×

Tupper tunes up for sectionals

Jordan LaValley hands off the baton to Kyler teRiele on their way to a second-place finish in the 100 relay Thursday afternoon. (Enterprise photo — Justin A. Levine)

TUPPER LAKE — The Tupper Lake boys and girls track and field teams each captured dual meet victories Thursday in the final home competition of the season.

Battling steady rain, cool temperatures and gusting winds, the Lumberjacks beat Clifton-Fine and Madrid-Waddington at L.P. Quinn Elementary School. On the boys’ side, Tupper Lake beat Madrid-Waddington 107-110 and Clifton Fine 142-23. The girls won with scores of 142-97 and 159-36.

The Madrid-Waddington boys and girls teams also topped Clifton-Fine, 153-14 and 138-40.

After a ceremony honoring the Lumberjack seniors, the meet got off to a wet start. But gearing up for next weekend’s Section X championship meet, the Tupper Lake athletes had their eyes on the bigger prize. And that vision led to Thursday’s solid victories.

Tupper Lake led the way the whole meet, capturing a combined 21 first-place slots. Senior Katie Zurek once again dominated the throwing events, winning both the discus and the shot put.

Tupper Lake senior Tess Klossner flies through the air on her way to a first-place finish in the long jump Thursday afternoon at L. P. Quinn Elementary School in Tupper Lake. (Enterprise photo — Justin A. Levine)

Zurek’s discus throw of 108 feet, 9 inches was more than nine feet farther than Tupper Lake’s Casey O’Connor, who placed second. Another teammate, Morgan Sovey, took fifth.

That same Tupper Lake trio went 1-2-3 in the shot put as well. Zurek’s 34-3.5 led the crowd of eight throwers, followed by O’Connor (31-9) and Sovey (30-6.5).

Zurek, who stands a good chance of winning a sectional title in the throwing events, said she’s just keeping pace with the season as the team heads to sectionals late next week.

“Getting ready for sectionals, I think we all are,” Zurek said, adding that teammate O’Connor was probably her tightest competition. “I think we’ll all do well if we keep improving and working as hard as we have been.

“I think anybody, if they put it together, can do what we do. Anything can happen.”

Tupper Lake senior Katie Zurek throws the shot put Thursday during the final home meet of her high school career. Zurek is one of the favorites for girls throwing events at next week’s Section X championships. (Enterprise photo — Justin A. Levine)

Another Tupper Lake senior, Tess Klossner, will also be one of the front-runners at the sectional meet. Klossner placed first in all four of her events Thursday, including a 1:12.32 in the 400-meter hurdles, a long jump of 15-20.5 and a 28:43 in the 200.

Klossner, along with Sandra Kwasniak, Sophia Martin and Rylee Fletcher, also took first in the 400-meter relay with a time of 4:57.39, which was more than a minute faster than second-place Madrid-Waddington.

“Our team is showing a lot of really strong performances,” Klossner said. “We saw some strong performances in races we didn’t expect.”

Klossner added that most of the first place wins for the team have been by large margins, and the team needs to position itself to capture lower place finishes to earn points. But Klossner is confident that her performance at the sectional meet will be strong.

“I’m looking to get a 1:08 (in the 400 hurdles); I ran a 1:09 last week,” she said. “I think my competition is a couple of Malone girls with a 1:12, so (I’ve got) a few seconds lead. I don’t like to take things easy. I’m always pushing, looking for a PR (personal record).”

Sandra Kwasniak leaps over a hurdle during her third-place performance in the 100-meter hurdles Thursday in Tupper Lake. (Enterprise photo — Justin A. Levine)

The boys also posted strong performances Thursday, taking 11 first-place spots. Aaron Clark, Kameron Sarvis, Ian Berg and Kiley Stradley teamed up to win the 400 relay. Stradley also won the 400 hurdles (1:08.11), while first-year runner Sarvis won the 400 with a time of 57.05. Clark followed him across the line with a 1:00.02 for second.

Alan Stuart (12.29) won the 100 and Kyler teRiele won both the shot put (38-2.25) and discus (100-02). Logan Savage took second in the shot put with a toss of 32-11.

Connor Jessie (32-09.75) and Stradley (31-11.5) took second and third in the triple jump, while Alan Stuart won the high jump with a 5-2. Clark won the long jump with a leap of 16-10.75, and Jessie took third in the event at 15-10.5.

Stuart and Clark went 1-2 in the 200, separated by less than two-tenths of a second with times of 25.58 and 25.77. Patrick Cote won the 800 with a time of 2:26.04, more than 14 seconds ahead of the second finisher. Cote placed second in the 1,600 in 5:17.95 and Berg took sixth in the 110 hurdles with a time of 25.4.

In the final event for the boys, Jessie, Stuart, teRiele and Scott Stuart combined for a 52.02 in the 400 relay, finishing less than a second and a half behind Madrid-Waddington.

For the girls, Kwasniak (19:91) placed third in the 100 hurdles. Rylee Fletcher won the 100 with a time of 13.09, and also took the first spot in the 400 (1:06.45). Ruby Ladue (6:13.88) won the 1500, earning the win with a gutty performance on the last lap that saw her overtake Madrid-Waddington’s Emily Pandel in the final turn.

Kwasniak, Samantha Higgins, London Tyo and Ana Cuttaia combined to take second in the 4×100 with a time of 1:00.29. Ladue (3:03.69) and Fletcher (3:05.25) went 2-3 in the 800. Sophia Martin had strong showings in the jumps, taking first in the high jump (4-10) and second in the triple jump (30-05.5).

Tupper Lake coach Gordie Duval was keeping his sectional game plan tight to his chest, but said he was pleased with where the team stands now.

“In the next couple of days, we’re going to figure that out,” Duval said. “There’s a lot of individuals scattered throughout the league, (and) Potsdam is really good.

“The potential is there to win the sectionals, but we also know we can qualify (for states).”

Duval said he expects teRiele, Zurek and Klossner to do well in sectionals, and thinks there are quite a few kids on the Lumberjacks squad who stand a chance to win.

“We might have some surprises for sectionals, but I’m not going to say anything about that,” he smiled.

The track and field teams next compete at the Section X championships next Thursday and Friday at Madrid-Waddington.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $4.75/week.

Subscribe Today