McQuaid eighth-grader wins state long jump title; Schroeder junior medals in six events

What better compliment when older, and usually bigger, high school athletes come up to you and say "are you really an eighth-grader?"

Saturday at the state track and field meet on Staten Island, McQuaid's Rhoan Kaulder found himself joshing with guys on the awards podium as he towered above them all with gold medals around his neck.

"Yeah, I get some of that," he laughed, speaking by phone after he'd stunned 31 of the state's best long jumpers with a leap more than two feet farther than the next guy. He's the first boy in Section V to win state titles in indoor track while attending junior high school.

"It was nerve-wracking at first," Kaulder said of having to sit and wait before his third flight was called, "but I had confidence. I felt relaxed after my first jump. My marks were perfect and everything worked out every single time."

In his second of six tries he landed 22 feet, 10 and a half inches from the takeoff board, breaking his personal best of 22-4 and prompting his coach, Todd Stewart, to point out he could have done more.

"He wasn't even on the board," Stewart said, "he was behind it. It blew my mind. No telling what he could've done. Three of his six tries were 22 feet or better!"

Kaulder’s double golds – he won against both the public school association jumpers and the state federation representatives – led a Rochester-area contingent of 99 athletes, one-third of whom collected 9 gold medals, 38 top-five finishes and 64 medals overall.

"He just continues to impress me with his relaxed approach," Stewart said. "He’s like a veteran already, having been at so many junior meets. What he's doing is so physical, so explosive."

Among Kaulder’s accomplishments: ranked top eighth-grader in the country by online track and field site MileSplit, by more than two feet; 46th among all classes; three and a half feet longer than any middle school boy; within 16 inches of the Section V indoor record.

Other top performances in this 50th annual (except for last year) event for boys, 43rd for girls, held for the fifth year on and inside the banked indoor track oval at the waterfront Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex:

Medal haul for Cole

Webster Schroeder junior Camryn Cole led Section V’s medal onslaught with, count 'em, six.

She won both golds in the high jump, equaling her personal record of 5-7, was fourth and seventh in the 55-meter hurdles (8.49) and helped Schroeder's 800 relay to fourth and sixth (1:43.89).

"The hurdles time was her PR," Schroeder Warriors coach Dave Klehr said. "It was the first event, and we feel that set the tone for the day, for her and all of us. She was nervous. Let's face it, the stakes are the highest at states.

"Doing that helped calm her down."

Cole, like other multi-event performers, rushed criss-cross around the arena to meet check-in times, start times and podium calls for medals.

"It was really a scramble," Klehr said. "Our girls were on the go all day. It's asking a lot. We had to change our four by eight relay because one girl couldn't come, and by the last leg, we pulled out so we could still contend in the four by two.

"There's lots of overlap in events, but you just have to weather through it. They were gassed at the end. To do so well, I will say that they were truly Warriors. They kept the momentum from sectionals and state qualifiers."

Cole's sophomore teammate, Corintia Griffith, collected four medals in a busy day as well. She was fifth and sixth in long jump, lowering her seed time by 1.25 seconds, to 17-9.25. She ran the opening leg of Schroeder's fourth-place 800, with Cole, Jordan Smith and Alyssa Fici.

Miller threatens record

When he started varsity track as a freshman, Brockport senior Jacob Miller said he remembers his first race well. "I hurt a lot." His time in the 600 was 1:40 and change at a regular-season meet at Houghton College.

These days he says he "feels good" after the hardest, fastest race of his life.

"Everything went exactly as I wanted," he said after his 1:20.23 600 earned him a public school gold and federation silver. "The only thing I was worried about was getting caught up before the break. But I was good.

"The whole race I stayed right behind the leader. He had another gear, though. I couldn’t catch him."

Miller is just .27 seconds behind Brad Sumner's Section V record set with McQuaid in 1989, but that record will stand. Miller's running in the 400 at the New Balance nationals at the Armory in Manhattan Saturday.

Dubois still No. 1

Sophomore racewalker Desilets "Desi" Dubois of Brockport recalls well her first state race as an eighth-grader at Ocean Breeze. It's a good thing.

"I think I had about a 7:17," she said. "I was way more nervous then than now. I was much younger. My muscles were still developing. I also got hurt the day before.

"But that memory helped me today. I had confidence I could maintain my pace. Mia (second-place finisher Mia Sisilli, a Monroe Woodbury junior) and I have raced a lot against each other so I know what I have to do against her."

