Thursday, June 8, 2006
Edmonds adds to legacy
By ERIC AHLQVIST
Editor
Although Josh Edmonds has competed at Cooperstown for just one school year, he will leave a lasting legacy.
Last fall, Edmonds helped lead the cross country team to its first state title in 40 years. This spring, he joined an already talented boys track and field team and made them even better; helping them to their fifth straight league title and first ever Section Three Class C-1 crown.
Last Friday at the Section Three Track and Field State Qualifiers in Cicero-North Syracuse, Edmonds was the only CCS athlete to qualify for Friday night's state meet.
And he did it in style, setting a Center State Conference record in the 3,200 meter run of 9 minutes, 18.89 seconds to earn a Division II state berth, breaking the previous mark set in 1977 by about eight seconds.
"Josh is just a pleasure to watch, and he was phenomenal," Howard said. "He's the best distance runner we've ever had at Cooperstown."
Edmonds will compete in the 3,200 event at the state meet on Friday at 6:30 p.m. at St. Lawrence University. According to the Tullyrunners.com website, Edmonds is the sixth seed in the race. The top seed is James Joy, who qualified with a time of 9:10.41.
"The competition definitely helps bring out faster times," Edmonds said Monday night. "I'm just going to run as fast as I can and see what happens. You never know."
Edmonds was home-schooled until this school year, and comes from a family of runners, including father Lee, who ran Division One track at Bucknell University.
"I think running with him and trying to keep up with him helped me become a better runner," Edmonds said. "A lot of the credit goes to him."
Also at Friday's state qualifier, Cooperstown received a second-place D-II finish from senior Chris Goodspeed and juniors Kris Reynolds, Stephen Scrafford and Brian Reis in the 3,200 relay. The foursome set a school record of 8:10.96 but missed out on a state berth as Vernon-Verona-Sherrill won in 8:09.13.
Fisher top girls competitor
Becky Fisher finished third in the 100-meter hurdles Thursday in 16.27 seconds to lead Cooperstown at the Section Three State Qualifiers at Rome Free Academy.
No Cooperstown girl qualified for the state meet, which runs Friday and Saturday at St. Lawrence University in Canton.
Fisher also placed fifth in the 400 hurdles (1:11.33). Marissa Kaplan finished seventh in the 100 (13.51) and 10th in the 200 (28.24).
Dana Leonard placed 11th in the 2,000 steeplechase (8:33.3), and Andi Lyons placed 15th in the discus (83 feet, 2 inches).
Cooperstown's 3,200 relay team finished 10th (10:23.41), and its 1,600 relay placed 12th (4:37.01).
|