By John Raffel
The Ithaca girls track team could be a state contender this season, in large part because of its distance runners.
Gene Lebron, coach of the girls’ track team, also skippered the girls’ cross country team to a Division 3 state crown last fall, and many of those same girls will be expected to produce a lot of points for the track team this spring.
Ithaca won its first three league dual meets. “We beat the two teams we thought would give us the biggest challenge (Valley Lutheran and St. Louis),” Lebron said. “So that’s good moving forward. We were second at the St. Louis Relays and finished third at our home invite, which had some pretty good teams, like Mount Pleasant and Manistee. Some of our kids have put up good performances.”
Top events for the team include the 4×800, in which it has the fastest time in its division so far this year. “We have the fourth fastest 4×400 time,” Lebron said. “Erica Sheehan, who is the best athlete on our team, is in the top six in 100, 200, 400, and long jump.”
The cross country girls will score some points in track. Sheehan was the seventh finisher in the state meet for Ithaca, and the top six, in order, were Courtney Allen, Amelia Freestone, Hannah Thayer, Blaire Showers, Alyssa Mankey, and Kurstin Kalisek.
“We have a girl hurdling or throwing the discus, until they find their niche,” Lebron said. “We have a lot of solid athletes. The trick now is finding out where they can go and score points in an event that suits them and their skill set.”
Jason Marcy is coaching a boys’ team for Ithaca that is trying to build some experience. “About 95 percent of my team are freshmen or out for the first time,” he said. “It’s a very, very young crew this year. We’re working on getting kids comfortable with their running and figure out what they’ll be running and trying to build them up right now.”
Top team members include Koby Lee, a sprinter and pole vaulter, and Jacob Allen, a hurdler and long jumper. Lee is up to 11’0″ in the pole vault and is on both sprint relay teams. “He has a good 100 and good 200 times,” Marcy said. “He hasn’t been in the open yet. Jacob’s a freshman and ran a 46.1 in the 300 hurdles and a 17-foot long jumper so far.”
Junior Richard Moubray is among the team’s best sprinters and is in the sprint relays. John Lambrecht is a distance runner who should score points in the 800- and 1,600- meter runs.