SYRACUSE – It did not take long for the Cicero-North Syracuse and Liverpool girls indoor track and field teams to find themselves battling at the top of the standings. In each side’s season opener the Northstars emerged victorious from the Dec. 13 session of the Jack Morse Kickoff Meet at SRC Ar ena, earning 95 points to pull away from the 73.25 from the second-place Legends. Anna Eells, a state indoor champion last winter, is back for C-NS and she debuted with a winning triple jump of 40 feet 1 inch nearly five feet ahead of any challenger, with Samantha Moreno in fifth place, and then won the high jump clearing 5-8 with no one else topping 5-4. Winning the 55-meter hurdles, Aaliyah McDonald went 8.30 seconds holding off Marcellus standout Maddy Foy going 8.39 as Liverpool’s Tamia Tearney finished sixth in 9.64 but improved to third in the triple jump with 34’11.5. Stephanie Todd went 7.45 seconds in the 55-meter dash a close second to the 7.42 of Foy as Liverpool’s Nahla Battle-Crenshaw was third in 7.46. But Todd joined McDonald, Samantha Moreno and Selena Moreno to win the 4×200 relay with a time of 1;46.91. Selena Moreno gained her own win in the long jump going 16’11.25 edging the 16’11.0 from Liverpool’s Maddie Devendorf by a quarter of an inch, though Devendorf did win the 300-meter dash, her time of 41.98 seconds clear of a pack which included C-NS’s Callie Bednarski in sixth place. The Northstars’ Julia Arnold gained second place in the shot put with a throw of 32’3.5. Kennedy Jones finished fourth in the 3,000-meter run, with Mya Patti sixth. Katie Martin got second place in the 1,000-meter run going 3;09.71 right before Jahnaysia Jordan finished second in the 600 with a time of 1;42.30 beating C-NS teammates Evelyn Maglente in 1;42.38 and Gianna Melfi in 1;45.11. Ese Uloho finished fifth in the shot put. C-NS also had a strong showing in the boys edition of the Morse meet getting 92 points which beat everyone except Baldwinsville’s winning total of 105 points as Liverpool was third with 58 points. Camron Ingram beat out Liverpool’s Ryan Anonye 6.50 seconds to 6.61 for the win in the 55 sprint as Antwan Maxwell gained fifth place in 6.87 and Josh Nagbe was sixth for the Legend with 6.94. Then Ingram won the 55 hurdles with a swift 7.26 nearly a full second ahead of the 8.16 from Jaiden Tagliarano. In the 3,200-meter run Rhett Andrews won for the Northstars in 10;04.06, with Nolan Zinsmeyer posting 10;10.99 for third place. Tyler Graham followed winning the 1,000 with a time of 2;47.63 as Liverpool had Brian Juston third in 2;50.12 before he helped the Legends take second in the 4×800 relay in 9;40.38. Angel Cucenas was second in the 300 in a photo finish with B’ville’s Kayden Gilbert though both finished in 38.62 seconds. Andrew Buccilli was sixth for the Legends. Cucenas also helped C-NS to third in the 4×200 relay as Khais Johnson had a second-place triple jump of 39’9.75 and Prodigy Shepherd was sixth in the long jump. A win for Liverpool came from Brayden Smith in the 600 thanks to his time of 1;27.05 which was more than two seconds ahead of the field. Smith also took fifth in the 55 hurdles just behind teammate Achilles Widger in fourth place. ...read more read less