It's always hard following a legend _ especially when said legend is a former teammate, friend and mentor.
In Sidney circles, Katelyn Guerriere is the measuring stick for hurdlers and jumpers. She won six _ count 'em six _ state titles in a Warriors uniform and is currently enjoying success for Division I James Madison University's track and field team.
"I hear she did really well," Sidney senior-to-be Ashley Mahlmeister said of Guerriere's sophomore season at James Madison, which included a 13.99-second clocking in the 100-meter hurdles. "I just want to be close to where she was (in high school)."
Guerriere's senior season at Sidney brought an indoor state title in the 55-meter hurdles, her third straight outdoor 100 hurdles state title and an outdoor triple jump state championship. That same year at St. Lawrence University, a little known Sidney freshman named Mahlmeister made her debut in the outdoor state meet.
She finished ninth in the 100 hurdles among Division II runners (school enrollments of 599 or fewer), missing an appearance in the D-II finals by one spot.
Since then, Mahlmeister has become Section Four's preeminent 100 hurdler and long jumper. She won both events at the Section Four State Qualifiers for the second straight spring in 2008.
For her efforts, Mahlmeister earned Daily Star Female Athlete of the Year honors for the second straight season. Last year, she shared the honor with Bainbridge-Guilford/Afton's Kati Holowacz. This marks the sixth straight year Guerriere or Mahlmeister earned at least a share of The Daily Star's top honor for girls track and field athletes. Guerriere split the honor with teammate Amanda Haney in 2003 and 2004 before winning it outright in 2005 and 2006.
On the boys side, Bainbridge-Guilford/Afton junior Dustin Ross received his second straight Daily Star Male Athlete of the Year award. Ross ran a personal-best 49.06 to place third in the D-II 400 at the state meet. He bettered the time of 49.17 he ran at the previous year's state meet, when he placed second in D-II. Ross finished ninth overall in the state in 2008.
Also at the state meet this spring, Mahlmeister placed second among D-II athletes in the 100 hurdles and fourth in the long jump. Though Mahlmeister doesn't have the type of hardware Guerriere collected, their times during their respective junior seasons were remarkably similar.
Guerriere's fastest fully automated time (FAT) as a junior in the 100 hurdles was 14.87, a time she ran at St. Lawrence University in the state meet that led to her second straight D-II state championship in the event.
Mahlmeister's fastest FAT time was also 14.87, her personal-best, that came at the Section Four Class C meet.
"I wanted to get under 15," said Mahlmeister, who'll compete in the 100 hurdles, long jump and triple jump at next week's Empire State Games in Binghamton. "Toward the end of the season I really wanted to get my time down and just pushed myself."
Guerriere closed her junior season in the 100 hurdles with a time of 15.05 to place fourth in the Federation race, which identifies the best overall hurdlers in the state.
Mahlmeister's junior season ended with a 15.04 clocking in the Federation race at the University of Buffalo, which placed her seventh.
"(Our times) are pretty close right now," Mahlmeister said, comparing her times to Guerriere's. "I'm hoping to get down to the times she ran."
As Mahlmeister heads into her senior year, Guerriere's Section Four record FAT clocking of 14.42 will be very much on her mind.
"I want to break that record," she said.
In the long jump, Mahlmeister jumped a season-best 17 feet, 4 1/2 inches to place fourth at the state meet. That mark was a half-inch off her personal best of 17-5 she set as a sophomore. She still has a ways to go to get Guerriere's school record of 18-6 in the event.
Mahlmeister also competed for the first time this season in the triple jump. She proved a quick study, finishing second at the state qualifier in 36-2 1/4.
Ross' junior season was hampered by right hamstring strain suffered at the Midstate Athletic Conference meet in mid May. Aside from light workouts, Ross missed about two weeks of training while he recovered.
His return came at the Section Four State Qualifiers at Vestal, the site for next year's state meet.
He bolted out of the blocks and reached the halfway mark in the 400 at 22.7 seconds, according to hand-held clocking kept by coach Robb Munro. Ross tired late in the race, but had just enough to hold off a hard-charging Brian Sutton of Cherry Valley-Springfield. The runners finished about a body-length apart with a seemingly exhausted Ross crossing in 49.45 seconds to Sutton's personal-best 49.68.
The following week at states, Ross led the D-II 400 with about a 100 meters left before being passed by Holland's Jon Ramsey (48.82) and Olean's Cameron Jobe (48.98). During that race, Ross dealt with a blister that formed on the ball of his left foot.
about 100 meters into the race and then burst with 150 meters to go. Munro estimated the blister was about an inch-a-half wide.
Sutton, also a junior, finished fifth in 49.83.
Others receiving consideration for the honors on the girls side were:
Cooperstown junior Anna Weber, who placed third at the state meet in the 400 hurdles in a personal-best 1:04.94, lowering her school record; B-G/A senior Holowacz, who also lowered her school record in the 1,500, finishing fourth among D-II runners at the state meet in 4:42.13; B-G/A senior Bethany Norris, who ran a 58.0 in the 400 and a 1:05.2 in the 400 hurdles _ both school records; Morris senior Kayla Forgit, who placed second in the state meet in the shot put; and Delhi junior Katie Darling, who finished fourth in the D-II pentathlon.
For the boys, Sutton, Delhi sophomore shot-putter Marty Cole and Gilbertsville-Mount Upton senior Peter Schmidt were in the running. Cole placed sixth in D-II with a put of 50-6. Schmidt finished fifth in the pentathlon.
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Rob Centorani can be reached at rcentorani@thedailystar.com or 607-432-1000, ext. 209.
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