Our third Trackapalooza Invitational track meet was again a success, with glorious summer weather on the welcoming Groton High School track. Full results are now available, and don’t miss the fabulous meet photos from Paul Houle and Christopher Petroff—you’re welcome to download and share them. If you have any pictures of the meet, please upload them to our community photo album to share with others and document the day.
We hosted 157 athletes with 361 event participations, many from 6 teams, including the Groton Project Track Club, Ithaca Youth Bureau, Baldwinsville Harriers Track Club, Wyoming Elite Track Club, SOAR Running Club, and the Tompkins County Pole Vault Club, plus individual competitors from the Syracuse Chargers, the Syracuse Track Club, the Trumansburg Track Club, and Southern Cayuga.
Field events were made possible once again through partnerships. Matt Scheffler of the Tompkins County Pole Vault Club managed the pole vault. Brett Shelton of the SOAR Running Club officiated the long jump and the triple jump, with his fellow coach Steve Wagner managing the high jump. The Groton Project’s Sean Shea coordinated the shot put and discus. Special thanks to Scott Weeks and Groton High School for allowing us to use their facilities and equipment!
On to the results! Among all the other great performances, three field event athletes took over the top spots on the FLRC Track leaderboard: Dominic Mikula and Katherine Scheffler in the pole vault and Ariana Hillery in the shot put.
100m
The 100m dash saw Daniel Mars storm to victory in 11.00 seconds, with Chris Zellar of the Baldwinsville Harriers following in 11.15 and Aedan Pitoniak rounding out the top three in 11.32. In the women’s competition, the Groton Project’s Truth Snyder, just 13 years old, led the field in 13.36, with Harper Frederick of the Wyoming Elite Track Club just behind in 13.38. The Groton Project’s Reilly Quinn secured third in 13.61.
On the other end of the time spectrum, Theo Milano celebrated joining the 2-year-old age group by dropping more than 50 seconds from his 100m toddle time in 2:02, and sisters Cordelia (1) and Rebecca Gorges (2) finished together in 2:45.
100m Hurdles
In our first-ever 100m hurdles for women, the Groton Project’s Karson Mackey took the win in 17.21, followed closely by Evelyn Jackson of the Tompkins County Pole Vault Club. Amelia Petersen of the Groton Project rounded out the podium in 17.95. Props to 8-year-old Carmina Mahony Glann of the Groton Project for completing the challenging event over age-appropriate hurdles in 28.28.
110m Hurdles
In a head-to-head race for the men’s 110m hurdles, Aidan Tierney claimed victory in 17.60, while the Groton Project’s Kholton Reynolds crossed second in 20.36. It’s not as easy as it looks!
200m
Daniel Mars doubled up with another victory in the 200m, clocking 22.89 seconds. Aedan Pitoniak again showed his speed with a 23.77 second-place finish, while the Groton Project’s Derran Morris took third in 23.81. For the women, Kadence Barton crossed first in 27.39, with the Groton Project’s Reilly Quinn following in 28.73. Harper Frederick of the Wyoming Elite Track Club completed the podium in 28.97.
400m
The 400m saw the Baldwinsville Harriers dominate, with Chris Zellar winning in 53.92 and teammate Rex Kirkegaard taking second in 55.96. Chris Rogers rounded out the podium with a 57.62 showing. In the women’s race, Kadence Barton secured her second win of the day in 1:02.87, while Reagan Burnham took second in 1:08.16. Lexi Peiffer of the Wyoming Elite Track Club claimed third in 1:10.27. Notably, 74-year-old Coreen Steinbach, a regular on the world masters track stage, turned in an impressive performance with her 1:26.58, good for a national-class age-grading percentage of 83.84%.
800m
In a toasty 800m, the final individual race of the day, Paul Hayden took the win handily in 2:07, with Patrick Milano following in 2:16 and Daniel Zhang claiming third in 2:26. For the women, 43-year-old Liz Hartman dominated with a 2:36 victory, notching an adult personal best. Second place went to 11-year-old Lucia Camacho Murillo of the Ithaca Youth Bureau in 3:53, followed by Linda Mahoney of the Groton Project in 3:59. 66-year-old Casey Carlstrom impressed with a 2:35 showing in the men’s race, good for sixth overall and a national-class age-grading percentage of 84.55%.
1600m
In the 1600m, Lucas Baker ran alone the entire race to place first in 4:29, followed by Patrick Milano in 4:56 and the Groton Project’s Zachary Arria in 5:06. Liz Hartman continued her strong day by winning the women’s race in 5:42, tying her PR for second all-time on the leaderboard. The Groton Project’s Alison Belcher, just 12 years old, took an impressive second in 5:59, while her 11-year-old sister and teammate Lauren Belcher crossed in 7:55 for third. 72-year-old Ken Hodges finished in 6:56 to qualify for the coveted “breaking 7 at 70” club, also a national-class effort with an age-grading percentage of 82.3%.
5000m
Much of the 5000m was a tight three-man race, with the lead changing hands multiple times. With 200m to go, Alexander Simpson unleashed a fearsome kick, putting 10 seconds on Brady Burrough in the last half lap to win in 15:57 to Burrough’s 16:07. James Felice wasn’t far behind in 16:16. For the women, Sarah Woodyear led from the start to clock an 18:40 win, while Margaret McLoughlin followed in 19:02. Third place went to 15-year-old Madigan White in 23:29.
