Canisius (Buffalo, N.Y.) senior Cole Townsend broke a long-standing western New York record in the 3,200 meter run at the state CHSAA Indoor Track Championships at The Armory in New York City.
Townsend clocked 9 minutes, 13.73 seconds to break the mark of 9:15.89 set by Sweet Home's Charlie Kern in 1987 and advance to the state meet March 5 at Cornell University in Ithaca with the third-fastest time in the nation this season.
Kellenberg Memorial (Uniondale, N.Y.) distance guru James Agati was named male runner of the meet after winning the 1,000 in 2:31.16 and splitting 1:54.5 to anchor the 3,200 relay to third place despite a late fade.
In the girls meet,
St. Anthony's (Melville, N.Y.) rolled up a staggering 78.5 points in no small part due to Olicia Williams, who won the 1,000 in 2:51.77 to set a CHSAA record and move to No. 2 in the U.S. this season. Courtney Finn of
Notre Dame Academy (Staten Island, N.Y.) set the previous mark of 2:53.59 in 1988.
Williams anchored the Friars to victory with a :54.9 split in the 1,600 relay.
John Schiano, who has written about high school sports in western and central New York for more than 25 years, covers New York for MaxPreps. He may be reached at john.schiano@maxpreps.com.
