Team senior Brigid Rattiger sat with Coach Young before practice on Friday. One more time through the team line-up. Brigid, like most team seniors and all four senior-captains, knew that North coaches kept coming up short in team scoring in many revisions of the team line-up in the days leading up to the League 1 Championship Meet.
The gap between North and cross-town rival Sachem East was always double digit. East’s powerhouse distance squad was one reason for the gap. Longwood was another reason. Longwood’s outstanding sprinters and jumpers were going to get their share of points. Led by senior Crystal Henderson, Longwood’s team strength would strike at North’s strength. East would get its share of sprint and field event points and would ring up big distance points behind Alex DeCicco, Valerie Romero, Ciara Murphy, Kaylie Wessberg and its strong racewalk squad.
Brigid understood that the North Flaming Arrows did not want to leave points behind. She nudged Coach Young and urged him to move Kaitlyn Licata into the 1500. Kaitlyn’s middle distance legs may not matter by the 4×800 where she was slated to run fresh. There were other moves that co-captains Alyssa Leto, Nikki Fogarty, Elise Ramirez and Rachel Heymach had discussed with coaches since receiving their last weekend homework assignment to write meet line-ups and compare notes with coach line-ups. Coaches Young, Lasher and Stillufsen discussed last minute revisions during Friday’s team warm-up. Athletes involved in these decisions were called over. The team would learn the final line-up at a post-workout team-only pep rally.
Another factor impacting coaches line-up decisions was the persistent presence of Joe Btfsplk’s (you have to look this one up) black cloud hovering over the team throughout the season. Dastardly and unwelcome twins Illness and Injury had been trailing the team all season. Flu season and upper respiratory illnesses cost the team Alyssa Leto, Nikki Fogarty, Leah Blackall, Rachel Heymach, Ali Van Sicklin, Kaitlin Martins, Emily Leath and other team members for long stretches – sometimes of more than one week – throughout the season. In fact, Emily Leath had only returned to the team on the Friday before Leagues following an upper respiratory illness that kept her out of school for a week.
She would be tested in a workout before a decision was made to add her to North’s meet line-up.
“I won’t let the team down,” promised Emily. Kaitlyn Licata was assigned to the cardio room for warm-ups and icing sessions in the days following the Stanner Games last week. A sore hamstring had given out at the meet. It would not be known if Kaitlyn would be able to run at Leagues until mid-week. Kelly Gardner missed training time in December due to a foot injury.
Sprinter Lauren Driscoll was shut down for a stretch in late December due to severe shin splints. Lauren had limped through workouts in the days leading up to Leagues. She wanted in. Coaches were assessing Lauren’s shins one run at a time in workouts. Arianna Mosquera, stoic by nature, wouldn’t complain but Coach Lasher was aware that Arianna was battling shin pain as well.
Throwers Danielle Bongiorno and Laura Linsalata dealt with leg injuries during the season. They were monitored by Coach Young. Both also embraced the addition of 20 lb. weight throw training as part of their routine. Like many of their teammates, Danielle and Laura were old school in their approach to pain. Rub a little dirt in it and move on, No pain, no gain and the occasional Suck it up, Princess and run were team mantras.
The only accommodation many were willing to make was to add ice sessions to post-workout routines. An exclamation point to the team’s battles with injuries occurred on the Tuesday before Leagues as one team member was carried off the track after collapsing during a workout due to a previously unknown to coaches blood disorder.
Moments later, another athlete – sophomore Chassity Carrion – crashed to the track after catching her foot on a hurdle. Sachem North trainer Mike Wulforst gave each careful assessments over the next hour. Chassity would run a career-best in the 300 dash at Leagues four days later.
At the team-only pep rally following Friday’s workout, the League 1 Championship Meet line-up was introduced to cheering teammates. Introductions were broken up by Coach Lasher’s track & field rules book quiz. The team learned that meet day decisions would be made in the racewalk and that Kaitlyn Licata was added to the 1500. Coach Young explained that North was on the ropes as coaches gave the edge to East by ten or more points. The boxing analogy was clarified as Young explained the loss of leg and punching power to a boxer trapped on the ropes.