4×200m Relay
The meet concluded with some fast relays, where the Baldwinsville Harriers team, anchored by Chris Zellar, dominated with a time of 1:36 that tied our fastest relay time of the year. With Sebastian Bartischevich bringing it home, The Speedsters took second in 1:51, just ahead of an unattached team anchored by Derran Morris in 1:52. Patrick Milano anchored The 3s to fourth in 1:54, making for a tight finish with just 3 seconds separating second through fourth place.
Long Jump
In the long jump, 47-year-old Samitha Samaranayake leaped to victory with a 19 feet, 7¾ inches mark, sneaking into tenth place on the leaderboard. Will Boscia and the Groton Project’s Tom Pinkowski tied for second at 19 feet, 1 inch. In the women’s competition, Kadence Barton claimed her third win of the day with a 16 feet, 6½ inches jump, the Groton Project’s Reilly Quinn was close behind with 16 feet, 2 inches, and Raelen Green secured third at 15 feet, 11 inches.
Triple Jump
The Groton Project’s Tom Pinkowski bounded to an uncontested win with a hop, skip, and jump of 41 feet, 1 inch in the triple jump, improving his distance while maintaining second place on the leaderboard. On the women’s side, Alyssa Johnston took first with a leap of 31 feet, ½ inch, just edging out Kadence Barton’s 30 feet, 11 inches. Darby Stetter secured third with 26 feet, 6 inches. 62-year-old Karen Ellsworth of the Syracuse Chargers impressed with a jump of 18 feet, 10¾ inches.
High Jump
In the high jump, Rex Kirkegaard of the Baldwinsville Harriers and Alix Aviles tied for the win (and tenth place on the leaderboard) at 5 feet, 8 inches, with Brady Burrough and Brayden Westbrook sharing third at 5 feet, 6 inches. For the women, the Groton Project’s Kristen Johnston cleared 4 feet, 10 inches for the win (though not up to her top spot on the leaderboard from last year), while Samantha White took second at 4 feet, 6 inches (sixth on the leaderboard) and Darby Stetter placed third at 4 feet, 2 inches.
Pole Vault
In FLRC’s second-ever pole vault competition, the Tompkins County Pole Vault Club athletes took five of the top six places. Dominic Mikula dominated with a clearance of 15 feet, 7 inches, moving into an uncontested first place overall atop the leaderboard. Nathan Fromme, the only top place not part of the TCPVC, cleared 12 feet for second, while Noah McKibben was third (but fourth overall) in 11 feet. Among the women, Katherine Scheffler cleared 11 feet, 6 inches for first place and third overall—it’s also the top mark on the leaderboard. Alyssa Kelleher and Evelyn Jackson tied for second among women at 10 feet—those results also put them second on the leaderboard.
Shot Put
Although not equal to his top spot on the leaderboard, Matt Funicelli dominated the shot put with a throw of 49 feet, 5 inches, nearly 15 feet ahead of second-place Camden Davis of the Baldwinsville Harriers, who threw 35 feet, 1½ inches to claim ninth on the leaderboard. The Syracuse Track Club’s Leander Boreland took third with 34 feet, 7 inches. For the women, the Groton Project’s Ariana Hillery won with a 29 feet, 6¾ inches throw to claim first place on the leaderboard, unseating her teammate Kristen Johnston, who took second with 25 feet, 7 inches, and the Wyoming Elite Track Club’s Brooklyn Evans claimed third with 23 feet, 2¼ inches, good for tenth on the leaderboard.
Discus
Again not quite reaching his previous second-place leaderboard effort, Matt Funicelli still completed the throws double with a discus toss of 142 feet, 5¾ inches, more than 23 feet ahead of Brody Williams, who claimed second with a throw of 119 feet, 4 inches. The Syracuse Track Club’s Leander Boreland took third with 109 feet, 5½ inches, good for eighth on the leaderboard. The Groton Project’s Ariana Hillery again led the women with a throw of 77 feet, 7½ inches, which moved her from fifth to fourth on the leaderboard. The Syracuse Chargers’ Karen Ellsworth followed her with 63 feet, 1 inch, and the Wyoming Elite Track Club’s Brooklyn Evans placed third with a throw of 43 feet, 2½ inches.
Volunteers
As always, FLRC track meets are the result of the efforts of numerous volunteers. Thanks to Tonya Engst for helping prepare for the meet the day before and then managing bib pickup, ably assisted by Mary Catt. Scott Weeks of the Groton Project coordinated everything with Groton High School. Dave Kania, Jesse Koennecke, Bob Talda, and Carl Franck helped with setup. Patrick Boyle did a bang-up job as starter, and Bob Talda recorded all the times as head timer, Jesse Koennecke and Dave Kania reseeded heats and produced results, and Heather Cobb and Jon Lewis coordinated the heats. Christopher Petroff counted laps and recorded bib numbers for the longer races. We had lane timing assistance from Keith Eggleston, Amy Dawson, Scott Dawson, Eugene Gonzalez, and Kim Jackson, with Ricky Stewart providing backup timing. On the field event side, Gregory Green, Tevin Smith, and Carl Franck assisted Brett Shelton with the long and triple jumps. Lizzy Rayle and Hamza Abdush-Shahid helped Steve Wagner with the high jump. Matt Scheffler managed the pole vault, and Janice Carter and Michelle VanEtten assisted Sean Shea with the throws. Laurel Gilmer sold FLRC clothing, and Lauren Milano brought muffins!
See you all in 2026 at the January Jicker!