East Hampton High School’s boys and girls track teams got off on the right foot this week as each of them recorded wins over their Comsewogue peers — the boys by a score of 67-44 and the girls, who were missing a couple of point-scorers from their lineup, by a score of 69-63.
The boys tennis team also beat Comsewogue last week, by a narrow 4-3 margin. Because of injuries, Kevin McConville, the coach, called upon a junior varsity player, Mario Cuomo, a Pierson freshman, to play at third doubles, and was not disappointed. As of Sunday, McConville had three out of the lineup with injuries — Nick Cooper (groin), Chris Pilarski (shoulder), and Kiefer Mitchell (jaw) — and was hoping his players, good singles players all, would be quick studies when it comes to doubles strategy. Going into this week, the tennis team was 3-0.
It was the first win in a while for the boys track team. Ben Turnbull, the coach, reported that Liam Fowkes, in the 400-meter hurdles; Brayan Rivera, in the 1,600-meter race; P.J. Ramundo, in the 800 and 3,200; Isaac Rodriguez, in the triple jump, and Judah D’Andrea, in the discus, were all winners. The 4-by-400 relay team of Fowkes, Jackson Bakes, Evan Masi, and Rivera won as well.
Runners-up included Fowkes, in the 110 high hurdles; Masi, in the 400 hurdles and 1,600: Bakes, in the 100 and 200; Amari Gordon, in the 400; Diego Rojas, in the 3,200, and David Armijos, in the long jump and triple jump.
East Hampton’s third-place finishers were Rivera, in the 800; Marcus Krotman, in the 100 and 200; Eduardo Marin, in the 400, and Rodriguez, in the long jump.
Even with Meredith Spolarich, a versatile Pierson junior, and Briana Chavez, a good long-distance runner out of the lineup owing to illnesses, East Hampton’s girls, still a very young team, won its league-opener with Comsewogue.
Leslie Samuel, a Bridgehampton student, won the 100-meter dash in 13.5 seconds, tying her personal best, won the 200 in 28.3, a personal record, and was second in the long jump.
Ryleigh O’Donnell won the open 400, and, hurdling for the first time, was the runner-up in the 100 high and 400 intermediate hurdles. Alexa Gomez, also hurdling for the first time, won the 100 high hurdles and was third in the 400 intermediate hurdles.
Dylan Cashin won the 1,500 and 3,000, trailed in the latter by Sara O’Brien, a Pierson eighth grader, who impressed the coach, Yani Cuesta, with her stamina. “She did the 1,500, the 800, the 3,000, and the 4-by-800 relay,” Cuesta said.
O’Brien is one of eight Pierson students on East Hampton’s team, the others being Adelina Breitenbach, Madelyn Cohen, Isabel Doyle, Khalila Martin, Veronica Teran, Daniela Yanza, and Spolarich. Spolarich can do just about anything, said Cuesta, including the shot-put, the discus, the long jump, the high jump, the 400, and the 4-by-4. Competitors may not enter more than four events in a meet.
The coach was happy that two novices, Lyla Wilson and Daviana Trowbridge, agreed to do the racewalk, but about halfway through they were disqualified for not maintaining proper form. “I was super grateful that the girls tried it — we only had one day to practice, and, clearly, I did a very bad job of it.” Asked if Wilson and Trowbridge were going to continue racewalking, Cuesta said, “Lyla said no, but I think Davi is going to stick with it, and Natalie Reininger (a first-timer) said she might do it.”
Cuesta said Kathy Piacentine and her daughter, Nina, each of whom once held school records in the racewalk, stand ready to work with the newbies.
Other place-winners for the girls were Becca Trowbridge, a first-timer, first in the discus and second in the shot-put; Yanza, second in the discus and third in the shot-put, and Martin, third in the high jump.