Young also discussed the greatness of Mohammed Ali in the famous Rumble in the Jungle 1974 heavyweight championship bout against George Foreman. After seven rounds of a possum-like rope-a-dope defense, Ali got off the ropes, swung Foreman around and ended the fight thirty seconds later. North had to get off the ropes and come out swinging at Leagues. No safe plays. East was too strong to hold back in open events and wait for relays. Coach Lasher observed that the North Flaming Arrows would need a lead going into relays. A small lead may not be enough as she also (as did Young and Stillufsen) projected East to outscore North in relays.
The team left the pep rally knowing that Mother Nature may factor in the next day’s meet. An overnight snow was expected to drop at least a few inches (and maybe more) of snow on Long Island. Young told the team to check team e-mail and Facebook page for race day information. A decision to postpone or cancel Leagues would be announced by Section XI by 6:30 a.m. The snow came. Section XI canceled the scheduled first meet of the day. League 5 would not contest its championship meet due to snow. The League 1 Championship scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. would be the first meet of the day.
The team arrived at North early on meet day. Some had pitched in to shovel family driveways before heading to North. Rachel Heymach was cheered as she was celebrating her 18th birthday. After the meet, Rachel planned to head home to finish packing for a trip to Texas and a visit to Rice University in Houston. Rachel’s return flight would be on Wednesday at 3:30 Houston time. She hoped to land at Islip MacArthur Airport in time to race over to Connetquot High School for her final pole vault meet before State Quals. Today, though, Rachel would assist Coach Lasher in prepping the horizontal jumps squad through long and triple jump competition.
Team members were assigned to go to clerking areas with track teammates. Any clerking area problems would be reported to coaches immediately. Freshman Kelsey Flynn was assigned to be Coach Young’s Mini Me. She would carry the clipboard containing the meet script. She would record times, splits and, with the assistance of teammates, count laps when necessary. Most importantly, Kelsey would be expected to show up at Young’s side when needed. The script contained meet day notes that would be important in discussing race plans and making open event and relay decisions during the meet as meet scores were compared to pre-meet score expectations. Kelsey was the first freshman ever to get this important task. She would performed her duties flawlessly throughout the meet.
After arriving at Suffolk West, seniors remained in the lobby with Coach Young as the rest of the team carried out the team’s worst kept secret each season. Seniors are honored and celebrated at Leagues. Senior posters were hung up as Coach Young took his annual senior athlete pictures outside the track. Seniors good-naturedly posed for more pictures than necessary while posters were taped to the team’s bleacher spot. Seniors also took a few moments to quietly reflect on their memorable careers and the day to come. More than a few tears were shed by seniors as they entered the track and saw the posters made for each of the team beloved seniors.
Coaches interrupted the viewing as captains were called to the track. It was time for the team warm-up and race and field event preps by athletes in early events. Nikki, Rachel, Alyssa and Elise led the team around the 200 meter oval. Athletes seemed to hit their meet day switches at the same time. Game faces appeared. The North Flaming Arrows were not leaning back on the ropes. It was time to swing away.
Following is an event-by-event summary of today’s meet. Meet scores will be posted after each event as well as the event scoring “edge” in what would shape up as a North-East showdown.
3000 m.
Sachem East’s Valerie Romero is Suffolk’s #3 ranked 3000 runner. North’s Elise Ramirez is #11. In League 1 rankings, the two are separated only by Ward Melville’s Mollie Dearie. Elise was expected to be in the top three in the event. North coaches also knew that Dearie was one of the League’s top 1500 meter runners. Would Mollie be held out of the 3000? Elise was prepared for both possibilities. Elise was also slated to run the 1500. She would face Dearie early or late in the meet. East also boasts Suffolk County’s top distance squad. East could score three times in the meet’s first event. Ward Melville also has a deep and talented distance squad.
