Terrence Echols
Sports editor
The stars of Jamesville-Dewitt High School’s Varsity Indoor track team put their legs to work in the Molloy Stanner Games on Saturday, Jan. 16 in New York City. They raced at the New Balance track and field center, otherwise known as the Armory. Four athletes representing the girls team and two athletes representing the boys team team, along with coaches Mike Melfi and Michael Acchione, traveled all 246 miles to take on some of the best athletes from all over the Northeast.
Representing the boys were senior sprinters Nolan Roosa and Jan Ramirez. Roosa, who serves as the team’s captain, competed in both the high jump and 55-meter hurdle events where he finished 27 out of 74. Ramirez competed in the 55-meter dash and the long jump events. He has enjoyed his indoor track experience so far, since it is his first year on the team. “New York City was great, I’m so glad I got to meet kids from all over (the Northeast),” said Ramirez. Both boys were able to break their personal records in a good showing from J-DHS.
Representing the girls were senior sprinter Casey Keane, junior long distance runner and captain Hannah Butler, sophomore Alex Payne, and freshman long distance runner Sophia Vinciguerra. Keane competed in the 600-meters, Butler competed in 3000-meters, Payne competed in both the high jump and 55-meter hurdles, and Vinciguerra competed in the mile. The girls also broke some of their own personal records, Butler was able to finish first in the 3000-meter in an exciting comeback win over senior Kathryn Munks of Monroe-Woodburry. “I pulled away in the last two laps; it was great to win in such a big arena,” said Butler. For the freshman, Vinciguerra, competing in such an event can be intimidating as the youngest in the group. “I thought it was pretty cool, but it was also kind of scary,” said Vinciguerra, who has since qualified for freshman nationals at the Armory in March.
The group from J-DHS had an impressive showing for such a small team. “It was really intimidating, I’m proud of how well we did individually,” said Keane on the competition. “It was everything that I expected it to be and beyond,” said Vinciguerra. “It was really cool, I got experience a whole new level of competition,” said Payne who finished in seventh place out of 99 in hurdles and in sixth place out of 40 in high jump. Coach Melfi was pleased as well “It was truly an amazing day for our track program to be in such a famous venue competing against some of the best competition in the state, I would like to thank the JD administration and school board for helping us make this trip a reality,” he said.
