MORELL, JENSEN LIFT TEAMS
Oneonta, Cooperstown Shine
At Don Howard Invitational
Editor's Note: With this report, Connie Herzig becomes the weekly sports columnist for AllOTSEGO.com, Hometown Oneonta and The Freeman's Journal. An Oneonta resident and retired 25-year elementary phys-ed teacher at Cooperstown Elementary, she is active in the life of both communities, and expert in both sports scenes. Send Connie news, story tips and any other inputs at herzig@stny.rr.com
The 29th Annual Don Howard Track & Field Invitational last Saturday, May 4, at Cooperstown High School had an unlikely star – the sun popped through for a while on a cloudy, windless and not-rainy day. The spring season has been cold, wet and windy for much of the young season, but perfect conditions led to many season-best performances. The great one himself, Don Howard, was there with his wife, Doris, to cheer on the teams.
The Oneonta girls’ team won the 13-team meet with 140.5 points, while Cooperstown’s girls were nipping at their heels in second with 119.5.
The two teams battled head to head in several key events, which were highlighted by the sprints, hurdle races and the jumping events. In the 400m relay, the Oneonta team of Erin Stalder, Morgan Jipson, Yuliah Johnson and Reece Thorsland posted a time of 53.19, almost a second better than they had previously run this season.
The Cooperstown girls, Ashley Kiuber, Ireland Gable, Samantha Vezza and Nora Jensen, were second, improving their seed time by almost a second at 53.44. Oneonta’s 1600m relay team also won, with Staldler, Thorsland, Danielle Basdekis and Randy Odago shaving five seconds off their time.
Cooperstown’s Jensen had a great day in the hurdle races, winning the 100m hurdles and coming in second to Oneonta’s Basdekis in the 400m hurdle race. Basdekis also won the 200m with teammate Johnson getting third. Between them was Cooperstown’s freshman sprinter Gable. Johnson also won the 100m for Oneonta. In the 400m, Oneonta’s Stalder won the race, taking 3 seconds off her season best. Teammate Olivia O’Donnell was third and Cooperstown’s Abby Ford was fourth.
