the day.
Junior Hayden Bregg showed his high status on the team by winning the open 800 meter dash with a time of 2:26.06 and running on the winning 4 x 800 and 4 x400 meter relays.
Other individual first place winners were: Chris Downs in the High Jump (5′-2″) and Zach VanBrocklin in the Long jump (17′-05″).
Second place honors for the Bears included Miles Gendebein in the 400 Dash (59.09) and the 800 Dash (2:27.93). Miles also ran on the winning 4 x 400 and 4 x 800 meter relays. Sam Pfotenhauer (team captain) finished second in the 110 meter hurdles just behind Schuckers with a 19.70 and Zach VanBrocklin threw the shot put to a second best distance 35’3″……just 2 inches shy of the first place mark. The final second place finisher for the Bears was in the triple jump when Chris Downs (jumping for the first time in his career) posted a personal best 37’5″ mark.
Coach Greg Kiah remarked, ” I just love this team!! These guys just want to get better and better!! They all get along so well with each other and want to re-write the leaderboard (in Section X).” It is clear that some of his athletes are doing just that.
The Canton girls also saw some top performances on the evening. Claire Craig continues to lead all of Section X in the 100 meter hurdles running an 18.22. She also took second in the long jump with a 14’6″ effort. Another first place performer from Canton included Julia Bessette in the open 800 with a time of 2:52.57. Grace McDonough took second place in the 1500 with a 5:49 .51 narrowly losing by 1 tenth of a second to Brianna Roberts of OFA.
“Julia gets better each and every day….her confidence and times continue to improve, I look forward to watching her throughout the remainder of the season”, remarked Coach Porter. Coach Porter also commented on his small team….” The girls team is certainly not as large as past years but what we lost in numbers, we make up for in effort. I saw some very good things taking place today which won’t show up in the papers as our girls continue to challenge themselves and are steadily improving. The clock and the tape don’t lie! Myself, Coach Lyndaker and Coach Kiah are proud of them and look forward to the remaining meets.”
A huge effort and personal best by first year thrower Maddie Bascom saw her taking first place honors in the shot put with a throw of 28’8″. Another junior for the Bears Caroline Hines took second place in the triple jump with a hop, step and jump which tallied 28’8″.
The Section X Leaderboard is being maintained by Salmon River Coach Josh Coon. The link below will take you there. It is here that all current meet results and top honors throughout the section are listed.
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