GUILDERLAND — It all came down to one last jump, one last lunge to qualify for state competition in the Section 2 qualifiers held Thursday and Friday at the University at Albany.

“Qualifying in track is tough,” said Maria Tedeschi, a Berne-Knox-Westerlo coach, and it showed in the two-day event. Eighteen Guilderland athletes made it to the qualifiers and BKW had four.

Three individuals — Zaviir Berry in the high jump, Emily Burns in the 2000-meter steeplechase, and Noah Carey in the 3200-meter race — and a 4 x 800 relay team, all from Guilderland, will compete Friday and Saturday in the Division 1 state championships at the University at Albany.

Berry, who cleared 6 feet, 3 inches will jump at 10 a.m. on Friday, and Burns will run on Saturday at 10 a.m.

“She went out and won her race and punched her ticket to states,” said Pete Cure, Guilderland’s long-distance coach, of Burns, who is making a return trip to state competition. “The pace was favorable,” he said after Friday’s race. “She picked up in the last 600 meters.”

Burns came in first with a time of 6:58.79

Anticipating state competition at the University of Albany, Cure said, “I think she’ll do well; it’s home for us. She has the third fastest time in New York State; she should be right in it.”

Carey leads all the way

Carey, a sophomore, won against six runners last Friday with a time of 9:19.84.

“I was very happy,” Bill Tindale, Guilderland boys’ long distance coach, said afterward. Carey led most of the way, which is not his favorite thing to do, his coach said. “He did have to do a lot of work on his own.”

At the state competition, Tinsdale said, “Next week, we’ll get a race with a big pack.” The races he’s won so far this year are not what Tinsdale would call “quality” races, he said, explaining Carey was often way out in front.

At the state championships, though, Tinsdale anticipates “a good pack.” He said of Carey, “He’ll probably be mid-pack most of the race and, hopefully, in the last two laps, he’ll pick it up. I think it’s more about time and place for him,” coming in ninth or 10th place or under to qualify for national competition, Tinsdale said. “It will be a bit of a challenge, but I think he can do it.” Nationals are a week after States.

Carey also ended up with a personal record from last week’s race.

“It’s good that I qualified for States,” he said afterward, adding, “I’m not the kind of guy to really lead the race and get a good time.” He said he was glad to set a personal record but hopes to go faster at States. He said he has the confidence to “stay with some of the top guys.”

Carey will compete on Friday evening at 5:40 p.m. in the boys’ 3200-meter run.

“Something big”

After the 3200-meter, Carey’s coaches decided to scratch him from his other race, the 1600-meter, so he could focus on the 4 x 800 meter relay. “I’ve been looking forward to that all year,” said Carey about the relay.

Before the relay, Tinsdale said, “We never ran these four guys together so it will be interesting to see what happens.”

In addition to Carey, the relay team includes John Feil and Drew Burns who, Tinsdale said, “had fantastic senior years,” and his son, Noah Tinsdale, who “had a great year, too.” Tinsdale concluded, “We want to send them out with something big.”

The 4 x 800 boys’ relay team didn’t disappoint, finishing second with a time of 7:45.86 in the qualifying race on Friday afternoon. The team qualified for States and also broke the school record.

The Dutch relay team will run on June 13 at 2:20 p.m.

Forman’s record

Many of those who didn’t make it to the next level still set school or personal records. One of those athletes was Guilderland senior Sarah Forman who competed in the 800-meter run in Division 1 on Thursday afternoon.

Once the gun went off, Forman battled three other Division 1 runners along with six from Division 2. Forman got shuffled to the back but pushed through to pass her competitors, finishing second.

“I knew there was a lot of good competition in it,” said Forman after the race. “The start was a little rough...but I picked it up and got more confident when I passed some girls, and I knew I had to run fast, and I knew I had to get a personal record since this is my last chance to run it individually.”

Forman said she had had her eye on breaking the school record for a long time. She said it was always on her mind and she used it to motivate herself. “I was working hard toward it and doing my best each race,” she said.

“She’s a great kid,” said Cure. “When she was a freshman on the cross-country team, she didn’t score a point and now she’s a two-time sectional champ,” he said, praising her work ethic and adding, “That crosses over not just in track but in the rest of the things she does in her life.”

He conceded of Thursday’s race, “It was a tough start; she kind of got boxed in but, after that, she made the best of it. She did a great job of dealing with it, she’s a veteran.”

