A state championship by McQuaid Jesuit High School’s Tomarris Bell, along with a sectional title from Our Lady of Mercy High School, led an outstanding spring for track-and-field athletes at Catholic high schools in the diocese.
Bell, a McQuaid sophomore, placed first in the pentathlon at the state boys’ meet on June 9 in Kingston. He amassed a point total of 3,568, which combined his results in the 110-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, long jump and 1,500-meter run. That figure broke Bell’s own Section 5 record of 3,519, set just one weekend earlier during the Section 5 Meet of Champions Division I state qualifier.
Mercy won the Section 5 Class A girls’ title on May 25 at Victor High School. Individual champions for the Monarchs were Jamiee McClary (100, 200, 100 hurdles), Kendra Zaffuto (1,000, 400 hurdles), Emily Pryslak (400), and the 1,600 and 3,200 relays. McClary went on to place first in the 100, 200, long jump and 100 hurdles at the Division I state qualifier, as did Pryslak in the 400 and Mercy’s 1,600 relay. McClary then recorded several top-10 finishes at states.
Other first-place sectional performances came from:
* McQuaid’s Bell (high jump and long jump) and Connor Shelly (pentathlon) in Section 5 Class A boys.
* Aquinas Institute’s Jessica Walker (long jump) and Caitlyn Brennan (pentathlon) in Section 5 Class A girls.
* Nazareth Academy’s Cherish Ziccari (discus) in Section 5 Class CCC girls.
* Elmira Notre Dame’s Olivia Weeks (triple jump) in Section 4 Class C girls.
