Bonac’s boys and girls track teams competed at the small schools championship meets last weekend. The girls set five personal records and broke the school record in the 55-meter high hurdles. The boys won the 4-by-800 meter relay and nearly broke the school record.
The girls team placed seventh at its meet; the boys placed 10th.
Hauppauge won the girls championship with 88 points, followed by Islip with 56 and Half Hollow Hills West with 45. East Hampton scored
26 points and turned in some strong performances.
In the shot put, Leah McCarron placed third at 31 feet, 4.25 inches. Amy Fleming set a personal record of 23 feet, 2.75 inches. In the long jump, McCarron placed fourth with a personal record of 16 feet, 7.25 inches. Vicky Chen jumped 14 feet, 7.5 inches, which was her season best.
C.J. Echavarria set a school record and a personal record in the 55-meter high hurdles semifinals with a 9.31. That qualified her for the finals, where she came in fourth with a 9.33. Just two weeks ago, she set a school record of 9.38 at the league championships. Sophia Figueroa also qualified for the finals with a 9.45, and finished fifth with a 9.59.
In the 1,500-meter seeded racewalk, Bennett Greene set a personal record of 8:12.48, which was good for fifth place. Olivia Stiglitz won the 1,500-meter unseeded racewalk with a personal record of 9:34.09.
Sara O’Brien took second place in the 600-meters with a 1:43.52.
“We are beyond proud of the team for their hard work,” said Yani Cuesta, their head coach.
Up next, Chen is scheduled to compete in the St. Anthony’s pole vault, weight throw, and high jump meet tomorrow. She’ll attempt to beat her personal record of 9 feet in the pole vault.
The girls will also find out today who will participate in the state qualifier meet on Monday and Tuesday. This is the first time the qualifying meet is a two-day event.
Meanwhile, the boys also had some standout performances at their championship on Sunday. They tied Eastport-South Manor for 10th overall with 18 points each. West Islip won the meet with 54 points, followed by Mount Sinai with 52, and Amityville Memorial with 44.
The boys’ 4-by-800 meter team provided the highlight of the day. Sean Perez, Watts Comly-Bolick, Hudson Goulart, and Jasper Samuelson won the event with a time of 8:34.7, nearly breaking the school record of 8:34.3, set back in 2003. Samuelson, a sophomore, also took second place in the 1,600 meters with a 4:36.88, a fraction of a second shy of his P.R. the weekend before.
“So many boys ended their season on a high note even if they didn’t score,” said Kevin Barry, their head coach. He highlighted Marcus Oransky’s 9.19 in the high hurdles and the 4-by-200 meter team of Nelvin Suchite, Justin Herrera, Alex Cabrera, and Eduardo Calle, which had a season-best time of 1:42.2. “We are all so pleased at how the season went and is finishing with all the difficulties of the weather,” he added. The boys and girls have spent the last few weeks practicing in the high school hallways because of the snow, ice, and sub-freezing temperatures.
The boys next meets are state qualifiers, also scheduled for Monday and Tuesday.
