The Herkimer Central School District boys track team won the Section III Class C indoor track championship on Saturday, Feb. 7, at Onondaga Community College.
This marks the second year in a row that the team won the championship.
“I’m extremely proud of the preparation and dedication of the boys and all of the assistant coaches leading up to the meet,” Herkimer boys track coach Jason Richard said. “Going into the meet, we were evenly matched, and everyone raised the bar and outperformed expectations. A true team win. We look forward to finishing what we started in outdoor track with more team championships.”
The Herkimer boys track team also won sectional championships in multiple individual and relay events – and set three school records:
- The 4×400 relay team of Cooper Jordan, Willie Bellamy, Logan Marusic and Taylor Lamphere won the sectional championship and set the school record with a time of 3 minutes and 55 seconds.
- Shane Maxon was a double champion, winning both the 55 high hurdles and the 600-meter dash – setting the school 600-meter dash record with a time of 1 minute and 29 seconds.
- Taylor Lamphere was also a double champion, winning the high jump and running on the winning 4×400 relay team.
- Russell Stapf won the weight throw sectional championship and set the school shot put record with a throw of 44 feet, 6¾ inches.
The Herkimer girls track team also had a sectional champion with Leah Bray winning the sectional championship in the 1,000-meter run.
In the sectionals team competition, the Herkimer boys track team went against 12 other teams for the Class C title. Herkimer finished with 107 points, and the second place team had 80.
“Even more impressive — every single athlete who competed placed, and the team outperformed expectations in seven of the 11 events,” Richard said. “That’s what hard work looks like.”
A whole season of challenges and hard work led up to the sectional success, Richard said.
“Like all good teams, we battled through injuries and illness, which gave our younger athletes opportunities to compete and gain confidence in themselves,” Richard said. “Winning team titles takes everyone. Sometimes it is just scoring one point that makes the difference.”
Next up, individuals who qualified will be competing in the State Qualifier on Wednesday, Feb. 11, and then everyone starts preparing for outdoor track, where the team hopes to repeat the same success, Richard said.
“It is special having the boys win back-to-back team titles,” Richard said. “Special thanks to the assistant coaches Couchman, Richard, Clarke and Posey; the administration for supporting the team, and all the parents for their support. It is a great win for Herkimer.”
The Herkimer Central School District boys track team poses with the Section III Class C championship banner after winning the championship on Saturday, Feb. 7, at Onondaga Community College.