Third-seeded Megan Hoffmann of Sachem East was disqualified for lifting – not keeping at least one foot on the track – but Dubois said she wasn't concerned with her own form in that regard. Her 7:12.79 finish was seven seconds off her PR, but no matter.

"Placing was most important to me today," she said. "I was super excited that I won."

Gold for Reigle too

Hilton senior Laura Reigle was one of 12 Section V girls returning to indoor states from two years ago, when she won double silver medals in pole vault.

Saturday she added a gold to her collection. Though her vault was three inches below the one in 2020, she won the public schools title in a tiebreaker with Central Square's Ella Dolee. Both ended at 12-0.

Reigle is a six-time Section V champion and holds a PR of 13-1 outdoors. She held the state record when she was an eighth-grader, at 11-6.

Maddie, Melody lead the way

Victor's multi-event "M" girls bookended the Blue Devils' middle distance relay to a public school gold medal and federation silver.

Junior Melody Harloff led off and senior Maddie Pitts anchored to lead the 1,600 to a 4:04.86 time. Only the team from federation school Paul Robeson of the Catholic High Athletic Association was eight seconds ahead of them. Junior Grace Woodworth and sophomore Julia Sodoma ran the middle legs for Victor.

Pitts finished with five medals, second-best in the section. She also took two sixths in the triple jump (38-15) and two eighths in high jump at 5-4.

Other highlights and lowlights

Ay’rianna Moore, whose family moved from Penfield to Churchville-Chili after her freshman year, won four sprint medals as a sophomore. She was fourth and fifth in the 300 and sixth and eighth in the 55. Two years ago at Ocean Breeze Moore ran a 41.15 in the 300. Saturday her time was 40.88 . . . McQuaid senior Jayson Chichelli, while initially a little unhappy with his sixth and eighth-place finishes in the 1,000, told his coach, Todd Stewart, "how can I be unhappy? I have two medals around my neck." . . . The three sectional entries in the 55, OJ Singletary of Rush-Henrietta, Juelz Russell of University Prep and Mark McClary of University Prep, fell short of their goals. All finished out of the top 10. But the Shenendehowa senior who won toppled the last state boys indoor record held by a Section V runner. Carter Cukerstein’s 6.28 broke Marshall senior Jarmeine Holloway's longstanding record of 6.31, set on Cornell University’s flat track in 1994 . . . Senior Nico Valentine of Pittsford Mendon was one of only two individual bronze medal winners, taking the public school third place in the 1,000. The other was Clyde-Savannah senior Tyler Kell. Kell was top-seeded in the high jump with a state-best 6-6 but he ended at 6-4, for double silvers . . . The four boys who ran Section V's distance medley relay earned a third place, too – Jacob Anderson of McQuaid, Broden Haltiner of Newark, Colden Chierichella of Victor and Jack DeFeo of North Rose-Wolcott . . . Webster Thomas senior Jackson Gloskey lowered his seed time by .02 with a 7.70 in the 55 hurdles, good for a pair of fourth-place medals.

JCASTOR@JIMCASTOR.COM

Jim Castor, retired assistant sports editor of the Democrat and Chronicle, has covered high school sports in the Rochester area for more than five decades.

State meet results

State indoor track and field championships

At Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex, Staten Island.

* Finish listings indicate both public and federation (public-private-parochial-independent) places (ex. 1,3) for medalists and overall for others.

(PSAL- Public School Athletic League; CHSAA-Catholic High School Athletic Association, NYSAISAA-New York State Association of Independent Schools Athletic Association)

(p-time in preliminaries; *-state record)

