Leading off today: Rush-Henrietta senior Lanae-Tava Thomas scored an impressive triple to lead the parade of winners at the state indoor track and field championships Saturday at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex on Staten Island.
Thomas, who'll attend Southern Cal in the fall, set a met record with a time of :06.86 in the 55 meters. She also won the 300 meters in :38.63 and the long jump in 20-4, ripping off the day's top five leaps.
The title in the 55 was the third in her career. Thomas is also a two-time long jump champ.
Thomas largely salvaged the day for Section 5, which had numerous athletes unable to attend in the aftermath of the storm that battered much of the state beginning Thursday night.
Opting not to hit the road during the worst of the storm Friday morning, the Section 5 contingent left on buses before 6 a.m. Saturday but did not arrive until approximately 3:40 p.m. for a meet that started at 1 p.m., the Democrat and Chronicle reported.
Thomas was among the Rochester-area athletes who traveled separately to the meet.
Section 10's buses aborted their trip and returned home without reaching the meet.
More girls highlights: Saratoga junior Kelsey Chmiel set a meet record of 9:27.88 to capture the championship in the 3,000 meters, beating runner-up Brooke Rauber of Tully by more than 16 seconds.
The previous meet mark of 9:29.85 was set by Kaitlyn Neal of Fayetteville-Manlius in 2016.
In fact, meet marks all the way down to the 600 also tumbled.
Spencerport junior Vanessa Watson won the 600 in 1:30.09, knocking half a second off the mark established by current Texas A&M star freshman Sammy Watson two seasons ago. Paris Peoples of Cardozo in the PSAL placed second in 1:30.59, matching Sammy Watson's old mark.
In the 1,000, Lily Flynn took down the 1996 record by Tamieka Grizzle by winning is a dazzling 2:45.83. Runner-up Katherine Lee also eclipsed the old mark with a time of 2:46.91.
The Ursuline junior dropped more than four seconds off her previous PR. "I'm really happy," she said. "It was great competition."
In the 1,500, North Rockland's Katelyn Tuohy broke a Mary Cain meet record and set the state sophomore record by winning in 4:23.38.
In a scorching 800 relay, William Floyd (1:41.49) edged Christopher Columbus (1:41.59), with both beating the meet record.
The other meet record to fall was in the pole vault, where Averill Park's Alana Carroll shook off a misses on her first attempts at 12-0 and 13-0 to clear 13-6, an inch better than the mark of Lancaster's Mary Saxer in 2005.
Monster leap for Willis: Cicero-North Syracuse junior Jeremiah Willis swept the boys' horizontal jumps with marks of 23-04 in the long jump and 49-5.75 in the triple -- the latter good for a Section 3 record.
Willis was also fourth (and second among NYSPHSAA competitors) in the Federation 55 meters, posting a time of :06.46.
Northport senior Isaiah Claiborne won the 1,000 meters in a meet-record 2:26.95, sling-shooting out of third place on the bell lap.
"I knew if they put a gap on me (on the back straightaway), I wouldn't be able to catch up," Claiborne said. "Once they passed me, I knew I had to catch up to them again and pass them. I knew Ben Bulkeley was behind me and he had a fast kick, so I had to make sure I got a gap on him."
Fairport's Bulkeley was second in 2:27.60.
Claiborne's twin brother Elijah came within a photo finish of pulling off an all-in-the-family double. He clocked 4:15.548 in the 1,600 to take second place behind Schenectady's Maazin Ahmed (4:15.543).
In another finish too close to sort out via the naked eye, Michael Mullally of Sullivan West won the 55 hurdles over Midwood's Tai Brown, :07.374 to 07:.380.
Meet records fell in all three school relays -- Cornwall with a 1:29.50 in the 800, Newburgh Free Academy with a
