Whether it’s the cross country, indoor track or outdoor track season, Ithaca High School is always well-represented at the state level. This indoor campaign was no exception, as Staten Island was once again home to a pack of Little Red athletes for a couple of days.
Eight Ithacans took part in the state championships from March 6-7. To send that many athletes to states is a remarkable accomplishment given how late the cross country season goes with many athletes competing into late November and early December.
“It’s been really rewarding to see the kids working together as well as they did,” said head coach Becca Lovenheim. “It’s been really phenomenal to see the ways in which, particularly the boys team, stood out this season. Obviously Corning is a powerhouse, but we were definitely making our mark in terms of team achievements and getting ourselves there, which was great.”
The top performer at states for the Little Red was once again Tsadia Bercuvitz. Coming off a second-place finish at states during the cross country season, the junior earned her second straight runner-up finish in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 9:32.56, good for the third-best time in school history and the program’s top time for an 11th grader. She also competed in the 1,500-meter run for the first time at states, placing 14th. Since the state championships expanded across two days instead of one, that allowed Bercuvitz to compete in multiple events.
“We get excited about states, but you still have to go through state qualifiers,” Lovenheim said. “It’s a big deal that she is able to capitalize on her experience and race very much in a controlled way at state qualifiers in order to be able to compete in all three events.”
The third event that Lovenheim referred to is the 4×800-meter relay, which finished in 31st place. Bercuvitz was joined by senior Eliza DeRito, junior Skyler Lovenheim and sophomore Avery Whittaker. Two alternates also made the trip: juniors Maren Golden and Ruby Betts. Three of the four members have previously competed at states in individual events, and to see them join forces in the same event was a sight to behold.
“It’s gratifying to think each of them, particularly Eliza, Avery and Tsadia, made trips in individual events before to states,” Lovenheim said. “But to really give this a go and say ‘We’ve set a couple of school records in the 4×800, and we want to see how far we can take this as a group.’ To really embrace the team aspect of track and field has been exciting for them.”
Golden also made the trip to Staten Island to compete in the pole vault, where she placed 21st with a vault of nine feet, six inches. That tied her own school and class record in the event. Under the guidance of former Trumansburg and Ithaca College star Dom Mikula, who volunteered to help out the vaulters, the top-notch advice that Golden has received has paid off.
“Despite having control over the environment in indoor, it doesn’t mean that we have control over so many variables,” Lovenheim said. “To see the way in which Maren has just really diligently worked to master different parts of her jump and to just keep digging deep to see what else she can make out of each part of the growth process is really inspiring to watch.”
Like Bercuvitz, Zoli Nadasdy had a smooth transition between the fall and winter seasons. The senior qualified for states in the 1,600-meter run, placing 19th with a time of 4:21.73, the third-best mark in program history.
“He’s found a new level of speed, which is awesome,” Lovenheim said. “He’s really started to figure out where he can push the speed limits, so to speak. He basically came off of cross country, looking to see what he could qualify in across a variety of different distances. It was exciting to see him set the new school record in the 1,000-meter run, even though we knew that wasn’t where his end goals were. I think it’s pretty neat to think about the journey that he’s taken thus far. He’s definitely left a mark in our record books and been a fantastic captain, as well.”
Rounding out the Little Red contingent at states is Hayden Cornell. The senior also qualified for the first time in his career in the weight throw. He ended up in 11th place with a launch of 60 feet and half an inch, the fourth-best throw in school history. Cornell was also selected as the Section IV Sportsmanship male representative at states.
“Hayden has leaned into the gritty work of grinding out the reps and the drills and seen such success as he’s been able to put those pieces together for some really big throws,” Lovenheim said.
With the outdoor season already getting underway with the first day of practice on March 9, the Little Red is primed to replicate their success from this indoor season and send more athletes to the next state meet in June.