BOYS

55 meters: 1,1. Carter Cukerstein (Shenendehowa-2) 6.28* seconds. Sec. V: 11. OJ Singletary (Rush-Henrietta) 6.63, 18. Juelz Russell (UPrep) 6.67, 31. Mark McClary (UPrep) 6.82. 300: 1,1. MarcSean Montero (Cornwall-9) 34.16. Sec. V: 4,9. OJ Singletary (Rush-Henrietta) 34.82p, 35.09. 23. Caleb Passero (Edison) 37.49. 600: 1,1. Wesley Noble (Bishop Loughlin-CHSAA) 1:19.48. Sec. V: 1,2. Jacob Miller (Brockport) 1:20.23, 4,10. Gabe Watson (Rush-Henrietta) 1:23.77. 1,000: 1,1. Matthew Doherty (Mamaroneck-1) 2:29.67, Sec. V: 3,4. Nico Valentine (Pittsford Mendon) 2:31.13, 6,8. Jayson Chichelli (McQuaid) 2:32.27. 1600: 1,1. Myles Hogan (Fordham Prep-CHSAA) 4:13.55. Sec. V: 11. Jayson Chichelli (McQuaid) 4:23.03, 17. Anson Butler (Brighton) 4:25.67, 26. Colin Burke (Pittsford Mendon) 4:29.82. 3,200: --,1. Myles Hogan (Fordham Prep-CHSAA) 8:57.49. Sec. V: 14. John Farrell (Fairport) 9:26.89, 17. Adam Barbato (Victor) 9:28.62, 24. Pierce Young (Arkport/Canaseraga) 9:36.31.

55 hurdles: 1,1. Rocky El (East Syracuse-Minoa-3) 7.54. Sec. V: 4,4. Jackson Gloskey (Webster Thomas) 7.88p, 7.70. 17. Carter Halpin (Pittsford Mendon) 8.19. High jump: 1,1. Devin Austin (Falconer, Cassadaga Valley, Maple Grove, Randolph, Frewsburg-6) 6-5. Sec. V: 3,3. Tyler Kell (Clyde-Savannah) 6-4, t6,t8. Jack Roetker (Webster Thomas) 6-0. Long jump: 1,1. Rhoan Kaulder (McQuaid) 22-10.50. Other Sec. V: 4,4. Jarrod Polk (Bolivar-Richburg) 21-8.5. Triple jump: 1,1. John Ryan (Valley Stream-8) 46-6.25. Sec. V: 5,5. Manuel Sepulveda (East Rochester) 44-11, 7,8. Rocco Salerno (Newark) 42-10, 17. Judson Delany (Brockport) 40-8.25. Pole vault: 1,1. Nicholas Lourenco (Saint Anthony’s-CHSAA) 15-6. Sec. V: 13. Drew Allocco (Webster Schroeder) 12-0, 14. Jason Bletsko (Spencerport) 12-0, Shot put: 1,1. Jack Foster (Saratoga Springs-2) 55-6.5. Sec. V: 5,6. William Trembley (Newark) 49-5.25, 12. Jaylen Wims (Pittsford Sutherland) 44-10.75. Weight throw: 1,1. Michael Pinckney (High School For Construction-PSAL) 74-9. Sec. V: 5,7. William Trembley (Newark) 60-.75, 9. Martin Carey (Webster Thomas) 58-1, 14. Luke Geiger (Batavia) 54-11.25.

800 relay: 1,1. Cornwall-9 1:29.33. Sec. V: 5,6. UPrep Rochester (Juelz Russell, Khalid Salaam, Christopher Jean, Mark McClary) 1:30.35p, 1:31.99. 4,5. Newark (Rocco Salerno, Noah Kellogg, Tyree Orbaker, Norwood Hughes) 1:32.44p, 1:31.90. 1,600 relay: 1,1. Washingtonville-9 3:24.16. Sec. V: 11. McQuaid (Carson Larry, Carlos Martinez, Jacob Anderson, Collin Brown) 3:32.26, 17. Brockport (Judson Delany, Brandt Marshall, Gregory Rightmyer, Ethan Miller) 3:36.89. 3,200 relay: 1,1. Holland/East Aurora-6 7:56.15. Sec. V: 5,8. Irondequoit (Cooper Branch, Brendan McCollum, Anthony Rizzo, Dylan Lyons) 8:05.17. Intersectional distance medley relay (1,000, 200, 600, 1,600): 1,1. Section 2 8:52.32. Sec. V: 3,3. (Jacob Anderson, McQuaid; Broden Haltiner, Newark; Colden Chierichella, Victor; Jack DeFeo, North Rose-Wolcott) 8:58.22.

