FALCONER — The 23rd annual Golden Falcon Track & Field Invitational will be held Friday at Bill Race Field at Falconer High School.

The invitational, which will begin at 3:30 p.m., will feature 22 high schools from throughout Western New York. They include: Allegany-Limestone, Canisius, Cattaraugus-Little Valley, Chautauqua Lake/Westfield, Clymer/Sherman/Panama, Dunkirk, Eden, Falconer/Cassadaga Valley, Franklinville/Ellicottville, Fredonia, Frewsburg, Gowanda, Jamestown, Maple Grove, Maritime Charter, Mount Mercy, Portville, Randolph, Salamanca, Silver Creek, Southwestern and St. Francis.

Trophies will be presented to the top three teams in both the boys and girls divisions; plaques will be awarded to the outstanding track performance (boys and girls) and the outstanding field performance (boys and girls); champion T-shirt given to the first-place individual/relay; medals will be presented to the top three individual/relay; and ribbons will be awarded to the fourth- through eighth-place individual/relay.

At intermission, the Matthew “Billy” Eskeli Sportsmanship Award will be presented to a male and female in honor of the Falconer Class of 2017 valedictorian and valued member of the Golden Falcons’ cross country and track & field teams. After graduation, he attended Rochester Institute of Technology but his life was tragically taken away by a drunk driver. Dedication and sportsmanship were valuable characteristics of Eskeli and those traits will determine this year’s award recipients.

Also at intermission, athletes, friends and families will do a “gold lap” to help raise money and awareness for three Buffalo-based nonprofits whose purposes are to support children, adolescents and their families who fight the unimaginable battle of pediatric cancer. These organizations, who will be on campus Friday, are the Pediatric Cancer Collaborative, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, and Catching Dreams. They are very active in the Southern Tier and are currently supporting families in area schools.