Section IV Classic returns to Cornell

One of the premier indoor track and field meets in Section IV was back on the Hill over the weekend.

For the first time in three years, Cornell University hosted the Section IV Classic on Jan. 28, welcoming 38 teams and 734 athletes across the section to Barton Hall.

Neil DeRaiche, the Section IV track and field coordinator and former head coach of the Trumansburg track team, explained the process of securing a spot for this meet and how it was a no-brainer to hold it at Barton Hall.

“We ask for dates from the three local colleges, and we pretty much will jump on Cornell and Ithaca’s dates first when they offer those to us because of the facility,” DeRaiche said. “[SUNY] Cortland is more willing and able to work with dates. The problem is I can’t fit everybody in Cortland for one week. I have too many athletes and coaches and spectators. At Cornell and Ithaca, we can combine the whole section and run a quality, whole meet.” DeRaiche continued.

“Barton Hall is legendary. They used to host states there for a long time, so it’s a facility where it’s quality and it has great, great potential to host our quality meets.”

All six Tompkins County teams took part, and there were plenty of athletes that had standout performances. Perhaps the biggest accomplishment was Dryden’s Carlea Davis winning the girls 55-meter hurdles. While Davis dominated in this event throughout this season, she one-upped herself by breaking her own school record with a time of 8.99 seconds. 

The old record lasted just two weeks when Davis ran for 9.01 seconds at the Winter Classic in SUNY Cortland. The senior shared what goes through her mind during this event that leads to consistent success.

“Before the race even starts, I like to stand in my lane and look at all the hurdles and just imagine myself going over each hurdle with perfect form,” Davis said. “I imagine myself just as fast as possible going over each hurdle and leaning over the line. I really just envision myself, and it really helps me because then I’m able to kind of do what I’ve been imagining.”

Davis also garnered top-five finishes in the long jump and the triple jump, two events she’s excelled in time and time again. Davis wasn’t the only Lion to have a great outing, fellow senior Nate Turner finished third in the boys 55-meter dash with a time of 6.75 seconds, just one-hundredth of a second behind the runner-up. 

He also placed fifth in the long jump and helped the 4×200-meter relay team (along with Chris West, Lucas Majgaard, and Lucas Morrow) to a second-place finish. The girls 4×200-meter relay team (consisting of Emma Park-Miller,  Jade Brockner, Raelen Green, and Nicole Morrow) had a solid outing, finishing in fourth.

Like Dryden, Ithaca had many athletes impress throughout the afternoon. John Anderson won the boys 55-meter hurdles with a time of 8.19 seconds. Fellow senior Aliou Cisse took pole position for the boys 300-meter dash with a time of 37.82 seconds, successfully carrying over his speed on the soccer pitch to the track. Cisse also finished in sixth place in the 55-meter dash. The other winners include sophomore Riley Hubisz in the boys 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:37.24 and senior Moss Dengler dominating in the boys’ pole vault once again, reaching a mark of 14 feet.

Lansing had multiple athletes finish in the top five, including third place finishes for Kristen Johnston in the girls’ high jump and freshman sensation Trent Thibault in the boys 1,600-meter run. There were also fourth-placed finishes for Kathleen Sullivan in the girls 1,500-meter run and Colin Tarbert in the boys’ pole vault.

Trumansburg’s Tyler Verrill had the strongest outing for the Blue Raiders, finishing behind Anderson in the boys 55-meter hurdles by 0.18 seconds. Newfield’s Madigan White impressed in the girls 1,500-meter race walk, with the eighth-grader finishing in second. And Groton’s best finisher was junior Nick Gamel, placing 26th in the boys shot put.

This year’s Section IV Classic was certainly a success, and it gives all the teams valuable insight into what the competition will look like at the Section IV Championships Feb. 10 at Ithaca College.

“It’s always great when everybody can run against everybody,” DeRaiche said. “They see the quality of the section, and they get a good idea of who they’re competing against.”

“It’s really important,” Davis said. “I really like to see where the people who I will be competing against are at. I like to see how they hurdle. Maybe I can take something from them if they’re doing something that I think looks really good, and I like to know where I lie with everyone in the section.”

Cornell will also be hosting state qualifiers on Feb. 25.