Champagne repeats as state champ

By COURTNEY LEWIS
Staff Writer

June 14, 2008 04:00 am

— AMHERST -- Mary Kate Champagne didn't reach the time she had wanted in the 3,000 meters Friday at the New York State Track and Field Championships, and she didn't finish in the top three overall.
But she still won a nice consolation prize -- her second consecutive Division 2 (small schools) championship.
The Seton Catholic star ran a 9:53.61 at University at Buffalo Stadium to take first in Division 2 and fifth in the Federation (overall) standings.
"I wanted to get low 9:40s or under 9:40," Champagne, a senior, said. "But it was just fun to have my last two-mile race in New York. "And I won the D2 crown, so that was good. Better than nothing."
Champagne was in second place during the first half of the race, but then the leaders started to pull away. Emily Lipari of Roslyn crossed the line first in 9:37.53.
"I felt pretty good in the beginning, but I guess we went out too hard," Champagne said. "Because we went out in my mile pace. So I guess I paid for it in the end."
The 3,000 was contested only after a lengthy weather delay. Champagne said she was warmed up and ready to go, but them a storm rolled in and the track was cleared during the 1,600 relay -- the event prior to the 3,000.
Champagne said she sat in the stadium concourse and read a book during the delay.
"It made planning the warm-up difficult," she said. "It kind of threw me off mentally, but I don't think it affected my race."
And the temperature cooled considerably after the rain went through, which Champagne said helped her.
Molly Roush of Northeastern Clinton finished fifth in Division 2 in the 800 with a time of 2:19.27. She's just a seventh-grader -- and track's not even really her sport.
"I wanted to actually get in shape for soccer," Roush said. "And now I'm doing actually pretty good in (track). A lot of people, when I first started playing soccer, they said I was fast. So I was like, Maybe that could help me.' And my first day of (track) practice, I was one of the fastest there. So I was like, I guess I'll stick with it.' "
Roush said that at the beginning of the season, she never expected she'd be picking up a medal at the state meet. But she was seeded fifth heading into this weekend and thought maybe she could get into today's Federation race.
"I was hoping I'd do pretty good," Roush said. "I'd seen the (times) on the computer, and I wasn't too far back. But I didn't realize how fast they really were."
Roush said once the race started, she felt like she hadn't warmed up enough. But a strong push down the stretch put her on the podium.
"I was feeling like, I don't know if I can run faster," Roush said. "But I did. I picked it up."
Tupper Lake's Kyla Kenyon took fourth in the 800 with a time of 2:19.21. Both Roush and Kenyon came of short of qualifying for the Federation race.
In discus, Beekmantown's Ikeyanna Hamlin earned a medal by turning in a throw of 101 feet, seven inches, which was good for sixth place.
Saranac's 1,600 relay team of Amy McCasland, Missy Seymour, Robbi Bailey and Katie McIntosh placed fifth in 4:09.59.
Emily Palmer of Ticonderoga had the seventh-best time of Division 2 runners in the 100 hurdles preliminaries and qualified for today's finals.
Saranac's Kristie Pageau was fourth after Day 1 of the Division 2 Pentathlon with 1,629 points.
clewis@pressrepublican.com

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