The Bonac boys and girls track teams have finally unlaced their shoes — wrapping up their spring season at the state qualifiers at Comsewogue High School last Thursday and Friday. The two teams produced some of the best performances East Hampton has seen in years, giving both sets of coaches renewed hope for the seasons to come.
“East Hampton boys track is back on the map,” proclaimed Sean Knight, the boys head coach.
Liam Knight kicked off the first day for the boys, qualifying for the finals in the 400-meter dash, with a time of 49.93. Jasper Samuelson, a sophomore, then broke 2 minutes in the 800-meter run, finishing sixth over all, with a time of 1:56.37. Marcus Oransky, a junior, placed 10th over all in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles with a personal-best time of 59.33.
Knight came back on day two and took fifth place in the 400-meter finals, breaking 50 seconds for the fourth time this year with a time of 49.74. The 4-by-400-meter relay team — Hudson Goulart, Sean Perez, Emmett Schumann, and Samuelson — finished ninth over all, just missing the finals, with a season-best time of 3:29.94. Samuelson also finished ninth in the mile with a season-best time of 4:31.58.
While the official season is over, Goulart, Knight, Samuelson, and Schumann have convinced Coach Knight to take them to the Nike Outdoor Nationals in Eugene, Ore., later this month. They’ll race the 4-by-400 relay there on June 21.
Knight thanked the team’s seniors — Max Bellenoue, Eduardo Calle, Knight, Josiel Murillo, Franco Palombino, Sean Perez, Kevin Quito, Juan Torres, J.D. Uribe, and Steven Tlapanco — for their “dedication, leadership, and commitment” which he said “helped bring this program to another level. This marks the end of the best season we have had in years! Looking at the group we have coming back, it looks like we have another great one coming next year.”
Girls Results
“We had quite a few girls make it to the state qualifier championship this season,” said Yani Cuesta, the girls head coach. “It was very exciting taking such a large group. The weather was hot, as was the competition. Section XI has some incredible athletes.”
On the first day of competition for the girls, Sara O’Brien, a senior, made the finals in the 400-meter hurdles, finishing sixth with a time of 67.13. Sophia Figueroa came in 13th in 70.35, which was a new personal record. Maggie Greenwald, a sophomore, was 15th, with a time of 71.60, her best of the season. Laura Martinez placed 20th in the 800-meter race, finishing in 2:26.35.
Vicky Chen finished sixth in the pole vault, reaching 9 feet, 6 inches. Vanessa Rizzo tied for seventh place, reaching 8 feet, 6 inches. Leah McCarron took ninth place in the shot-put, throwing 32 feet, 11.5 inches. That was a new personal best.
There were some question marks around the 100-meter high hurdles that day. The fully automatic timing system recorded a 16.15 finish for Figueroa, putting her in 11th place, while the coaches’ stopwatches recorded a 17.1. According to Coach Cuesta, “Sophia feels that she knows she didn’t get this time. We had a handheld time of 17.1 for her and we’ve reached out to Elitefeats about her true time but they didn’t follow up with us. The reason it matters greatly to all involved is that this would be a new school record-setting time. We’re not sure what to do about this yet.” In the same race, C.J. Echavarria placed 13th with a time of 16.76.
On day two, O’Brien took seventh place in the 400-meter hurdles finals, finishing in 67.43. McCarron placed 10th in the discus, throwing 95 feet, 5 inches. The 4-by-400 relay team — Rizzo, Josie Mott, Martinez, and Lai’la Sanders — came in 13th, with a time of 4:18.17. Olivia Stiglitz took 15th in the 1,500-meter racewalk, finishing in 8:28.23.
Coach Cuesta was proud of what the girls achieved this year. “We ask nothing more than the girls give it their best. We always hope that they can get a personal record at each meet but that’s not always attainable. All the girls did really well and our graduating seniors felt good about their performances,” she said. “This meet was tough, not only because it was so hot, but also because it’s two days of competing after going to school (makes for long days) and both Leah McCarron and Sara O’Brien had to compete on both days. We’re super proud of all the girls.”
