South's VanBuren places high at indoor track states; North's Mikulski breaks school record
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Allie VanBuren saved her best run of her career in the 55-meter hurdles for last Saturday's New York State Indoor Track Championships at Cornell University.

The Williamsville South sophomore ran a personal best 8.41 in semifinals to qualify for finals where she took fifth in the state and eighth in the Federation with an 8.47. She went 8.50 in preliminaries and placed 10th.

VanBuren came into the race ranked 15th in the state.

"Our goal this year was to get her to finals and see how she would do," said South coach Sam Hasan. "Her previous best time was an 8.58. We had a feeling that she was going to break that."

Hasan said the 8.41 is the sixth-best time in the state not counting Federation runners.

VanBuren's fifth place is her highest finish at a state meet in an individual event. She was a member of the 4x400-meter relay teams in seventh and eighth grade and ran the 55 hurdles last year.

VanBuren has been battling a slightly strained groin muscle that she suffered while running in the Cornell University Southern Tier Invitational on Jan. 5. She was at full strength at the Section VI Championships on March 1 where she repeated as the section 55-hurdles champion and at states.

"She came back and peaked at the right time," said Hasan. "She had a great year. More than anything with her, she understood more about what training was needed."

VanBuren was one of three South athletes competing at states.

Junior Ashley Ferenczy improved her split time in the 600 by almost 3.5 seconds, running a personal best time of 1:40.97 in the 600 in the distance medley relay.

The relay, which also included Sweet Home sophomore Katie Niblock, Williamsville North senior Meredith Kirby and Lockport's Mary Rachel Robbins, finished eighth in 10:48.74. Kirby's split time for her leg was 27.1.

South sophomore Amanda Breymeier tied for 12th in the high jump in 5-0.

"She just missed 5-2," said Hasan. "Last year she got into the state finals and got no height. This year, she hit two heights."

Williamsville North

Senior Sarah Mikulski ran a better time than last year when she took fifth in the hurdles at the state meet but it wasn't enough to qualify for finals.

Mikulski broke her own record in the hurdles in preliminaries with an 8.73 and 14th place then set it again in semifinals with an 8.67 and 13th place overall.

Mikulski's old school record was 8.80.

On the boys side, senior Sean Felton came into the triple jump seeded 19th out of 31 and finished in 11th place with a leap of 43-8.75.

"He has nothing to be upset about," said North coach Julian Blake. "He never jumped 43 feet before last week and came back at states and jumped 43. It gives him more credibility. He should be proud of himself."

Felton won a section title last week with a personal best jump of 43-10. He was coming off a fractured left shin and a partially torn left medial collateral ligament he suffered in the outdoor season and was working through a hip flexor injury that occurred about a month ago.

Williamsville East

Eighth-grader Kala Allen qualified for, and competed in, three events.

East coach Kurt Holme said Allen's third place finish in the 300-meters was one of the strongest performances for Section VI athletes, and her time of 40.75 seconds set a new East indoor track record.

"It also was the fastest 300 meter time run by a Section VI female athlete since automatic timing has been in use," said Holme.

She also competed in the 55 dash (7.52, 23rd in prelims) and the 600 (19th, 1:41.83).

Colin Begy ran a leg on the boys distance medley relay team that finished sixth in 9:09.66.

Amherst Central

Sophomore Brenna Symoniak placed 10th in the 1500 in 4:55.10. She took second in the 1500 at sectionals.

Sweet Home

Junior Josh Blango came in 17th in the 55-hurdle preliminaries in 8.16. He did not qualify for finals. Blango took second in the event at sectionals.

Junior Ken Anaya recorded failed on his triple jump events. Anaya is the sectional champion in the event.