This year, he signed up for both sports, leaving friends and coaches wondering which he would choose.

Like a senior athlete unveiling which college they will select for their future endeavors, Hoose showed up for track practice March 11.

With all due respect for Hoose’s short-lived tennis career, he seems to have made the right choice.

The Trojans senior leads a group of 15 individual boys and three relays that will participate in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association track and field championships Friday and Saturday at Cicero-North Syracuse High School.

Southwestern’s Declan Kennedy is seeded seventh in the Division 2 400-meter hurdles. P-J file photo by Tim Frank

“My buddies all wanted me to do track. Finally, they convinced me,” Hoose said Wednesday afternoon. “I told them they’d find out on the first day, and I showed up to track. … We’ve had a good time.”

Hoose will compete in the Division 2 pentathlon, having participated in the event just twice in his high school career.

On May 15, at the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association pentathlon-steeplechase event at Falconer’s Bill Race Field, Hoose finished second to Allegany-Limestone senior Joshua Nolder with 2,871 points.

“It was a very welcome surprise having Neves come out. We knew he was an athlete. About halfway through the year we were talking about pentathlon and we had a couple of girls who were interested,” Southwestern boys head coach Jay Sirianni said. ” … He had a tough week. He competed on Tuesday in a dual meet, completed the CCAA pentathlon on Wednesday and then we had the county meet, and he was in four events there.”

This past weekend at the Section VI state qualifier hosted by Alden High School, Hoose improved on that mark significantly with a first-place total of 3,004 points.

Jamestown’s Noah Burch is seeded fifth in the Division 1 long jump and 17th in the 400 meters. P-J file photo by Tim Frank

“Declan Kennedy convinced me by saying: ‘Neves, think about it, pentathlon, you love to do all these different things. … All you have to do is be above average and you can beat all these other kids,'” Hoose said of a preseason conversation he had with a fellow Trojans state qualifier. “If my good friend believes I can do it, I can obviously go ahead and accomplish it.”

In Alden, Hoose finished the 1,500 meters in 4:59.25 and ran the best time in the 110-meter hurdles at 16.58 seconds.

“It felt weird because in high jump and long jump, you don’t feel like you are going against somebody. In wrestling, I can feel if somebody is beating me,” said Hoose, who finished sixth this past winter at the NYSPHSAA wrestling championships. “In hurdles or the 1,500 meters, you can try to race the guy next to you. … You can chase somebody down and compete with somebody neck and neck.”

Hoose reached 5 feet, 11.25 inches in the high jump and 18 feet, 10.75 inches in the long jump.

“We knew he could high jump, we knew he could long jump. … The 1,500, he does well in it because he’s in shape. The question was the hurdles,” Sirianni said. “The first time he went out and ran hurdles in a full race was a Tuesday against Fredonia. He ran low 17s and the next day he ran low 16s.”

Hoose, the second-youngest of eight siblings, also threw the shot put 39 feet, the farthest of any pentathlete at the state qualifier.

“None of them did pentathlon. Looking at all of them seeing DI this and DI that, I can say ‘Have any of you done pentathlon yet?'” Hoose said of his five brothers and two sisters. “It’s just hard to find something that my siblings haven’t already accomplished. It’s nice to have an edge on them.”

“He’s the seventh of eight and I think he’s had to fight for everything. He’s probably had to compete for that last roll at dinner,” Sirianni added. “The Hoose family is pretty competitive, so Neves is used to that.”

Maple Grove senior Jonah Foley will be competing in three events at the state meet. He is seeded fifth in the Division 2 long jump at 22 feet, 5.25 inches; 12th in the triple jump at 43 feet, 10.5 inches; and 34th in the high jump at 6 feet, 2 inches.

Jamestown senior Noah Burch is tied for the fifth-highest distance in the Division 1 long jump at 23 feet and is seeded 17th in the 400 meters with a time of 49.63 seconds.

Randolph’s Talon Rowland is seeded in the top 10 in a pair of events. The senior has the fifth-fastest time in the Division 2 400 meters at 48.94 seconds and the eighth-fastest time in the 200 meters at 21.88 seconds.

Dunkirk has a pair of athletes seeded in the top 10 of their respective events. Senior Michael Hanlon is seeded fourth in the Division 2 400-meter hurdles at 56.22 seconds, while junior Johnee Thomas has a tie for the ninth-fastest time in the Division 2 400 meters at 49.73 seconds.

Falconer/Cassadaga Valley sophomore Roger Markham is seeded fourth in the Division 2 long jump at 22 feet, 7 inches, while his junior teammate is seeded 34th overall and 15th in Division 2 in the pole vault at 13 feet.

Kennedy is seeded seventh in the Division 2 400-meter hurdles with a time of 56.87 seconds.

“I knew after how sectionals went last year that I was super disappointed. I knew I had a lot of room to improve,” Kennedy said Wednesday. “I really wanted to make my coaches proud and I wanted to make myself proud. I feel like I really found myself in track.”

Randolph senior Roan Kelly is seeded ninth overall and first in Division 2 in the 1,600 meters with a time of 4:16.96. Kelly is the defending champion in the event, having run 4:11.73 last year.

Randolph junior Caden Inkley is seeded 15th overall and fourth in Division 2 in the pole vault at a height of 14 feet.

Maple Grove sophomore Ethan Verbosky is seeded 15th overall and second in Division 2 in the 800 meters with a time of 1:55.56.

Frewsburg junior Cody Kent is seeded 17th overall and seventh in Division 2 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:49.40.

Southwestern sophomore Leo Kavic is seeded 11th in the Division 2 shot put at a distance of 50 feet, 11.25 inches.

“Coach Adam Brown does an awesome job with our throwers,” Sirianni said. ” … Leo went into that state qualifier seeded sixth maybe, and just had a day. It wasn’t like it was a fluke. … He really had an incredible day last Saturday.”

Randolph senior Maverick Adams is seeded 20th in the Division 2 discus at a distance of 145 feet, 11 inches.

Dunkirk’s 1,600-meter relay, which lists Hanlon, Thomas, seniors Nathan Carlson, Lucas Lawrie and Edward Jourden, and junior Peter Felt as possible participants, is seeded first in Division 2 with a time of 3:22.80.

Randolph’s Adams, juniors Domanik Clark and Dempsey McDonald, Inkley, Kelly and senior Diego Stradi are seeded second behind the Marauders in the Division 2 1,600-meter relay. Randolph is also seeded sixth in the Division 2 400-meter relay. Runners include Adams, Inkley, Rowland, Stradi and senior Gavin Stearns.

Randolph head coach Sean Ode was uncertain Wednesday who would run each relay due to conflicting events.

Gates open at 10 a.m. Friday with field events set to begin at 11 a.m. and track events slated for 12:30 p.m. On Saturday, gates open at 9 a.m. with competition beginning at 10 a.m.

“Definitely the stage helps. The amount of pressure on the moment and the competition always makes you compete your best,” Kennedy said. “Going up against the best is always exciting and gives you a chance to prove what you can do. I’m really looking forward to running against the top guys in the state.”