East Hampton High School’s girls indoor track-and-field squad performed well at its rescheduled meet at Suffolk Community College in Brentwood on Dec. 20. It was originally scheduled to take place on Dec. 14, but was canceled because of the snowstorm. With many high schools closed for winter recess, the meet was smaller than usual.
“That worked well for our new athletes who are still learning how meets run,” Yani Cuesta, the head coach, said. “For some of our seasoned athletes, like Laura Martinez, a small meet can be difficult because there isn’t a lot of competition to keep her pushing with other top athletes. But we’ll take every opportunity to learn something new.”
Martinez won the 3,000 meters by almost eight seconds, finishing in 11:18.42.
The high jump was a highlight for the new athletes. Alessa Picco hit 4 feet 3 inches, which tied her teammate Sierra Stumpf for second place. “This was Alessa’s first meet during the winter season, and we could tell she was so nervous,” Cuesta said. “Once she shakes those nerves off, we can’t wait to see what she’ll bring to the table.”
Olivia Chapman raced the 1,000 meters for the first time and finished in 4:07.8, which landed her in seventh place out of 13 in heat two and 16 out of 22 for the combined heats. “She had so much left in the tank she was sprinting at the end. She ran super conservatively because she doesn’t know how to run these races yet. We’ll see what she’s capable of as she begins to compete in events she’s already tried.”
Angela Mantilla ran 300 meters in competition for the first time, finishing in 59.83 seconds. Mantilla also took third place in the third heat of the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 12.03 seconds. Two of her teammates hit personal bests in the hurdles: Sophia Figueroa finished in 9.61 seconds, which was good for second place in heat one, and Stumpf took first place in heat two with a 10.18.
“Sierra Stumpf has been working on three-stepping them all and she almost made it,” Cuesta said. “She only missed the last one, so watching her get stronger is a delight.”
Three girls recorded personal bests in the 55-meter dash. Emily Alvarez finished in 8.82 seconds, which put her in first place in heat eight. Stephania Cano was right behind her in 8.97 seconds, and Amy Fleming finished in 9.22 seconds, for sixth place in heat four.
Fleming also recorded a personal best in the shot-put at 20 feet 7 inches to take 27th place out of 38. Cano achieved a personal best in the triple jump at 28 feet 7 inches, finishing fifth out of 10.
Bennett Greene, a senior who just started racewalking last season, also set a personal indoor record, with an 8:43.59 in the 1,500-meter racewalk, which put her in sixth place out of 11 girls.
Sophia Figueroa and C.J. Echavarria competed in the 4-by-400-meter relay for the first time. The relay team’s 4:29.22 was good for second place in heat two. Cano and Fleming participated in their first 4-by-200-meter relay. East Hampton took fourth place in heat one and heat two with a 2:03.56 and 2:12.64, respectively. The two teams finished in fourth and 10th place in the combined heats.
“The beauty of winter track is that each competition is a glorified practice that we get to have indoors,” Cuesta said. “As long as they keep plugging away at an event, they will continue to get better. Nothing counts until the league championships.”
