Near misses, strong performances highlight East boys' week

Williamsville East's boys outdoor track team had a week of near misses and strong performances.

At a duel meet against Iroquois on Tuesday, May 8, pentathlete Andy Heim won the high jump in dramatic fashion in a jump off, co-captain Greg French was a double winner in the 110-meter high hurdles and the triple jump, co-captain Zinan Cheng won the long jump and co-captain Andy McDonald won the 1,600.

Senior Sean Lanaghan remained undefeated for the season in the 400 hurdles, senior David Taubman notched his first win of the season in the pole vault and sophomore Scott Ryan easily outdistanced the competition in the 3,200.

Although the Flames came up short, 76-65, the highlight of the meet was the season's best performance by the Flames' 4x400 relay team of Heim, Lanaghan, French and senior Matt Stabel, who defeated the indoor track 1,600-meter relay sectional championship Iroquois team.

At the Starpoint Team Challenge on Saturday, May 12 at Starpoint High School, French and Lanaghan finished third in the 400 hurdles, and French and Cheng finished sixth in the long jump.

The next outing for the Flames is expected to be a close divisional match-up at Amherst on Tuesday, May 15, but results were unavailable before The Bee went to press. They will race in the Carl Roesch Classic at Clarence on Saturday, May 21.

Williamsville East girls

Williamsville East's girls outdoor track team lost to Iroquois, 89-67, on Tuesday, May 8. Seventh grader Kayla Allen won the 100, 200 and 400.

At the Starpoint Team Challenge on Saturday, May 12 at Starpoint High School, Allen placed ninth in the 100 dash in 13.36. She also placed seventh in the 400 (1:02.82) and combined with Kendra Durden (1:05.29, 16th place) for fifth overall.

Rosie McAfee and Kristin Ostanski placed in the top 10 in field events.

They were sixth in the triple jump (McAfee, 30-9; Ostanski, 29-11) and eighth in the long jump (McAfee, 14-1¾; Ostanski, 13-8).

In the 100 hurdles, Kristen Saviola was 22nd (18.34) and Kaitlin Roseti came in 32nd (19.70). Other posted times came in the 1,500 (Jill Cutspec, 5:58.54;

Colleen Lauer, 6:23.84), 800 (Caroline Steele, 2:42; Roseti, 2:50) and discus (Sammi Garson, 76 feet).

East raced Amherst on Tuesday, May 15, but results were unavailable before The Bee went to press. They will compete at the WNY Track and Field Classic at Lancaster High School on Saturday, May 19.