On Thursday, May 28, the Cherry Valley-Springfield varsity boys track and field team earned their fifth consecutive Section IV title, and the varsity girls placed as Section IV runners-up to section newcomers Elmira-Notre Dame.
The week before, both CV-S teams won their fifth consecutive Tri-Valley League Championship banner, led by boys team captain Brian Sutton and girls team captain Fiona Doherty, coached by Jordan Jaquay and Steve Davis, and assisted by Melissa Jaquay.
At the sectionals meet in Delhi, 14 students qualified for the state qualifiers meet in Binghamton on June 4. Notable performances included sophomore Joslyn Mabie's first-place finish in the steeplechase, second-place finish in the 400 and 800 meters, and third-place finish as anchor of the 400-meter relay.
Brian Sutton, a 400 runner who went to the state championship meet in Buffalo last year, led the CV-S boys to their victory with a first-place finish in the 400 and 200 meters, and sixth in the long jump.
Perhaps his most impressive contribution was his anchoring leg of the 400 relay, with what some coaches referred to as "the greatest four hundred meters (they) had ever seen."
When Sutton got the baton from teammate Brian Panzeri, he was in third place, about 45 meters behind Laurens' Pat Bullock. By the end of the race, however, the two were neck-and-neck, and Sutton crossed the finish line first, with a split time of 47.9 seconds; a time that, in an open 400 run, would trounce previous CV-S and Tri-Valley League records (both of which are already held by Sutton).
Jordan Jaquay became the track coach at CV-S 15 years ago. His wife, Melissa, encouraged him not to: a fact deemed ironic by everyone who has heard the enthusiastic assistant coach cheer at track meets.
Jaquay was already a history teacher and basketball coach at CV-S, and had previously coached the boys baseball team. A runner in high school, he found he loved coaching track. He was joined six years later by Steve Davis, who had previously coached at Ilion but came to CV-S to teach technology. Any member of the track teams will vouch that Mr. Jaquay, Mr. Davis, and Mrs. Jaquay are an incredible group of coaches, with their congenial, sometimes comedic, dispositions, their rigorous workouts, and their love of the sport.
The CV-S track and field teams "" though they comprise a diverse group of students "" have become close-knit, familial friends. With every victory has come a degree of derision from competitors, and the less-than-constructive comments from opposing coaches are often quoted in local newspapers.
But such is the nature of high school sports (or any competitive sports league for that matter); contestants and spectators alike become charged, nervous, excited.
"It's rewarding to get our fifth Tri-Valley League title," says Doherty, a distance runner who finished 13th in the state qualifiers meet for the 3,000 meters, "but it's always been more about running than winning."
Maggie Millner is a senior at Cherry Valley-Springfield Central School.
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