ALDEN — Nicholas Morgan had a feeling he would have to chase. And in order to win the Division I state qualifier in the 800-meter run, he would have to make his move in a hurry.
So, while running in Lane 3, the Niagara Wheatfield junior stayed on the leader, Hamburg’s Andrew Donner’s right hip until the last 100 meters. That’s when, on the final turn, Morgan made his move, resulting in a final sprint with Donner towards the finish line.
And, with a final lean towards the finish, Morgan clinched his spot for states with a finished time of 1 minute, 58.7 seconds, .4 seconds faster than Donner. Morgan’s victory was just part of the opening day of the Section VI state qualifier at Alden High School.
“It’s awesome,” Morgan said. “I worked all season for that, so, it’s pretty cool.”
Morgan originally competed in the 400 the last two years. But, after finding success in the 600 and 1,000 events during indoor, Morgan moved up to the 800 at the start of the outdoor season.
Morgan considered the finish with Donner the closest he’s been a part of. But in terms of preparing for the race, Morgan anticipated Donner pushing the pace up until the final stretch.
To have enough stamina for the final finish, Morgan credited his Niagara Wheatfield coaches for the sprint training and for instilling the knee up, toe up mentality when sprinting in the sprints. With that in mind, Morgan was prepared for the final finish with Donner.
“We just kind of knew I have a good kick and if it comes down to a kick, we kind of believe that I would win it,” Morgan said. “And, it ended up coming down to the kick and, last 100, I ended up coming through.”
GI’s Christensen completes comeback, wins girls shot put
Brooke Christensen was concerned about her performance well before her first toss. The Grand Island senior knew, at some point, she would have to push in order to get her desired distance.
But, for the past year, pushing with full strength is what concerned her the most. Last year, Christensen had a bicep injury, which resulted in placing third at the Division I state qualifier with a toss of 105 feet.
So, when she made her best distance — and eventually winning toss — of the day at 36 feet, 6 ¼ inches, Christensen had a giant weight off her shoulders. After years of trying, Christensen, now fully healthy, now had her shot to go to outdoor states.
“I was definitely a little bit concerned coming in, but, just have to stay calm and do your job,” Christensen said. “I mean, I’ve worked for it all season, so, nothing that I did this week was going to change what happened today. So, that was definitely something big that I thought of when I was coming into this meet.”
Christensen had some familiarity with the competition going into the qualifier. Niagara Wheatfield’s Giovanna Glovack, who won the Niagara Frontier League title two weeks ago, placed sixth with a final toss of 32-6 1.5.
But for Christensen, her winning toss went better than she expected. And the toss was enough to fend off Lancaster’s Isabella Jackson, who had a final toss of 36-1.
“I came off and I was like, ‘Oh, this is gonna be really short,’” Christensen said. “And then I saw it and it was where it needed to be, so, that was a really good feeling for sure.”
Best of the rest
Lockport senior Melia Towns won the Division I girls triple jump at 38-6 to now finish top 25 in the state.
In the girls Division I pole vault, Orchard Park’s Abigail Bernas won with a personal record of 11-6. Starpoint’s Emily Waldron placed second at 10-6 while teammate Madyson Bush placed fourth at 10-0.
Williamsville North’s Kylie Davis won the girls 3,000 Division I state qualifier with a time of 10:18.69. Defending state champion, Starpoint’s Shannon Zugelder, placed third at 10:30.96
In Division II, Lewiston-Porter’s Casey Fetzner finished third in the girls shot put at 34-6.25. Medina senior Madelynn Rutledge finished second with a personal best of 36-2.5 in the girls triple jump.
On the boys side, Niagara Wheatfield’s Jason Kinder finished runner-up to Williamsville East’s Calvin Kulik in the Division I boys discus. Kulik had the winning toss at 152-3 while Kinder finished second at 141-1.
Through the first day of the pentathlon, Niagara Wheatfield had a pair of top-three finishers in both divisions. On the girls side, junior Gabrielle McKenzie is in third with 1,575 points and won the shot put at 28-4.25.
On the boys side, Falcons junior Harrison Barnett is in third with 1,547 points.
The second and final day of the Section VI state qualifier begins at 10 a.m. Saturday at Alden High School.