GUILDERLAND —In a repeat of last season, the two shining stars of the Guilderland track team will get to shine brighter at the state meet this weekend.

Seniors Brian Rhodes-Devey and Mark Domaracki will be competing at the state meet that will be held this Friday and Saturday in Kingston.

Both runners competed in the state meet last year as juniors.
"I wanted, first of all, to qualify," Domarcki said of his approach at the state qualifier meet. "I didn’t run as fast as I can. But I had a lot left. I want to improve on Friday."

Domaracki ran a 49.19 in the 400-meter run at the state qualifier last Thursday in Johnstown.

Rhodes-Devey ran the 800-meter and the 1,600-meter runs at the state qualifier. He ran the 800 on Thursday and the 1,600 on Friday.
"I ran real well," he said. "I was looking to qualify, I just needed to get into the top two. But with two laps left I was nervous; I got into a situation where I didn’t want to get out-kicked at the end and not make the state meet. I pushed it a little more than I would have liked."

That was the 800-meter race, which he won in 1:54.07.

Rhodes-Devey also won the 1,600 in a time 4:11.23. He then gave up his state spot in that event to focus just on the 800.
"It was just one last shot at the sectional record," he said of the 1,600. "I went out in 2:01 but that threw things off. Four-11 is still pretty good."

Relay record

Domaracki and Rhodes-Devey could be running another race at the state meet. The 4x400-meter relay team qualified for the state meet. But the runners — including juniors David Slingerland and Jeff Geisendorfer — and the coaches decided to let Domaracki and Rhodes-Devey focus solely on their individual races.

The relay set a school record at the state qualifier with a time of 3:21.13. The record had been standing for 16 years.
"We knew going into that race that we weren’t going to states to allow Brian and I to focus on states," Domaracki said. "It was generous of them to give up that meet to allow us to focus."
"We planned this season that if we qualified it would be up to Mark and I if we wanted to run it," Rhodes-Devey said. "We went back and forth. We talked about it with our coaches and we decided we would be fresher for our races on Saturday. It is like a thank you for the hard work we’ve done for most of the season."

New race

For Rhodes-Devey, the 800 is a new race to be focusing on at this time of year. Last year, he went to the state meet in the 1,600 meters.
"I’ve been running the mile since I was in eighth grade," Rhodes-Devey said. "I wanted to switch it up a bit and run the 800. It’s been my goal all season.
"I put on some muscle," he added. "So it felt better. I’m looking forward to running the 800. It’ll be a good race."

Rhodes-Devey, who is the number-one seed in the event for the state meet, has a goal of running around 1:51.
"It depends on how much competition there is," he said. "I’m in really good shape so I can go under 1:51 if not get to 1:50."

"A friendly rivalry"

Domaracki qualified for the 400-meter race last year and ran it at the state meet. It has been his main focus for most of the season even though he has run other shorter distances.

His fastest time in the 400 came at last year’s state qualifier at 48.9 seconds. He thinks he can go faster and get his time down to 48.5.
"I’ve been running a lot of races," Domaracki said. "Being fresh really helped me. I was able to focus on one race at a time."

Domaracki has forged a rivalry with John Reilly of Niskayuna and both competitors have had success against each other. At the qualifier, Domaracki got the win.
"This time I got him," Domaracki said. "I was on the outside and normally the guy in the inside lane gets the win. It’s a friendly rivalry. It will be nice to run with him at states."

Domaracki had to overcome some nagging injuries from the basketball season and some sloppy weather in the early spring.
"I slowly built up my strength," Domaracki said. "It was mostly switching sports and training different muscle groups. It’s kind of nice that I’m starting to peak now. Hopefully, I can run my best race at states."

Domaracki is hoping to run a great time, around 47.9.
"I’ll run the race that presents itself," he said. "I definitely want to win. But there are lots of great runners in the state. We’ll see what happens."