The Run-Down on Counties

Victor Track Team’s Success at the Monroe County County Championship Meet

The+Run-Down+on+Counties

Meili Shepard, Managing Editor

 All around the United States, it’s championship season in the indoor track and field world. With Counties, Sectionals, States, and Nationals soon, teams have been working hard to perfect their abilities. 

 

 The Victor track and field team competed at the Monroe County Championship meet on Saturday January 28th. The Blue Devils were coming off a highly successful previous season with the girls team placing second and the boys placing ninth at the 2022 Counties Meet, and the bar was never higher. 

 

 For those who don’t know, the Monroe County Championship meet is a scoring meet. Athletes compete for the top eight times (for track) or marks (for field) in their event. First place finish scores ten points, second place scores eight points, and so on until you get to eighth place scoring one point.

All points scored from individual and relay performances from each team get compiled to determine the team county champion. Each school splits their team into the boys team and the girls team, with a county champion for both gender teams. 

 

This year the competition was fiercer than ever but the Victor Blue Devils had just as ambitious goals. Throughout the meet, Victor and Webster Schroeder (the rival on the girls’ side) battled for first place finishes both individually and overall team placement. The boys were determined to place better than they had last year.

 

 After seven hours of competition, the meet was finished. The Victor Girls Track and Field team placed second overall, losing the Monroe County Champion title  to Webster Schroeder by only nine points. The Victor Boys Track and Field team placed fifth overall, improving their ranking four spots from last year. 

 

 In addition to the Victor teams doing well, there were many high placing individual athlete performances from both the boys and girls team. Here are some highlights and top scorers from the meet:

 

Harloff winning the 55 m dash

Melody Harloff:

The talented D1 commit, Melody Harloff, ran 3 events at Counties and placed first in them all. She is the current Sectional champion for the 55 meter dash and won the county title with a time of 7.28 seconds scoring 10 points from that event. In the 300 meter dash, Harloff ran a time of 41.01 seconds winning another county title and 10 points. Finally, she ended her meet with being the last leg of the 4×400 relay, which placed 1st. Melody scored a total of 30 points for the girls team. She is also the fastest girl in all of Section V for both the 55 and 300 m dash. 

 

 

Slaughter running the in the 400 m relay

Quinten Slaughter:

Despite being injured for most of the past two seasons, Quinten Slaughter has shown himself as one of the top runners in Section V. He placed fourth in the 55 m dash with a time of 6.67 seconds and scored five points for the boys team. Later on in the meet, he ran a 36.21 in the 300 m dash, winning the county title and scoring another 10 points. He also ran the last leg of the boys 4×400 m relay that placed first at Counties.

 

 

Woodworth during the 400 relay

Grace Woodworth: 

Running three exhausting events, Grace Woodworth’s finishes were highly impressive. Woodworth finished second in the 1000 meter run with a time of 3 minutes 6 seconds. Afterwards, she ran the third leg in the girls 4×400 m relay that placed first, ultimately bringing eighteen points for the girls team. 

 

 

 

 

Fahy during the 3000m

Kelsey Fahy: 

With her events being the first event of the meet and one of the last, Kelsey Fahy had top performances in two distance races that are draining both mentally and physically. Fahy placed fifth in the 3000 m with a time of 11 minutes and 20 seconds and anchored the 4×800 relay. During her last lap of the relay, Fahy passed two other runners, finishing the relay in fourth place. Her scores gained nine points for the girls team. 

 

 

Davis in the 400 m relay

 

 

Terreque Davis: 

Doing two running events and one field event, Terreque Davis was a top scorer for the boys team. He finished third in the 55 m hurdles with a time of 8.18 seconds and jumped a height of 5’ 10” in high jump for an eighth place finish. He then ran the second leg of the boys 4×400 relay, which placed first. Davis scored seventeen points for the boys team overall.

 

 

Chierichella running in the 200 relay

Colden Chierichella:

Even though this is only his second year running on the high school track team, Colden Chierichella has proved himself as one of the fastest sprinters on the team. He raced in one open event and two relays. In the 600 meter dash, Chierichella ran in the last (fastest) heat. The runner next to him tripped, pushing him inside the edge of the tracking, resulting in a disqualification. Chierichella did not let the disqualification throw him off for his other events. His other two events, the 4×400 relay and 4×200 relay, were back to back events, with the exhausting 400 relay first. He ran the first leg of the boys 4×400 relay which placed first and then ran the last leg of the boys 4×200 relay which placed second. Chierichella scored eighteen points for the boys team. 

 

 

Girls 4×400 relay
(Woodworth, Harloff, Sodoma, Brasacchio)

Girls 4×400 Relay

Even though their goal of the relay was to perform their best and giving ittheir all, the girls 4×400 relay took home the Championship title. The relay team, consisting of Lia Brasachio, Julia Sodoma, Grace Woodworth, and Melody Harloff, ran a time of 4 minutes 13 seconds and placed first. They are currently the fastest 400 m relay in Section V. Three of the members (Sodoma, Woodworth, and Harloff) were part of the relay that took home the New York State Champions title last year.

 

 

Boys 4×400 m relay (Purcell, Davis, Slaughter, Chierichella)Boys 4×400 Relay

 

Boys 4×400 Relay

The boys 4×400 relay team, consisting of Colden Chierichella, Terreque Davis, Pat Purcell, and Quinten Slaughter, placed first with a time of 3 minutes 35 seconds. They are ranked third on the Section V leaderboard for this year. 

 

 

 

In addition to having top performances, Julia Sodoma and Pat Purcell also ran in both the 4×400 relay and the 4×200 relays which were back to back events. Julian Chumacero ran the last leg of the boys 4×800 relay and passed Hilton’s relay during the last lap, getting the boys to a first place finish in his heat and ninth out of fifteen overall. 

 

Along with impressive times and placings, the Victor Track and Field team shows exceptional team spirit and support of each other. During every race, members of the team stood at the side of the track, cheering for their teammates while timing laps and shouting words of encouragement. “I saw people encouraging others and comforting those that were feeling nervous,” senior on the team, Grace Woodworth explained. “Everyone cheered each other on and congratulated their teammates after they finished a race or jump.”

Chierichella and Slaughter after their 400 m relay win
girls 400 relay pre race huddle

Although the whole team showed encouragement for their teammates, the relay members showed exceptional support for each other. Before the relays, the members were seen huddling together exchanging last minute encouragement. Afterwards, joyful celebrations between the members were visible, congratulating each other and the relay achievements as a whole. 

 

 

While track meets have not been particularly known for having student sections or many spectators that have no affiliation with the sport, friends and family of the athletes showed up to support the team. “It’s great to see how much support the runners and team have during one of their big meets,” said a parent of an athlete. “We enjoy seeing them [the athletes] run and have fun doing it.” 

 

Monroe County Championships wraps up the regular season and takes us into championship time. Counties served as a good gauge for what the competition will be like at Sectionals. For the Blue Devils, their goal is to work hard and continue their successful momentum into the Section V Championships in February. 

girls 4×800 relay

 

Additional photos from the meet: Gallery of Meet Photos