They could score multiple runners in the race. North freshman Gabby Mott knew her job was to keep contact with the field. Some in the main pack would come back to Gabby. She would have to be prepared to strike in the second half of the race to have a chance to score in the race. A buzz by athletes and spectators was heard as race officials led the 3000 field to the track. Mollie Dearie was not among the runners. Elise knew her task – stick with Romero. Keep the pace honest. Elise stayed with East’s Romero in the early laps before Romero pulled away. The rest of the field dropped back as the Romero won the race by fifteen seconds over Elise. Gabby’s late race charge fell short. East and Ward Melville scored two runners each in the event. Pat-Med’s Erin Maud had her finest race of the season to place 3rd. Longwood – a team projected to push North in sprint and jumps throughout the meet – had a lone entrant in the race who did not score. Elise’s day was just beginning. She would run more distance than any other League 1 athlete before the meet was done.
Edge
(Slight) edge North. A three point gap in the 3000 was acceptable to North coaches. But Alex DeCicco, Ciara Murphy, Kaylie Wessberg and other East distance runners waited in the wings.
Meet Score
- Sachem East – 11
- Sachem North – 8
- Longwood – 0
55 m. Dash Semis
North’s Alyssa Leto was the top seed in the race. Alyssa spent much of the past two weeks re-tooling her blocks start. Stretch reflex was now part of her vocabulary. A break out race came at Millrose Games Trials a little over a week ago. Alyssa knew her first task in her first of three events on the day – advance. Teammates Sam Sommers and Kelly Gardner had been coming on strong in recent weeks. But the 55 meter dash was to feature a “Who’s Who” of Suffolk County sprint stars. Sam was the seventh seed in the race. Kelly was tenth. Sachem North coaches believed that failing to get at least two sprinters into a six aprinter finals may be the start of a long day for the North Flaming Arrows. East was expected to get two into finals with Marisa Filosa and Lauren Alburg. A trio of Longwood’s fleet-footed sprinters and Brentwood’s Asia Chen could also turn in big races. Longwood’s Keyshanna Symns (7.43) finished behind Alyssa’s (7.27) meet-tying performance. Sam and Kelly ran season-bests. Sam qualified for finals. Kelly placed 8th in semis. Filosa and Alburg also advanced. Longwood’s Jade Warner and Brittany Webb failed to advance.
Edge
No edge to North or East in Semi’s. Both benefitted from Longwood’s failure to advance more than Symns. Finals would tell the rest of the story.
1000 m. run
Sachem coaches had given only cursory consideration to making the 1000 Elise’s first event at Leagues. Elise ran only one 1000 race on the season. Her 3:12.81 was the #4 time in League 1. Elise could run faster. But the distance was not in the cards for Elise today. Sophomore Krista Goodman would get the nod for the 1000. Coaches believed the 600 was Krista’s better event but teammate Sam Giambrone could cover that event for Sachem. Krista ran a pair of 3:20s during the season. Hers was the #17 time in League I. A long shot to score. But many ahead of Krista would be assigned to 1500s, 600s and relays. Krista may be in a position to score if enough runners ahead of her on the seed sheet were not in the race. But Krista would need to be in the fast heat to have this chance. Krista was a racer. Her race tactics are intuitive. Sit and kick might work in the fast heat. Senior Brigid Rattiger and freshman rookie Allaura Dashnaw were Sachem’s other two race entrants. Brigid was hoping to improve her standing for Counties today. Allaura was nervous as she joined her teammates for warm-ups.
The 1000 was to be a two heat race. Krista was to run in the seeded section. Would there be opportunity for Krista to score? East’s Alex DeCicco stood on the starting line. Suffolk’s #1 1000 m. runner would finish ten seconds ahead of the field. There was no sit and kick tactics by Krista. Impatient at the gun, Krista jumped into a pack including East’s Kaylie Wessberg and William Floyd’s Toniann Cutrone. The pace was fast, maybe too fast for Krista thought Coach Young. Krista might blow up and fall out of scoring contention as Pat-Med’s Bianca DeLucia and Commack’s Jill Dieterich bore down on the field in the middle laps. Brief thoughts of doom quickly subsided as Krista did not falter despite the fast pace. Krista placed 4th in the race less than .5 seconds behind Cutrone. But East struck a might blow in the race. DeCicco and Wessberg went 1-2 in the race. Longwood’s middle distance runner Haley Osiecki placed 16 in the race.
