Glenn's Kaitlin Whitehorn won the girls high jump. (June 9,...

Glenn's Kaitlin Whitehorn won the girls high jump. (June 9, 2012) Credit: Adrian Kraus

CICERO, N.Y. -- No matter how high the bar is set, Kaitlin Whitehorn continues to soar to new heights. And the Glenn senior reached the peak Saturday after repeating as state Division I and Federation champion.

Whitehorn cleared 5 feet, 8 inches to win the high jump in the New York State and Federation Outdoor Track and Field Championship at Cicero-North Syracuse High School. Jackie Crunden of Whitman took second at 5-7 as Suffolk County went 1-2 overall.

"It makes me feel like anything is possible," Whitehorn said of her win, "especially for when I go on to run and jump at college."

The Dartmouth-bound senior made it look effortless, clearing each successive height in her first attempt -- and with ample room to spare each time.

"I really perfected my technique as best as I could before getting here," Whitehorn said. "It kind of just worked."

The practice showed, as Whitehorn did not miss on any of her jumps until after she already clinched the victory and was trying to clear 5-9.

"Pretty much when I jump, I try to get it on the first try," she said. "Sometimes you can win on fewer misses, so if I missed less, I could still take the championship."

Garden City repeated as Federation 4 x 400-meter champions, as the team of Laura Jaeger, Emma Gallagher, Alexis Yeboah-Kodie and Taylor Hennig fended off Colonie to win in 3 minutes, 45.25 seconds.

Gallagher gave her team the lead on the backstretch of the second leg. From there, it was up to Yeboah-Kodie and Hennig to hold on, which was no easy task, since Colonie's star anchor leg, 400 state and Federation champ Kyle Plante, had yet to go.

"We knew that if there was any chance for us to come out on top, we had to get an early lead," Hennig said. "Any lead that wasn't enough, and Kyle would have closed on us."

Bay Shore's Jessica Gelibert won her second straight state Division I and Federation title in the 400 hurdles, in 1:00.54, and held off Uniondale's Brittney Webley (1:02.29).

"[I] always tend to run this race without having any competition," Gelibert said. "So having [Webley] right there definitely helped a lot."

Webley won the state Division I 100 hurdles in 14.64. She was third overall in the heat but the top two finishers were not from public schools.

Odrine Belot of Kellenberg won the Federation triple jump title with a leap of 39-13/4 on her final attempt. She also won the Federation triple jump at the indoor state meet.

"I just tried to gut it out," said Belot, who also took fourth in the Federation 100 hurdles.

Sachem East's Rachel Paul took the Division I state 1,500, finishing third overall in 4:28.29. Bronxville's Mary Cain won in 4:19.78 to earn the state Division II and Federation titles, and Friends Academy's Kelsey Margey -- who won the state and Federation 800 Friday -- finished second overall in 4:25.71.

Elmont's Valencia Hannon also took home state Division I gold, finishing second overall in 12.05 seconds. Kadecia Baird (Medgar Evers) finished first in 12.00 seconds, but Hannon was awarded the state crown because PSAL schools are eligible only for Federation titles.

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