Harlem Girls 1st, Boys 3rd at NIC-10 Indoor Track Meet

Harlem girls are 1st, boys 3rd at NIC-10 Indoor Track Meet
By Bob Balgemann
REPORTER
Harlem’s girls varsity track team had 23 finishes in the Top 5 on the way to being the NIC-10 indoor track champion, March 14 at Auburn High School.
The boys came in third in their conference meet, also at Auburn.
The Lady Huskies had strong showings in both track and field events, with senior Katie Fare setting new conference and school records in the shot put, throwing the ball 45 feet, 1 inch. Teammate Catie Daily, also a senior, was second with a distance of 37 feet, 1 inch. Aulanna Muhammad came in eighth at 31 feet, 3 inches.
Another individual champion for Harlem was the 4-by-200-meter relay team made up of Cloey Fare, Hannah Bilodeau, Zakia Buchanan and Sierra Schaffer. Their time was 1:49.20, a shade off the 1.48.93 conference record Harlem set in 2017, with Buchanan being one of the runners.
And Reagan Cejka won the pole vault, clearing 9 feet even. Molly Hulmes and Brynn Schlaht tied for fifth, at 7 feet, 6 inches.
Harlem entries in the long jump event continued to create a stir, this time with Fare, Olivia Lewis and Kahleea Washington finishing 3-4-5. Their respective distances were bunched at 16 feet, 9 1/2 inches; 16 feet, 9 inches; and 16 feet, 8 inches. Fare’s jump was 1 1/2 inches out of first place.
Biolodeau, just a freshman, continued her strong showings by taking second in both the 60 and 200-meter dash events. Her respective times were a personal best 8.05 seconds and a school record 26.73 seconds. The latter time was .19 of a second behind the winner. Sierra Schaffer was fifth in 27.88 seconds; Buchanan was seventh at 28 seconds even.
Cloey Fare was second n the 60-meter hurdles, with a time of 9.41 seconds, a shade behind the winning time of 9.38 seconds. Lewis was fourth, at 9.92 seconds; Emma Clausen came in 14th.
Harlem again did well in the relays. The 4-by-400-meter team of Fare, Bilodeau, Buchanan and Schaffer was second, at 4:16.96, with the 4-by-800-meter squad, consisting of Faith Procopio, Ingrid Alcala, Bailee Blecker and Buchanan, timed at 10:26.72 and taking third.
Other place winners in the track events were Blecker, third in the 400-meter dash, timed at 1:03.53; Washington was fourth (1:03.89), Aaliyah Haun was seventh (1:06.69). Sheldon finished third in the 800-meter run, with a time of 2:27.87, Procopio was eighth, in 2:32.95, and Alcala, 10th, at 2:37.49.
In field events Lewis was second in the triple jump, reaching 35 feet, 9 3/4 inches. Tamari Stamper took fifth, with a distance of 34 feet, 11 1/4 inches. Kaylin Reese came in sixth in the high jump, clearing 4 feet, 10 inches, while DeYana Franco Daye was 11th and Haun, 14th.
Team-wise, Harlem totaled 162 points with Belvidere North’s 137 1/2 points good for second place. Hononegah (132) was third; Guilford (64 1/2) finished fourth.
“Very happy with our overall performance,” head coach Scott Sholl said afterward. “Our girls came mentally prepared today and brought their best. Very happy to see Katie Fare beat our school record in the shot put, held by good friend (Julie Sorrentino). Hannah Bilodeau also earned a school record in the 200 (beating a very talented Jenna Combs).
“It was our first team goal that we wanted to accomplish on the year. We have outdoor around the corner and it will be a very talented field in the NIC-10. We need to stay the course and get to work. It is only the beginning, but nonetheless, a very good start to the track season.”
Boys results
Senior Nick Ngo was Harlem’s lone individual champion, winning the triple jump with a distance of 43 feet, 10 inches. He finished a full two feet ahead of the runner-up. And he also ran the 60-meter high hurdles, taking third in 8.92 seconds.
Others fared quite well such as Tristan Carlson taking second in the 400-meter dash, timed at 54.41 seconds. He also was a member of the 4-by-800-meter relay team that finished third, with a time of 8:59.79. He was joined on the 800 by Nick Greenland, Aiden Gruner and Aktany Kwazdran.
Cameron Bottum tied for second in the high jump, clearing 5 feet, 4 inches.
Thomas Morris was third in the shot put, covering 45 feet, 1 inch. Samuel Procopio was third in the 1,600-meter run, with a time of 4:52.44. Ben Ewald came in fourth in the 3,200-meter run, clocked at 10:47.85.
Additional place winners in track events were Tyrone Tyus, 14th in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.63 seconds; Cameron Mosley was 19th. Trey Hall and Nathan LeCleir were 8-9 in the 400-meter dash with respective times of 25.26 and 25.42 seconds. Kayden Ridens was 15th in the 400, timed at 59.60 seconds, while Brady Marocco finished 14th in the 800-meter run, at 2:29.77. Cameron Pryor was 16th in the 800; Carter Moski was 20th. Michael Wiggs came in fifth in the 60-meter low hurdles, timed at 9.72 seconds. Nick Smallwood was ninth in that event, at 11.63 seconds; Roger McGee was 10th, in 11.74 seconds. Jared McGee was sixth in the 60-meter high hurdles, at 9.43 seconds, while Dawt Farcum was ninth in 11.09 seconds.
Harlem’s 4-by-200-meter relay team (Prieto Alberto, Hall, LeCleir and Mosley) was seventh in 1:41.49; the 4-by-400-meter relay team came in eighth, at 4:00.15. Members were Carlson, Jon Contreras, Bailey Fisher and Jared McGee.
Other distance event results saw Kwazdran finishing 10th in the 1,600-meter run, with a time of 5:11.57, while Michael Darr took 16th. And in the 3,200, Greenland was eighth, in 11:15.36.
Field events found Devan Ortiz tying for fifth in the high jump, going 5 feet, 2 inches. Alberto was sixth in the