SYRACUSE – Indoor track and field teams at East Syracuse Minoa and Jamesville-DeWitt were among the first local sides to get in some competition in the 2025-26 season. During the Dec. 6 Westhill Invitational at SRC Arena Phil Moore stood out for the ESM boys right away as, in the 55-meter hurdles, his time of exactly eight seconds beat out the 8.29 from J-D’s Darrien Hunter in second place. Moore also was second in the long jump going 21 feet 5 inches, while his teammate Sadak Abdi topped the field in the triple jump, his 41’10 3/4” beating a 41’5” from J-D’s Jaden Addai in second place. The Red Rams got even in the 4×400 relay with Hunter, Amar Lopez, Moujhaid Cherif and William Hunter going 3:44.12 to beat out ESM, who was second in 3:46.58. Then in the 4×200 J-D completed a relay sweep when Lopez, Tristan Costello, Elijah Lewis and Joe Felasco went 1:36.37 to beat out Cato-Meridian’s second-place 1:37.84. In the high jump Lopez cleared 6 feet, which was second only to the 6’2” from Auburn’s Amadi Oneyani as Braden Brown was sixth in the pole vault clearing 8’6”, with Lopez also fourth in the triple jump leaping 40’9 3/4”. On the girls side for ESM Claire Lavelle finished second in the 1,500-meter run in 5:15.58, with Sofia Pilger running the 1,000 in 3:33.57 to finish second. Jaelyn Jordan took third in the 600 posting a time of 1:48.84 as Laila Thomas finished sixth. Madeline Carr was sixth in the shot put throwing it 29’11 1/4”. J-D’s girls featured Ellyana Deng nearly winning the long jump, her 15’9 1/2” second to a 16’1” from Cato-Meridian’s Maggie Brown. Deng was fourth in the triple jump going 31’2 3/4” and seventh in the high jump topping 4’8”. Brielle Rivera clearing 7 feet to finish third in the pole vault. They were both back at SRC Arena for the Jack Morse Kickoff Meet joined by Fayetteville-Manlius for Friday night’s session and each of the three sides would flourish. Moore won twice for ESM, dominating the 55 hurdles as his 7.88 seconds was nearly half a second ahead of the 8.36 of Darien Hunter, who helped J-D to second in the 4×200 posting 1;37.91 as Addai was second in the high jump clearing 5’10”. Then in the long jump Moore won it with 22’1 1/2’ as Jaden Addai was second for J-D with 20’7 3/4”. Aaron Ali gave the Spartans a second-place finish in the weight throw going 50’ 1/4”, while in the long jump Lopez prevailed for the Rams with 47’9 1/4” well clear of Sadak Abdi’s 42’ 1/2” in second place. A showdown in the boys 55 sprint had F-M’s Nick Domashenko and ESM’s Jay-Neil McDuffie both go 6.68 seconds edging the 6.72 from Jayden Recabo Will Beecher went 1:28.91 to pull out a victory in the 600 as ESM’s Justin Gaskins gotthird place in 1:30.37. Kevin Heller was third in the 1,000 in 2:43.62, with Beecher helping the Hornets get second in the 4×800 in 9:19.65. F-M’s girls went 1-2-3 in the 600 as Camille Ryan in 1:43.09 edged Dahlia Saada’s 1:43.61 as Claire McDonald was third in 1:47.30 edging Sofia Pilger’s 1:47.70. McDonald also helped the Hornets win the 4×800 relay in 10:11.91 as ESM finished third. Michelle Ifeonu helped the Hornets as she won the shot put heaving it 45 feet 1/4 inch to beat the 40-6 from J-D’s Udo Okerk, while in the pole vault Brielle Rivera won for the Rams, the only competitor to clear 7’6”. Ashlynn Yonge was second in the 3,000 in 10:59.93 and Jordan Gianetti second in the 1,000 in 3:05.06 with Lavelle edging the Hornets’ Evie Pinkerton for fourth place. Zoe Maritnez-Arias was fourth in the 55 sprint in 7.69 seconds just ahead of the Spartans’ Neveah Hackett in 7.75. Madelyn Copp gave the ESM girls a win in the 55 hurdles in 9.80 seconds, with Deng going 16’10 3/4’ to win the long jump as F-M’s Katherine O’Brien was third, with Deng second in the triple jump with 32’11’ as Copp took third place. ...read more read less