LoCaL sPorts 25
CHAUTAUQUA STAR
FRIDAY, MAY 2, 2014
sPorts
Home-track advantage
Your Weekly Community Newspaper
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Week of May 2, 2014
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Section B
DunkIRk DISPLAyS ELITE TALEnT In ITS OWn InVITATIOnAL
By Stefan Gestwicki
Star Sports Editor
The Dunkirk High School
track was surrounded by
tents and littered with
athletes and spectators as
18 teams converged for
the Dunkirk Invitational,
Friday afternoon. The
meet was shortened due to
cold, wet, windy weather,
but some impressive times,
distances and heights were
still turned in.
According to Dunkirk head
coach Kurt Warmbrodt,
he usually tries to keep the
meet under 16 teams, but
Westfield and Silver Creek
both called late and he
couldn’t turn down more
competition.
While there were some outstanding performances by
many Chautauqua County
athletes, it was the Dunkirk
boys team that really turned
some heads.
Dunkirk sophomore
Jose Morales raced to a
first-place finish in the
100-meter dash with a time
11.42 seconds. He held off
teammate Nick Barlette,
who finished third (11.53
seconds) and Frontier’s
Adrian Cannon (11.44).
Jamestown’s Izaila Rahim
placed eighth, which is good
enough to earn a point in a
meet of this size.
Despite the less-thanideal jumping conditions,
Dunkirk’s Rashad Graham
was able to clear 5-feet,
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Fredonia’s Gwen Stokes clears the bar during
the high jump event, Friday at the Dunkirk
Invitational. (Photo by Stefan Gestwicki)
8-inches in the high jump to
take first place. Teammate
Victor Echevarria and Fredonia’s Dylan Meyer tied for
fourth with a height of 5-4.
Graham also placed fi fth in
the long jump with a leap
of 18-3.75. The event was
won by St. Francis’ Nathan
Gora, who leapt 19-5.5.
Gowanda’s Brennan Geiger
was second (18-10.25).
Dunkirk earned yet another
first-place finish when the
team of Miguel Alicia, Jose
Morales, Rashad Graham
and Nick Barlette held
off Iroquois in the 4x100
meter relay. The Marauders crossed in 45.39 seconds
while Iroquois was second
at 46.66.
Another Dunkirk relay
team, this time Javier
Soto, Ray Tarnowski, Alec
Tomaszewski and Ethan
Francis, raced its way to a
Silver Creek’s Rachel Radack (left) gets over
the last hurdle during the girls’ 2,000-meter
steeplechase event, Friday at the Dunkirk
Invitational. (Photo by Stefan Gestwicki)
third place (8:46.29) in the
4x800 meter relay. East
Aurora (8:21.88) and Sweet
Home (8:27.99) took first
and second, respectively.
Jamestown’s Christian
Edborg held on for a
sixth-place finish in the
3,000-meter steeplechase.
The event featured 18 runners and was made even
more difficult than usual
from the rain. Orchard
Park’s Matt Mercer (10:01.6)
turned in an exceptional
time to claim first place in
the event.
In the 110-meter high
hurdles, it was Silver Creek
junior Caleb Makuch placing
second with a time of 17.58
seconds. He was just a fraction of a second behind Iroquois’ Austin Valvo, who won
the event in 17.44 seconds.
The girls’ meet also saw
some impressive perfor-
mances from local athletes.
Fredonia senior Devin
Kowalewski won the
100-meter hurdles by a
comfortable margin with
her time of 16.47 seconds.
Iroquois’ Madison Roberts was second in 17.03
seconds. Dunkirk’s Savia
Moreland (17.99) and Silver
Creek’s Emily Harford
(18.09) were sixth and seventh, respectively.
In the girls’ 100-meter dash,
Dunkirk sophomore Samiyha Toomer was right there
with the upperclassmen
and claimed fourth place
in 13.16 seconds. Frontier’s
McKyla Brooks won in
12.67 seconds. Westfield
freshman Maddison Knap
(14.03) and Fredonia freshman Deidra Osula (14.21)
were also solid in seventh
and ninth, respectively.
Continued on PG 28
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CO M M EN TA RY
The Obligatory
Instant Replay
Commentary
By Stefan Gestwicki
Star Sports Editor
The other day, Tampa Bay Rays
shortstop Yunel Escobar was
called out on strikes in a game
against the Minnesota Twins.
Continued on PG 31