This week's featured team is Fairport Outdoor Track and Field. Both the boys and girls won a tough head-to-head matchup with league rival Webster Schroeder.
The team is made up of many talented athletes, including Ali Rybak, who has conquered long distances and won every race with the Warriors. She attempted the 800m, 1500m and 3000m.
Emma Blodgett is one of the top hurdlers in Section 5 and showed off her skills at Webster. Ms. Blodgett follows in her mother's footsteps. Karen Elliott Blodgett set her Section 5 400 hurdles record in 1993, which remained set for her 25 years.
Although Emma can't run the 400 hurdles as fast as her mother once did, she has run the best time in the event in Section 5 so far this year.
“I’ve been doing hurdles since eighth or ninth grade,” Emma Blodgett said. “A lot of people ask me if[her mother]made me do that. I'm like, 'No.' I just wanted to. It's kind of like chasing after me, but I liked hurdles from the beginning. ”
We can't forget Mary-Kate Rudnicki, who easily beat Schroeder in the 100 and 200 meters at Fairport. The senior said despite the individual and team success, the game at Webster was a little sad.
“This is our last league game. I really like league games because everyone can participate,” Radnicki said. “I feel like there's a good team spirit at Fairport. Everybody's rooting for everybody.”
“Overall, it’s a really great community,” Reback said. “Not just at Fairport. All over Section 5. On the track we're all competing, but off the track we're all friends.”
Jake Passargo owns many of Fairport's school records. A long-distance runner, he also helped his team defeat the Schroeder boys in the 1600 meters.
“We definitely talked as a team about getting more sleep, hydrating more and doing more as a team,” Passargo said. “I can't win (the game) by myself. This is a team effort.”
Passalugo is one of Fairport's seniors who has a freshman brother on the team. All eight are long-distance runners.
At the Schroeder meet, the brothers faced off in the 4×100 relay. It was a matchup between seniors and freshmen, something that probably hasn't happened in previous Section 5 games. The seniors won.
Well… it's not all The senior won.
“It seemed like a great opportunity,” senior Ryan Murray said. “This is our first and only season together. We thought it would be great to make that happen.”
Marie's team may have won, but she admitted her brother Jared won the family battle. Jared's legs were only 0.01 seconds faster than Ryan's in the relay, but he's probably good enough to have dinner table conversations for years to come.
“I don't think I can last forever like this,” Ryan admitted with a smile.
Congratulations to Fairport Athletics!
