Wayne County Track and Field athletes compete in New York State championships
July 1, 2023
/ by WayneTimes.com
During the weekend of Friday June 9th and Saturday June 10th, the top athletes from New York State competed in Middletown at the final and most elite track meet of the season.
To qualify for states, an athlete is often first place sectional winner. They then go to State Qualifiers. If they win state qualifiers or meet the NY State super standard then they automatically go to States. The other possibility is if an athlete places second at state qualifiers and also meets the state standard.
The point is, it is very difficult to make it to states and we salute all our Wayne County athletes for representing us well in Middletown, NY.
Senior, Morgan Tompkins from Red Creek, has worked hard to earn the reputation as one of the best high jumpers in Section V. Her hard work paid off when she hit the super standard at a league meet early on in the season. This guaranteed her a spot on the NYS championship team. She competed and earned 9th place at the competition. Morgan’s best jump of the season (5’5") is currently the Red Creek Central School District’s record for this event.Junior, Logan Corteux from Red Creek, for the second year in a row has represented Section V as the only male wheelchair athlete in New York. This year, Logan qualified for the NYS championships in 3 events: shotput, discus, and 100 meter. He now holds the title of New York State Champion in these events. Two-time champion in the Shotput and 100 meter.Sophomore, Jayda Solomon finished 4th in the Division 2 100m dash.Senior Kayden Hughes competed in the long jump, placing 2nd for Division 2 and 3rd in the federation.Juniors Ethan Welch (Left) and Oren Welch (Right) both competed in pole vault at the outdoor track and field state meet this year. Ethan met the automatic qualifier standard and Oren met the state qualifying standard for second place at the state Qual meet for Division 2. Ethan currently has the Marion school record with a pole vault of 13’-9" and Oren is second with a PB of 13’-6". At the state meet, Ethan medalled and placed 4th in division 2. Oren finished in 10th place.Ashlyn Rattray had an amazing senior season in outdoor track and field. Throughout the season she had an awesome battle with another Wayne Fingerlakes state championship participant, Jaida Solomon from Newark. The two athletes pushed each other in both the 100m and 200m sprints. Ashlyn won the WFL Division II 100m and 200m championship races and won the WFL League Championship in the 200m. At sectionals she won 100m and 200m races and was able to edge out her competition again in both the 100m and 200m at state qualifiers. Ashlyn currently holds the school records in those two races along with the 400m dash and as a member of the 4x100m relay team. At states she placed 6th in Division II (small schools). Ashlyn plans on participating in track and field as a member of the Division I Binghamton Bearcats.Aiden VanAmburg also had an amazing senior year. He also competed in the Dundee invitational for the pentathlon and still managed to place 2nd even though he didn’t get a mark in long jump after fouling three times. He persevered throughout the season and continued to work alongside his teammate Quillan. They both attended the Batavia Invitational where Aiden finished second to his teammate Quillan. At that time, they were the top two scores in all of section v in the pentathlon. Aiden’s highest accomplishment in the pentathlon came at the Wayne Fingerlakes League Championship where he won with a score of 2648, besting his teammate Quillan, who didn’t get a mark in high jump. Aiden was glad to work his individual events at sectionals placing second as a member of the 4x800m relay team and fourth in high jump. At the state qualifier in Batavia he had an amazing effort finishing second behind Quillan but running well enough in the 1500m and 110hurdles to propel him over the qualifying standard by 5points. At the state championships he placed 8th overall in Division II and 14th in Federation. Aiden and Quillan will be attending Fredonia State University in the fall and both plan on participating in cross-country and track and field.Quillan Shimp quickly broke the school record in the pentathlon at the Dundee invitational and at the time was number one in the state and section V. As the season progressed his performances in his individual events improved. He won sectionals in the 110hurdles and 800m runs and placed 2nd in 3200m run and 2nd as a member of the 4x800m relay along with teammates Aiden VanAmburg, Landon Stanley and Tanner Buisch. He qualified for the state tournament with the top score in Batavia. At the time he was ranked 5th in the state but his score of 3254 propelled him up to 2nd place. At states he was able to recover from almost tripping the 6th hurdle in the 110m hurdle race, combined with a personal record in the 1500m run of (4:14) to place third in Division II (small schools) and 4th in Federation (all schools combined).Wayne’s Ian Johnson 6th place 400m Hurdles, D2Wayne 4x400 m relay of Michael Prentice, Aidan Mills, John Manne, Ian Johnson, 2nd place D2, new school and league record.Left: Freshman, Hannah Governor competed and ran a competitive race in the 3000. Throughout the season she kept improving her time. Middle: Junior, Elizabeth Brandt met the NYS super standard while competing in sectionals by flying down the runway and long jumping 18’3⁄4”. That jump also broke the Williamson School Record. In states she jumped far, medalled and placed 6th for Division 2. Right: Senior, Sam Belmont met the NYS super standard in the 400 hurdles with a time of 55.54. That time also beat the school record which was set in 1988 by his coach Jeff VanHoover (far right). At states, Sam ran a strong race, medalled and placed 2nd for Division 2.