Edge
East. East dropped its distance hammer and scored 18 big points.
Meet Score
- East – 29
- North – 12
- Longwood – 0
55 m. Dash Finals
Alyssa Leto looked good in her blocks warm-ups before the meet began. She looked great as she beat the finals field out of the blocks in finals and won the race in 7.27. Longwood’s Symns had the closest view of Alyssa’s jersey with her 7.40 2nd place. North coaches watched and North teammates cheered as Sam Sommers put on a final burst to edge East’s Marisa Filosa at the finish line by .03 seconds. Sam’s finish was a four point swing for North. This was the first of pivotal moments in one of the closest meets in League 1 Championship Meet history. Sam headed to triple jump immediately after the race. It was her turn to jump in her second of three events on the day. Alyssa had a little respite before she was to warm-up for the 300.
Edge
North. Sommers’ late race surge was a four point swing. The team spoke about this before boarding team buses this morning. Move up a place = two points. Pass East or Longwood when moving up a place = 4 point swing.
Meet Score
- East – 34
- North – 24
- Longwood – 8
55 m. Hurdles Semis
Nikki Fogarty spent much of the week working on her sprint speed between hurdles. Coach Stillufsen devised workouts towards this end. Nikki’s focus in these key workouts paid off by Wednesday’s crossover meet as Nikki ran a season-best 8.52. Nikki had a look of calm determination as she prepared for her semi-finals hurdles race. North’s Nicole Costanzo headed from high jump to hurdles to for her race. While seeded #11 in League 1, Nicole as only .09 seconds behind the #6 spot in League 1 rankings. Two hurdlers seeded ahead of Nicole were East’s Dana Tyner and Jackie Woodburn. The race’s top seed was Longwood’s Crystal Henderson.
Henderson cruised to a heat win in 8.36. Heat 2 offered some drama as Commack’s Amanda McNelis false-started and was dq’d. Nikki blasted out of her blocks at the re-start and won her heat in 8.34. A new school record as Nikki shattered Denise Raab’s 8.43 record set in 1999. Teammates roared their approval as they quickly learned about the new team record after he official time was flashed on the results board. Nicole’s 9.59 was .13 seconds from advancing. Tyner (9.40) and Woodburn (9.46) advanced. North’s Emily Watson broke 10.0 for the first time with her 9.96 race.
Edge
East. Despite Nikki’s school record, East was the only team to advance two to finals.
600 m. run
The 600 was another longshot event for North. Sam Giambrone was her team’s top seed in the event. Kaitlyn Goodman and Nicole Batinsey were North’s other two spots. As expected, East middle distance ace Ciara Murphy was in the race. North expected East’s Faith D’Angelis to be in the race. Longwood’s Sarah John and Ward Melville’s Allyson Gaedge were among others that were expected in the 600. They were all in the race. Sam was told to expect to be in the third of four race sections. Her race plan was simple. Win the section and have a chance to beat one or more runners from the fast heat. Sam battled Ward Melville’s Samantha Sturgess around the track for all three laps.
Sturgess was seeded two big seconds ahead of Sam. Sturgess held off Sam to win the section. Sam ran a season-best 1:45.13 in her effort. Coach Young started his stopwatch as the seeded section of the 600 went off. Ciara Murphy took the race with a well-executed and aggressive race plan. Longwood’s Sarah John took 2nd. Sturgess took 5th. North coaches had to wait to see race results sheets to learn that D’Angelis finished .11 seconds ahead of Sam. East scored a pair of runners, Longwood scored one and North was on the wrong side of a North-East point swing. Freshman Nicole Batinsey season-bested with her 1:59.05 finish. Kaitlyn Goodman cut in too early after the second turn and was dq’d.
Edge
East. 11 event points and a two point swing as D’Angelis edges Giambrone.