“I think it did slow my time a little bit,” agreed Forman. “It also gave me the adrenaline I needed; if I didn’t use the energy to go around them, I wouldn’t have been able to stay back and wait to get up front.”

After that, Forman got into a groove and finished well, second overall with a time of 2:15.99 — 35-hundredths of a second short of qualifying for States — but she reached her goal of breaking the school record.

“I’m really glad my hard work paid off,” said Forman, “and I’m really thankful to be able to do what I love and to be able to get a school record is really rewarding to me.”

Forman’s head coach, Chris Scanlon, had high praises for his runner: “She ran a great race and I’m real proud of her, the best she ran all year.”

Forman will attend Siena College next year where she is “really looking forward to going to a lot of bigger meets and bigger competitions, running more events, running longer distance,” she said. Forman went on about Siena, “I’m looking forward to working with the team at a high level and working with the coaching staff to see where my career can take me from there.”

Also getting a new school record was the Guilderland girls’ 4 x 100 meter relay team of Carrie Mulligan, Liana Alford, Cara Mortati, and Madyson LeBel with a time of 50.50 seconds; the team finished fourth on Friday afternoon.

Bulldogs work hard but come up short

Four members of the BKW track and field team made it to last week’s qualifiers but didn’t do well enough to continue to States: Kyle Anderson in pentathlon, Anna White in pole vault, and Lucas Becker and Allie Tedeschi in steeplechase.

“I’m pretty happy actually to be out here for my senior year,” said Anderson who had a time of 17.78 seconds in the high hurdles; cleared 5 feet, 6 inches in the high jump; threw 8.46 meters in the shot put, leaped 16 feet, 1 inch in the long jump, and ran 1500 meters in 4:51.68.

Anderson battled last year’s state champion and runner-up, finishing third with a score of 2395.

He was happy with his high-jump mark. “I’m pretty happy with the personal record,” he said. “I’ve cleared 5 foot, 6 inches once but I really wanted to do it once more to stay in it with the other guys.”

“He doesn’t get intimidated by the bigger kids; he knows he has to compete against his own standards first, so he’s doing that well,” said BKW’s head coach, Fred Marcel. “It’s more than fun; he’s very serious. He’s a serious competitor and had a great high school career.” Anderson finished third in three of the five events over the two-day qualifier.

When he left on Friday, Anderson was excited about how his teammates were doing. “I’ll go home and ice bath, eat a bunch of carbs, go for a jog, and prepare for tomorrow,” he said. “I’m really excited for Lucas’s race; at sectionals, he had an insane finish — I’ve never seen a kid run so fast in my life. We’ve been together since kindergarten; I really hope he goes to States. Allie, I see her doing great things...Anna, I think she’ll set a new personal record and hopefully a new school record.”

Tedeschi competed in the 2000-meter steeplechase Division 2 race, finishing fourth with a time of 7:42.38.

“She ran a career personal record; she ran her race,” said her mother and coach, Maria Tedeschi.

Becker finished second in his steeplechase with a time 11:03.92 but fell short of the standard time to qualify for states, and White finished third in the pole vault.

“It was the accomplishment to get here,” said Marcel of White.

Other Guilderland results

Jared Capuano finished eighth in the Division 1, 3000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:54.80.

Sean Murphy finished seventh in the Division 1, 200-meter dash with a time 23.74 seconds.

Andres Torres finished sixth in the Division 1, 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.96 seconds.

Harrison Bickmore finished fourth in the high jump with a height of 6 feet, and fourth in the long jump with a jump of 21 feet, 3 inches.

Clarence Skipper finished third in the long jump with a jump of 21 feet, 2 inches.

Marquis Chisom didn’t record a distance in the discus throw.

Cara Mortati went to the finals in the 100-meter dash but didn’t start it.

Kacey Duncan finished eighth in the preliminary competition with a time of 13.85 seconds, which didn’t qualify for the finals.

The girls’ 4 x 800 relay team finished third with a time of 9:26.86.

Isabella Bruno made the finals of the triple jump but failed to qualify for States with a jump of 34 feet, 9 inches.

Amanda Rice in the pentathlon finished fourth with a score 2233.

“Some of these girls are young,” said Scanlon, the girls’ track and field coach for Guilderland. “They hit the standard and get the experience of being here and running. I have quite a few girls here this week in middle school, so we want to give them the experience now so they will gain confidence as they get older.”