Leading off today: Izaiah Brown's third straight state Division I championship in the boys 400 meters was easily his most impressive.
The Amsterdam senior's winning time of 46.40 seconds at SUNY Albany shattered a meet record that stood 27 years -- James O'Neill's Reggie Harris went :46.79 in 1988. Boys and Girls senior Richard Rose was a strong but clearly beaten second in :47.03.
The girls meet record in the 400 meters also came tumbling down. Rush-Henrietta sophomore Sammy Watson clocked :52.69 to lower her own Section 5 record and also move to No. 2 on the national season list.
"It's exciting,'' Watson told the Democrat and Chronicle. "I take every race like anything can happen. I can get too comfortable and someone can come out of nowhere (to win instead). My coach and my mother say I should have fun with it, but be competitive. I am having fun. I like the 400."
Watson and older sister Ceara Watson, a senior, ran legs on Rush-Henrietta's Division I NYSPHSAA state champion 1,600 relay that crushed the Section 5 record in 3:43.94. The previous mark was 3:47.65. Tori Thompson and Lanae-Tava Thomas, who ran the opening two legs, were also part of the R-H 400 relay quartet that set yet another sectional record (:47.74) while winning NYSPHSAA gold and placing second overall to Medgar Evers (:47.79) of the PSAL.
Another girls meet mark fell in the 800 meters as Suffern sophomore Kamryn McIntosh won in 2:05.63.
A few more notes from the opening day of the two-day meet:
• Holy Names junior Leah Moran, who won the girls Division II triple jump while representing Stillwater, repeated with a distance of 40-0.
• Strategy trumped speed in the boys 3,200, and Bryce Millar of Fayetteville-Manlius won in 9:18.61, far off his second-place time on 9:04.28 in the 2014 meet.
• With Corning rival Jessica Lawson sidelined by injury, Bella Burda improved upon her second-place showing in the 3,000 a year ago to win in 9:38.14.
Farrell wins CHSAA title: Sophomore Vincent Zappulla threw a 123-pitch complete game as Monsignor Farrell won its first CHSAA Intersectional baseball championship with a 4-2 win over Salesian to capture the best-of-three series 2-1.
The Lions struggled to an 11-7 record during the regular season and repeatedly faced elimination situations in the playoffs with a staff primarily consisting of sophomore pitchers. And even Friday's finale provided drama: Salesian loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the seventh, but Farrell shortstop Mark Mandala made a diving stab of a liner to the hole to start a season-capping 6-5 double play.
"It's been a long wait, but the wait's been worth it," Farrell coach Bob Mulligan told The Advance. "I feel wonderful, and I feel great for the kids."
