Think of a 2,000-yard rushing season in football or a 30-points-per-game scoring average in basketball and you'll get the idea of the kind of track and field seasons turned in by Ashley Mahlmeister and Dustin Ross this past season.
Sidney graduate Mahlmeister won two state titles and Bainbridge-Guilford grad Ross anchored B-G/Afton's 1,600-meter relay to the program's first state championship.
Along the way, they broke sectional records and put forth performances that likely won't be duplicated in these parts for many years to come.
From the no-argument-here department, Mahlmeister and Ross were named The Daily Star's Female and Male Athletes of the Year for track and field. It marks the third straight year they've been so honored, with Mahlmeister sharing the award with B-G/A graduate Kati Holowacz as a sophomore.
"What's hard to imagine is they were so good they almost overshadowed each other," B-G/A coach Robb Munro said of Mahlmeister and Ross. "I remember Dustin ran a 48.41 (in the 400 meters) in the Section Four State Qualifier and thought, That's going to be the headline tomorrow.' But then Ashley goes out and qualifies in three events and Dustin's 48.41 ends up not being the headline. But it was the right headline.
"It's amazing to have that much talent in a five-mile span," he continued.
Four-year standout Mahlmeister earned Division II (school enrollments of 599 or fewer) titles in the 100 hurdles and long jump in the June 12-13 state meet at Cicero-North Syracuse. Ross ran a 48-second split as the final leg of B-G/A's winning D-II relay team, rallying the Bears past two schools over the last lap June 12.
But the numbers that will keep Mahlmeister and Ross in conversations about the area's top track and field athletes of all-time are 19-6 and 48.41.
Mahlmeister, bound for Division I University at Albany next season, long jumped 19 feet, 6 inches en route to placing second overall in the state. For perspective, her best jump outdoors heading into her senior season was 17-4.5.
The best previous performance by a Section Four athlete was 18-3.25, set by Union-Endicott graduate Alsinia Ervin in 1979.
So the 14.75 inches Mahlmeister added to that record almost has to be considered Beamonesque in Section Four circles. When the United States' Bob Beamon won the 1968 Olympic gold medal at Mexico City in the long jump with a leap of 29-2.50, he tacked on 21.25 inches to the previous record. That mark lasted 23 years and it might take at least that long for someone to erase Mahlmeister's name from the record book.
"You could make the argument that she's the best all-around track and field athlete in Section Four history," Munro said.
As for D-I Binghamton University-bound Ross, the 48.41 seconds he ran at the Section Four State Qualifier on June 4 at Binghamton Alumni Stadium to win his third straight sectional 400 title is quite possibly the second fastest by a Daily Star circulation area athlete in history. Unatego graduate Darren Hall's 46.99 _ a number Ross said he's been chasing since his sophomore year _ remains the fastest.
"To think another kid will come along on the same team and run that kind of time is hard to fathom," B-G/A Robb Munro said, when asked if he thought that school record would be broken any time soon.
It marked the second of three times this past season that Ross crossed in under 49 seconds.
In the state meet, Ross finished second to Marcellus' Mike Quercia in the Division II 400, despite running a 48.84. Quercia crossed in 47.86. Their respective times were the two fastest of the day. The past three years, Ross finished second, third and second in the D-II 400 as his times dropped from 49.17 to 49.06 to 48.84 each year.
"If he had come along at a different time, he'd have been a three-time state champion (in the 400)," Munro said.
The following day, Ross placed fourth overall in the state the Federation 400 with a 49.07, .04 behind Quercia, who finished third.
Perhaps the performance that sealed Ross' legacy came during the D-II 1,600 relay final June 12. He received the baton from teammate Steve Howe and trailed teams from Owego and Bayport/Bluepoint by about five meters.
Ross quickly made up the distance and settled in behind the Indians' Jimmy Campbell and Bayport/Bluepoint's Kevin Price.
At the top of the final turn, Ross sped past both runners and pulled away down the stretch to give the Bears their first state championship in track and field.
B-G/A's team of Josh Norris, Kyle Kelly, Howe and Ross crossed in 3:24.51 _ just off the Section Four record of 3:24.21 the quartet set at the Section Four Class B meet two weeks earlier. Ross ran a personal-best split of 48.0.
"I just tried to stay relaxed and do my thing," said Ross, who rushed for more than 1,000 yards in each of his last two varsity football seasons for B-G. "It played out very well. I had my fastest split with a 48-flat. I would have loved to split in the 47s, but we won the state championship. We got the sectional record and we won states."
While Ross' effort was impressive during the state meet, Mahlmeister's could best be described as jaw-dropping.
She competed in three events and simply destroyed her previous bests in all of them.
"I've had a lot of track meets where I was disappointed and not happy, but those two days just made up for everything," Mahlmeister said.
First-year Sidney coach Holly Lape added: "I was obviously shocked. She had been improving steadily, but she did more in those two days than most coaches will see in a lifetime."
Her best time in the 100 hurdles before the state meet was a 14.87 she ran in the 2008 Section Four Class C meet. She ran a 14.60 in the D-II preliminaries on the first day and won the state title the next day with a 14.50.
Mahlmeister's best triple jump coming into the meet was a 38-3.5 she set at the 2009 Section Four Class C meet. She added a foot to that in placing second to Elmira Notre Dame standout Olivia Weeks in the D-II triple jump at states and smashed former teammate Katelyn Guerriere's school record by 9.5 inches. Weeks, Section Four's record-holder in the event, went 40-5.5.
Mahlmeister and Weeks also placed 1-2 in the Federation triple jump the next day, with Mahlmeister covering 39-3 to Weeks' 40-5.
Each easily bested the previous Section Four record of 38-10, set by Vestal graduate Kelly Peet in 1992.
Finally, there's the long jump.
Mahlmeister broke Irvin's Section Four record with a leap of 18-9.5 in the Section Four Class C meet.
Her first state title came in the long jump on the first day of the state meet, when she went 18-7.5 for a comfortable 8.5-inch victory.
The following day, Mahlmeister said she surprised even herself in the Federation final. Her final long jump covered 19-6.
"I had no idea I was going to do that," said Mahlmeister, also a second-team all-state soccer performer in the fall and a key cog on Sidney's 20-1 volleyball team.
Ross and Mahlmeister said they have big plans for their freshman seasons in college.
It seems fitting that the longtime Midstate Athletic Conference standouts will compete in the same conference _ the America East.
Ross, who'll major in mechanical engineering, said his goal will be to make BU's 1,600 relay team.
"That's been my goal since I signed," Ross said. "I want to work to make a spot on that team. I'll take little steps at a time. Hopefully, by the time I graduate, I can run in the NCAAs with the 4-by-4.
"To qualify as an individual would be great, but it's even better to share it with three other guys," he continued. "I hope to bring a lot of good things to the Binghamton team."
Mahlmeister said she's leaning toward majoring in nursing at Albany.
"I think I'll do a lot better," Mahlmeister said of the joining the Albany track team. "I'll have a lot more training and coaches who are used to athletes like me. I have a lot left in me. I'd like to run a 14.0 in the hurdles, a 19-6, if not better in the long jump, and add a couple more inches in the triple jump."
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Rob Centorani can be reached on rcentorani@thedailystar.com or 607-432-1000, ext. 209.
