Many teams were still moving into seating and warm-up areas as the seeded section of the 1,500-meter racewalk took to the Armory’s track. Most athletes kept warm-ups on as the usually warm Armory was revealing its more than 100 years in age as overnight and morning temperatures hovering around zero revealed every crack and crevice through which cold air could slip.
Sachem’s Natalie DeQuarto and Kaitlin Martins were showing no effects of the cool facility as they blasted through the first lap in a fast 50 seconds. The racewalk is the first event at Hispanic Games. The racewalk field is typically an all-star field as most racewalkers do not get another to compete at the Armory – one of the nation’s fastest indoor tracks – until Nationals (New Balance Indoor Nationals) in March.
Natalie and Kaitlin took full advantage of the Armory’s fast track by moving up in NYS rankings in career-best times. Natalie placed second in 7:12.83. Kaitlin crossed the finish line right behind her teammate in 7:12.87. Natalie moved up to the No. 3 spot in NYS and Kaitlin is No. 4.
Frosh-Soph 1500 meter racewalkers Emily Leath and Meghan Tozza used a similar race strategy as their veteran teammates. Emily and Meaghan stayed close together as they pushed each other around the track to career-bests in Sixth place (8:34.52 for Emily) and Seventh place (8:35.16 for Meaghan) times.
Sachem alumnus and 2012 Olympian Maria Michta presented the racewalk quartet race awards in front of cheering teammates following their races.
Melissa Michels led the sprint squad with her season-best 7.40 fifth place finish in the 55 meter dash. Alyssa Leto ran a 7.66 in preliminaries. Sophomores Leah Blackall (7.90) and Kelly Gardner (7.91) moved on to the team All-Time Top 25 list with their career-best races today.
Melissa, Alyssa and Leah teamed up with Nikki Fogarty to move up NYS rankings with the No. 2 all-time 4×200 relay.
Oriana Howell led Sachem’s milers with her finest race of the season today. Oriana ran a 5:57.89 mile. Oriana – typically a strong second half of the season runner – ran even half mile splits in her race and showed strong closing speed as her last lap was her fastest lap of the race.
-Submitted by Sachem coach Alex Young