GIRLS

55: 1,1. Zionna Perez-Tucker (Mohonasen-2) 7.05. Sec. V: 4,6. Ekemini Udofa (Greece Olympia) 7.37p, 7.27. 6,8. Ay’rianna Moore (Churchville-Chili) 7.37p, 7.44, 18. Melody Harloff (Victor) 7.46. 300: 1,1. Zionna Perez-Tucker (Mohonasen-2) 39.04. Sec. V: 4,5. Ay’rianna Moore (Churchville-Chili) 40.29p, 40.88, 6,8. Corintia Griffith (Webster Schroeder) 40.42p, 40.91. 600: 1,1. Analisse Batista (Huntington-11) 1:32.94. Sec. V: 13. Kate Scibelli (Canandaigua) 1:39.28, 26. Chance Rice Porter (Waterloo) 1:45.20. 1,000: 1,1. Angelina Napoleon (Allegany/Olean/Franklinville/Portville-6) 2:49.65. Sec. V: 15. Sierra Doody (Webster Schroeder) 2:59.98, 23. Eilee Ossont (Brighton) 3:11.90. 1,500: 1,1. Kate Putman (Cicero-North Syracuse-3) 4:26.69. Sec. V: 4,6. Annalee Capuano (Irondequoit) 4:38.74, 12. Lila Munger (Brighton) 4:45.15, 14. Madalenn Fee (Red Jacket) 4:48.25. 3,000: 1,1. Karrie Baloga (Cornwall-9) 9:41.25. Sec. V: 11. Candace Tytler (Irondequoit) 10:09.45, 14. Haylie Smith (Rush-Henrietta) 10:17.99.

55 hurdles: 1,1. Kate Del Gandio (Mt. Sinai-11) 8.14; Sec. V: 4,7. Camryn Cole (Webster Schroeder) 8.50p, 8.49, 21. Alexis Rodriguez (Williamson) 9.24. High jump: 1,1. Camryn Cole (Webster Schroeder) 5-7. Other Sec. V: 8,8. Maddie Pitts (Victor) 5-4, 9. Mallory Casler (Victor) 5-3. Long jump: 1,1. Gianna Locci (Stillwater-2) 19-5. Sec. V: 5,6. Corintia Griffith (Webster Schroeder) 17-9.25. t6,t7, Emily Sugar (Spencerport) 17-8.25. Triple jump: 1,1. Alexandra Kelly (Sweet Home-6) 37-6. Sec. V: 6,6. Maddie Pitts (Victor) 38-1.50, 10. Elsye Klump (Keshequa) 35-11. Pole vault: --,1. Marisa D’Angelo (Saint Anthony’s-CHSAA) 12-6. Sec. V: 1,2. Laura Reigle (Hilton) 12-0, t11. Rebecca Bready (Gates Chili) 11-0, 13. Cara Pellechia (Hilton) 11-0. Shot put: 1,1. Julie Thomas (Commack-11) 40-10.50. Sec. V: 14. Janiyah Henry (Gates Chili) 33-5.50, 20. Zenallah Simmons (Batavia) 31-11.50. Weight throw: 1,1. Alyssa LeBron (Massapequa-8) 49-9. Sec. V: 12. Jaclyn Jorolemon (Canandaigua) 40-.75, 27. Hanna Atallah (Webster Thomas) fouled. 1,500 racewalk: 1,1. Desilets Dubois (Brockport) 7:12.79. Other Sec. V: 6,6. Kyra Pellegrino (Gates Chili) 7:25.77.

800 relay: 1.1 Elmont Manor-8 1:42.81. Sec. V: 4,6. Webster Schroeder (Corintia Griffith, Camryn Cole, Jordan Smith, Alyssa Fici) 1:43.89p, 1:45.30. 1,600 relay: --,1. Paul Robeson (CHSAA) 3:56.61. Sec. V: 1,2. Victor (Melody Harloff, Grace Woodworth, Julia Sodoma, Maddie Pitts) 4:12.10p, 4:04.86. 3,200 relay: 1,1. Cicero-North Syracuse-3 9:03.87. Sec. V: Webster Schroeder (Sierra Doody, Sofia Magnera, Alyssa Fici, Shelby Boise) did not finish. Intersectional distance medley relay (1,000, 200, 600, 1,500): 1,1. Section 11 10:15.05. Sec. V: 6,6. (Zoe Marcus, Fairport; Ailena Reynolds-Diaz, Palmyra-Macedon; Georgia Ross, Brighton; Jordan Smith, Webster Schroeder) 10:40.49.

Complete results on-line at www.nysphsaa.org, www.oceanbreezenyc.org and www.ny.milesplit.com

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: NY state indoor track championships: McQuaid 8th grader wins long jump