Prior to the early 2000s, the Corning School District laid claim to just two individual state champions from the track and field teams and both of them were members of the Corning East squad. That has changed dramatically over the years.
One of the finest athletes to ever come out of Corning East High School was also their first ever state champion. Mark McMillan was perhaps better known as one of the most explosive running backs in the history of Trojan football. But, it was on the track that he made his mark (yeah, and do not pardon the pun) during his senior year at East.
After accumulating eight sectional titles during his track career along with school records in both the 100 meters and 200 meters, Mark capped his fantastic career in 1979 when he captured the state title in the 100 meters race. He was the one who unlocked the State Championship trophy case in the Corning School District.
It would be another 11 years before the local district would place another trophy in that case. In 1988, John Duke capped a brilliant running career at Corning East when he took home the state championship in cross country. John was also the most productive long distance runner on the Corning East track & field teams, winning many sectional titles and a school record in the 1,600 meter run and other distance events.
When the year 2002 arrived, so too, did the flood gates open for the Corning District track team state championship harvest. That was the year that Mario Hicks captured the state title in the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 14.64 seconds. It marked a culture change for the track athletes and according to coach Lou Fiorillo, it was Mario who ignited it.
“When Mario Hicks won that first state championship, he was the kind of the start of a track culture where athletes would come in saying they were track athletes and not just training for another sport. It turned out to be an attitude change,” he said.
Apparently that attitude change first took place in the Hicks household as the next Corning District state champion followed in his older brother’s footsteps. In 2006, Kenyan Hicks became the second member of his family to become a state title holder when he captured the gold in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 53.58 seconds.
It was the following years that the state championship flood gates really opened with a pair of outstanding athletes taking home some very impressive titles.
Perhaps no individual in the history of Corning-Painted Post School District athletic history is more accomplished than Albert Johnson. Not only is Albert a state champion, he is a five-time state champion. How crazy is that. He began his incredible run as a junior in 2007 when he won the long jump title with a leap just a smidgeon over 23 feet.
It was during his senior season that Albert could have easily been considered the New York State Track & Field Athlete of the Year, if they ever had such a title.
He captured two indoor titles and two outdoor titles. His outstanding performance began in the indoor arena where he won the state title in the long jump with a leap of 23 feet, 6.5 inches and then captured the crown in the triple jump by soaring 49 feet, 2.25 inches. During the outdoor meet later that season he captured both crowns again. His long jump measured 23 feet, 2.75 inches and a triple jump of 48 feet, 7.5 inches. Must have been jumping against the wind. Five state titles in two years. How many athletes in the state can match that accomplishment?
That same season, Kate Early put on a performance of her own in the state meet when she became the first girl in the school district’s history to win a state title. Kate took home the gold in the strenuous Pentathlon. She put together a winning score by placing first in the 800 meter run (2:21.77) and the 100 meter hurdles (15.48 seconds) and then managed a second place in the high jump and third place in the long jump. Her total of 3,471 points was more than enough for her to haul away the gold medal.
A little icing on the cake for the track athletes was actually a team effort. In 2003, the Corning District boys 3200 meter relay team captured the state title. Perhaps inspired by state champ Mario Hicks from the previous year, the squad of Travis Preston, Matt Deragon, Phil Marchese and Dane Schneider did their part to help fill up that State Championship trophy case.
This group of athletes from the track & field team just set the table and may have forced an expansion of that trophy case, because for the past 15 years, the local district has been considered one of the strongest in the state. They’ve produced more state champs, but for another article written by someone else in a few more years. Call it a culture change if you will.
This article originally appeared on The Leader: Corning track & field produced state champions who set early standard
Reporting by Larry French, Special to The Leader / The Leader
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Larry French, Special to The Leader | USA TODAY Network