Meet Score
- East – 45
- North – 24
- Longwood – 16
55 m. hurdles Finals
Longwood’s Crystal Henderson showed why she is one of the County’s top track and field athletes as she blasted out of the blocks and ran a career-best 8.17 in finals. Crystal became NYS #3 with her performance. If Nikki had not broken the school record in semis, she would have done so in finals with her 2nd place 8.38 time. Nikki has moved up in NYS rankings with a bullet this week and she held NYS #6 in hurdles after her semis race. East’s Tyner (4th) and Woodburn (5th) came through with big points for East.
Edge
East. Tyner and Woodburn beat the seed sheets with their races today.
Meet Score
- East – 51
- North – 32
- Longwood – 26
Shotput
Sachem North’s Laura Linsalata, Kira Audia and Danielle Bongiorno are separated by nine inches on North’s best of season rankings. The trip had a collectively good day as all threw within several inches of their season-bests. But the day belong to East’s Amanda Fitzgerald. Amanda came in as the event’s top seed. Longwood had been coming on strong in recent weeks. So was Commack. North coaches were rooting for a little help at shotput. Longwood has a tradition of big throws at big meets. Only one final round qualifier would exceed her seeds today – Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald won shotput by more than two feet with Suffolk’s #3 throw at 36’ 7 ¼”. Her mark exceeded her previous best by more than 1 ½ feet.
Edge
East. A big event win for East. Fitzgerald came through for her team. Her teammate Rachel Miller also season-bested with her first-ever 30’+ put. East’s lead was at its greatest in the meet.
Meet Score
- East – 61
- North – 32
- Longwood – 28
Triple Jump
Wednesday’s Crossover D meet was placed in an inconvenient spot on Sachem’s meet schedule. Only three days before Leagues, coaches felt the meet could take the edge off of the distance and racewalk squad. League participants were held back for track workouts that would benefit the runners. Sprinters and field eventers could use the meet to fine tune at least one League meet event. Other team members were chasing post-season performances and season-bests at the crossover. Other teams kept back scoring athletes in the lightly attended meet.
North’s triple jump squad of Leah Blackall, Nikki Fogarty and Sam Sommers got in jumps at Wednesday’s crossover. Leah looked sharp, Nikki jumped a season-best and Sam nearly matched her season-best on Wednesday. The squad was prepped. But triple jump is Suffolk’s #1 jumper Longwood’s Crystal Henderson’s best event. Henderson’s season-best was nearly one foot longer than Suffolk #2 Leah’s best jump. Sachem East learned that hurdler Rebecca Carroll was a talented triple jumper at Crossover D. She was now a scoring favorite and pushed Sam out of the event’s top six. Finally, Nikki was about to get busy. Nikki started her meet day by putting down a mark at high jump and getting in hurdle and blocks work. She was moved into flight one of triple jump as coaches hoped that Nikki would not have to be at three events at the same time. Nikki took advantage of the first flight assignment and jumped a career-best 35’ 3 ¾”. Nikki headed over to high jump to get in an early round jump before heading over to hurdles for semis. She would not know how she placed in triple jump until flight two – the seeded flight – had completed its jumps.
Cheers from North’s bleachers hinted at the outcome of triple jump. Henderson’s best jump was 36’ 10 ¾” to place 2nd in the event. Leah hit 38’ 1 ¾” on her final jump to set a new Sachem and League Championship Meet record. Leah established herself as a big meet performer in her freshman season. Now in her junior year, Leah looked forward to today’s clash of two of NYS’s top jumpers. Leah prevailed over Crystal Henderson in their first of two head to head competitions. Longwood’s Salvinija Batsaukas placed 6th with a season-best 32’ 2 ½”.
Edge
North. North scored expected points. And Carroll beat the seed sheet with her 4th place jump. But North scored 16 points in their first big event score of the day.
Meet Score
- East – 65
- North – 48
- Longwood – 37
1500 m. run
East’s Valerie Romero and North’s Elise Ramirez faced each other for the second time in the 1500. Ward Melville’s Mollie Dearie joined them at the starting line. East’s strong milers Rachel Ruggiero and Jillian Manfredi were also in the race.
