Old Rochester Regional High School senior Ally Saccone hurdled to 20th in the nation at the New Balance National Indoor Track Championship in New York City last weekend.

The ORR indoor track team sent a number of students to the competition this year, which had the best high school athletes from across the country. Saccone made it to the semi-finals in 60 meter hurdles where she ran 8:97, slightly slower than her 8:85 at the 2012 event.

The girls shuttle hurdlers, Paige Santos, Meagan Bell, Bailey Truesdale, and Ally Saccone, were also in the championship, but were disqualified when one of the girl’s accidentally touched a hurdle with her hand.

The girl’s 200 meter relay and boys 200 meter relay qualified for the Emerging Elite division, which is a step under the national championship competition.

“If you want to qualify, it’s generally very hard because it’s nationwide,” said Coach Cindy Tilden.

Tilden said the girls relay had difficulty in the hand-off, resulting in a 32nd place finish with a time of 1:49.25.

The boys 200 meter relay, composed of Dan Donahue, Kevin Noone, Colin Knapton, and Kevin Saccone, also had a tough time in their event. In the second leg of the race, Noone suffered a tear in his hamstring, and the boys were unable to finish. Michael Wyman also finished 12th in the one-mile Elites with a time of 4:21.92.

Despite some disappointments, Tilden said, “Part of it is just about experiencing that level of competition, and for them to see how they stack up to people they don’t see everyday.”

She added, “They performed well. Could they have performed better? Yeah, but for a lot of them, it was their first time and they certainly hung in.”