``Sometimes when you compete, you feel bad after a loss because you didn’t play well or gave it away,’’ Howard said. ``But B-G-A came in here and won this meet with great individual and team performances, and I was happy for them.’’

Bainbridge-Guilford-Afton accumulated 133 points, and set meet record time in the 1,600 relay with a time of 3 minutes, 29.3 seconds in winning the 18th annual meet.

``Our records are pretty darn good, and they broke it easily,’’ Howard said. ``We had some good performances, but we needed to have everyone on the team have a great day in order to have a shot.’’

The Redskins were missing Brian Reis, who is out with a stress fracture but could return as early as Friday in Sherburne.

Cooperstown’s Stephen Scrafford won both the 1,600 (4:31.9) and 3,200 (10.07.9) and the 3,200 relay team of Scrafford, Kris Reynolds, Jimmy Jennings and Will Tirrell were also victorious with a time of 8:52.8.

Cooperstown’s other first place finish was turned in by senior Lucas Niedzialkowski in the pole vault with a height of 12 feet.

Howard said Kurt Berfjord’s 40-foot triple jump, which was good for fifth place, was also a good effort. Bergfjord also placed second in the long jump (19-4).

``Whenever you have 40 feet in the triple jump, that’s pretty good, but today it was only good for fifth place,’’ Howard said.

B-G-A’s Dustin Ross was named athlete of the meet, winning the 200 in a meet record of 22.6, besting Oneonta’s Geoff Bean’s former record by .3 seconds. Ross also won the 400 and a leg of the 400 relay.

Milford’s Danny Baxter also had an exceptional day, winning both the triple jump (41 feet, .75 inches) and long jump (19-6), and placing second in the 400 hurdles (1:00.3) to help the Wildcats to a fourth place finish.

``Danny’s triple jump shattered our school record, and his high hurdle tied the school record,’’ said Milford track coach Dave Prouty. ``It was also the first time he had ever competed competitively in the long jump and to win it is quite an accomplishment to say the least.’’

Other highlights for Milford included Ron Alston’s personal best in the 400, Brenna Campbell’s fifth place in the 800, and Morgan Dutcher’s fifth place in the long jump with a personal best 14 feet, two inches.

Before the meet began, both Howard and Prouty were honored.

Howard, who has coached the varsity since 1971, has announced his retirement effective at the end of this season. The Cooperstown Invitational will now be known as Cooperstown’s Don Howard Invitational.

``I had no idea,’’ Howard said of the announcement, which was made by Cooperstown girls track coach Connie Herzig. ``It was a nice surprise. Year in and year out this meet does what I wanted it to do when I began it, and that’s to give all the athletes in the area a chance to come together for a day.’’

Prouty has coached at Milford for 27 seasons, and when the school finally got their own track in 2003, it was named for Prouty.

``For the last eight or nine years, we’ve honored someone before the start of the meet, and no one is more deserving than Dave,’’ Herzig said. ``His program is personality-driven. His program has succeeded because of his consistency and personality. Kids perform for coaches who care about them.’’

Prouty said it was nice to be recognized.

``It’s always a great atmosphere at the Cooperstown Invitational, and Don Howard is such a tremendous ambassador for the sport,’’ Prouty said.

Cooperstown will run in the Sherburne Invitational on Friday, and will go for their fifth straight Center State Conference title on Saturday, May 19 at Waterville.

Milford will also compete at Sherburne, and the Tri-Valley league championship is scheduled for Thursday, May 17 at Edmeston High School.