By Jordan J. Michael

The Bulldogs and the Blackbirds both got the job done at the Class CC sectionals in Greenwich on Saturday.

The Berne-Knox-Westerlo boys took the boys’ title with 104 points and the Voorheesville girls claimed the girls’ title with 100 points. It was the first Class CC title for both teams.

“It feels fortunate because we knew we could pull it off,” said Bulldog Head Coach Scott Hannay. “Bill Tindale should get a lot of credit because he left me this great team. I was in the right place at the right time.”

“It was a tremendous performance by everyone,” said Blackbird Head Coach Steve Relyea. “I made it clear this year that these girls had some great opportunities. The second, third, and fourth place finishers got us over the top.”

BKW beat Chatham by 22 points and Voorheesville beat Greenwich by 13 points. The boys had a 16 team field and the girls had a 15 team field.

“The Chatham coach came over to me at about 2 p.m. and basically told me that his team couldn’t catch us,” Hannay said. “We were able to relax towards the end and cruise to victory. It was a solid win.”

“Last year, we scored 109 points and finished second, but this time we won with less points,” Relyea said. “There was less of a gap between teams this year because the competition was greater.”

Top finishers

Tim David was a big scorer for the Bulldogs, placing second in both the 100-meter and 200-meter run. His time of 23 seconds in the 200-meter tied a school record. David was also part of the first-place 400-meter relay team with Curtis Clark, Matt Von Haugg, and Brandon Kallner.

“David might as well be my most valuable athlete of the meet,” said Hannay. “He was going crazy all day. He could have scored as a whole team alone.”

Josh Glick finished first in the pole vault with a jump of 13 feet, 6 inches and Greg Hannay had a discus throw of 142 feet, 7 inches to take first place. Hannay also placed third in the shot put and Zach Krimsky gave BKW a third place in the triple jump.

The Bulldogs placed third in both the 1,600-meter and 3200-meter relays. David, Glick James Schager, and Von Haugg had a season best time of 3:35.5 in the 1,600-meter. Sean Reynolds had a time of 11:00.2 to claim third in the steeplechase.

“We were second to Voorheesville last year and we said we could do better,” Scott Hannay said. “We picked out all the goals this year and got them all done. The plan we laid out really worked.”

Schager got third place in both the 400-meter hurdles and the 110-meter hurdles for BKW. Reynolds finished third and Jeff Moller finished fourth in the 3,200-meter run. David Haverly had a time of 2:06 in place fourth in the 800-meter.

The Voorheesville girls got first place from Seneca Gray in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 16.5 seconds, and Carrie Gorka in the long jump at 16 feet, 2.5 inches. Eryn Ryan was second in the pole vault and Jane Pritchard was third in the triple jump at 31 feet, 8 inches.

“As a coach, this is what we go for. Everything leads up to sectionals,” said Relyea. “We had a lot of winners last year, but we had more top-six finishers this time around.”

Caitlin Abelseth placed second in both the 100-meter and 200-meter races. Gorka had a time of 62.8 to finish second in the 400-meter and Michelyn Little placed sixth in the 3000-meter. Gray, Pritchard, Abelseth, and Gorka had a time of 4:21.2 as first place finishers in the 1600-meter relay.

Relyea is sending Gray, Abelseth, and Little to state qualifiers in Johnstown this week. “I’m only bringing the girls that have a real chance,” Relyea said.

Scott Hannay is bringing Glick, Greg Hannay, Kallner, Krimsky, Haverly, Schager, and all the relay teams to state qualifiers for the Bulldogs. “I didn’t forecast how strong the relays would be this year,” Scott Hannay said. “Hopefully, a relay team will make it.”

Other results

The Voorheesville boys’ team finished third overall with 57 points. Connor Cashin had a time of 10:12.2 to take first in the 3,200-meter. Cashin, Ian Powell, Nathan Bub, and Lloys finished first in the 3,200-meter relay.

Collin Kelly took first place in the high jump at 6 feet, 2 inches. Daniel Zamanek placed fourth in the pole vault competition for the Blackbirds.

“The boys had a good year, but they had some tough challenges,” said Relyea. “We got first place last year with strong senior leadership. There was were big shoes to fill this season.”

The BKW girls’ team placed seventh overall with 36 points. Courtney Tedeschi was first in the 2000-meter steeplechase with a time of 7:53.9. Alyssa Wetterau came in second in the high jump and Christine Skinner placed third in the 100-meter hurdles.

The Guilderland boys’ team finished in 10^th at the Class A sectionals with a score of 16.5. Deshawn Gates had a time of 50.2 to place third in the 400-meter run.

The Lady Dutch team had a score of 44 points to place fifth at the Class A sectionals. Briana DelBene had a toss of 112 feet, 1 inch for second place in the discus. Karley Giles finished third in the high jump.