Track: Boys Win and Girls Do Well in Their Finals

    The East Hampton High School boys track team, which had not had a win in three years, got two in its last meets of the season to finish at 2-4. Meanwhile, the girls, while they went winless this spring, acquitted themselves well in an 84-64 loss at Westhampton Beach on May 7.

    The next day, Bonac’s boys defeated their Westhampton counterparts here 78-63.

    Chris Reich, who coaches the boys, said that he was immensely relieved when Keaton Crozier, who had fouled in his first two tries, hopped, skipped, and leapt 40 feet in his third attempt to win the triple jump — the last event before the relays.

    “Keaton’s been keeping me and Luis [Morales, Reich’s assistant] on our toes this season because he often fouls,” said Reich. “But every now and then he nails it, as he did the other day. We were cringing after he fouled in his first two attempts, but his 40-footer in the third try was a personal best. Luis and I knew then that it didn’t matter how we did in the relays. In track the first to 71 points wins, and by that time we were up 73-53.”

    As for the relays, East Hampton lost the first one, the 4-by-800, won the 4-by-4 “convincingly,” and was disqualified in the 4-by-1 “because the hand-off between our third runner and the anchorman was made just out of the zone. We would have crushed them had that call not been made. It was a good one, though, and I thanked God that the meet hadn’t come down to that last relay.”

    In other events that day, Crozier won the long jump with a personal best 20-foot, 1/2-inch leap; Adam Cebulski won the 1,600-meter race in 4 minutes and 42 seconds; Hunter Kelsey won the 100 dash; Pablo Carreno won the 400; Wanya Reid won the 200; Josh King won the shot-put, and Jack Ryan won the pole vault.

    Runners-up included Reid in the 100; Kelsey in the 200; Evan Larsen in the 800, in a personal best 2:05.9; Josh King in the discus; Jermain Phillips in the 110-meter high hurdles; Liam Kessler in the pole vault, and Larsen and Will Ellis in the high jump, with each clearing 5-2.

    Third-place finishers were T.J. Paradiso in the 400 and long jump; Claudio Figueroa in the 400 intermediate hurdles; Kessler in the shot-put, and John Grogan in the discus.

    “John has had minimal experience in the discus,” said Reich. “I put him in as a Hail Mary and he came through with a ‘P.R.,’ earning a valuable point for the team.”

    Reich said that entering Kessler, “one of my stronger athletes,” in the shot-put was also a last-minute decision. “I hoped something good would happen, and it did,” said Reich of Kessler’s third-place finish in that event.

    Kessler and Ryan, he added, were “doing great in the pole vault thanks to Erik Maleki’s coaching. Jack cleared 10-6 to win it and Liam was second.”

    The 400, with Carreno and Paradiso taking first and third, “was a big swing event for us,” the coach added, “because Westhampton had guys who could go under 60 seconds as well.”

    Kelsey and Reid’s one-two finish in the 100 and their one-two [this time with Reid in the van] in the 200 had been big also, the coach said.

    Larsen’s 2:05.9 in the 800 had been a personal best, “but it would be amazing to see what he could do if he trained hard.”

    “We got beat up in the 400 hurdles, but, luckily, we made up for that in other events. Claudio [Figueroa, who was third] just missed breaking 70 seconds.”

    As for the 110 hurdles, “Will Ellis, our top hurdler, fell on the last hurdle and got banged up pretty badly. Jermain [Phillips] took second with a personal best 19.5.”

    “I hope to take 12 or more guys to the division meet [Tuesday and next Thursday at Connetquot High School], but the county and state qualifier meet athletes will probably be Adam [Cebulski] in the mile, Erik [Engstrom] in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, and possibly Evan [Larsen] in the 800, Hunter [Kelsey] in the 100, and Wanya [Reid] in the 200.”

    As for the girls, Shani Cuesta, their coach, said “the meet at Westhampton was a good one. If we had been able to win all three relays [East Hampton only won the 4-by-8], we would have won by one point.”

    Dana Cebulski was a quadruple-winner, in the triple jump, 800, 1,500, and as the 4-by-8 team’s anchor.

    Amanda Calabrese won the 100-meter high hurdles in 17 seconds, breaking a school record she had set earlier in the season. She was second in the pole vault at 7 feet, and third in the 400.

    Alyssa Bahel won the 3,000 in a personal-best 11:49.8. Cecilia Blowe won the long jump in a personal-best 15-4, and Taliya Hayes won the shot-put with a throw of 27-5.

    Sadie Ward was second in the 400 intermediate hurdles in a personal-best 77.5 seconds. Other runners-up were Devon Brown in the 3,000, Kathryn Wood in the long jump, and Danni Dunphy in the high jump.

    East Hampton’s third-place finishers were Merissah Gilbert in the triple jump; Jessenia Duque in the 100 hurdles, her 19.9 being a personal best; Bahel in the 1,500; Lilah Minetree in the 400, in a personal best :70.0; Gabbie McKay in the 100 in a personal best 13.4; Wood in the 800 in a personal best 2:45.6; Blowe in the 200 in a personal best 27.9; Vicki Nardo in the discus, and Anna Hoffman in the high jump in a person best 4-4.

    Others, who while they didn’t score turned in personal best performances that day were Brown and Quincy King in the long jump; Veronica Whitney in the discus; Ward in the 100 high hurdles; Olivia Debes and Tess Talmage in the 400; Ward, King, Nicole Notel, Duque, and Mia Karlin-Cappello in the 100; Shannon Ryan in the 1,500-meter racewalk; Dunphy in the 800, and McKay, Gilbert, Allesia Williams, King, Duque, Morgan Gaugler, Jen Brito, Karlin-Cappello, and Talmage in the 200.