Kaitlyn Licata was called to join Sachem coaches during yesterday’s team stretch. On Monday, Kaitlyn was relegated to the cardio room as she strained her sore hamstring in last week’s Stanner Games. By mid-week, Kaitlyn was running striders on North’s turf field. On Thursday, Kaitlyn was told she would be running fresh in the 4×800. On Friday, Kaitlyn was added to the 1500. Senior Brigid Rattiger was insistent and persistent in arguing that Kaitlyn was healthy and tough enough to handle the assignment. Despite the great talent in League 1 distance, Kaitlyn had a longshot’s chance to score. Kaitlyn was a chaser and a kicker. Like Krista Goodman in the 1000, Kaitlyn may get a chance to sit and kick against the seeded section of the race. That plan went out the window as Kaitlyn was assigned to the unseeded section of the race. Only eight runners would line up for the seeded section. Kaitlyn and Pat-Med’s Erin Maud battled throughout the race. Kaitlyn began her drive on the bell lap and took it up a notch with 100 meters to go to win the section in a time (5:10.50) twelve seconds faster than her previous best. Clock watching began has the seeded section raced.
Dearie took the race lead with a fast start. She led through the first 800 with Elise stalking a few seconds behind. With three laps to go, Elise took over the lead with East’s Romero in hot pursuit. All eyes were on the race as the most exciting finish of the day took shape over the final lap. Romero caught Elise with 100 meters to go. After a brief surge into her first lead of the race, Elise came up on Romero’s shoulder as the two sprinted to the finish. Romero prevailed by .16 seconds and won her second race of the day. Romero and Elise exchanged congratulatory words at the finish. Romero was done for the day. Elise had one more race to run. East’s Ruggiero (4th) and Manfredi (5th) also scored for East. Middle Country’s Taylor Regensburger took 6th in 5:10.40 – .10 ahead of 7th place Kaitlyn. North gambled and got an inspiring race by Kaitlyn. East scored three runners.
Edge
East. 16 points in the race counter the 16 scored by North in triple jump. Despite Elise’s outstanding race, East had extended its lead. And North was running out of events. Two field events (high jump and long jump), two open track events (300 and racewalk) remained. The North coaching staff belief that North needed a team score lead before relays had not changed. Longwood’s two race entrants finished far back in the race.
Meet Score
- East – 81
- North – 56
- Longwood – 37
300 m. Dash
Alyssa Leto believed that anything less than two open event wins would hurt any chance for a team win today. She was focused on her tasks for the 300. Alyssa has a great feel for the long sprint. She knows a strong start is essential in the race. A runner cannot get back time lost in a cautious start. Coaches entered Kelly Gardner in the 300 at Wednesday’s crossover meet. Illness kept Kelly out of last week’s Stanner Games and a planned 300. While Kelly’s coaches were not eager to overuse Kelly on Wednesday, a desire to get a seed time in the event Kelly could help North in the 300 outweighed a cautious approach in how to use Kelly at the team’s final crossover meet. Kelly’s race time of 44.79 drew quick smiles and consensus by Young, Lasher and Stillfsen at Wednesday’s meet. Kelly was running the 300 at Leagues. So was sprinter Chasity Carrion. Chassity is one of the team’s toughest athletes. After her hard fall on Tuesday, Chassity was politely impatient during treatment by North trainer Mike Wulforst. She checked in with Coach Young Wednesday morning reporting that she felt great and ran in two races at Wednesday’s crossover with a season-best in the 55 m. dash and an anchor spot in the 4×200.
East entered Alex DeCicco in the 300. Alex is one of the county’s top distance runners. She was also East’s fastest entrant in the 300 despite not having a seed time for the race as she was running her first 300 of the season. Assigned to the first unseeded heat, Alex sprinted to a 44.07 section win. After sections two and three of the 300, Alex remained in first place. Sections four and five would bring out the top gun in the long sprint. Kelly Gardner line up at the line in section four. At the sound of the starter’s pistol, Kelly race out and began closing the gap on runners in outside lanes. At the 200 mark, Kelly surged into the race lead and crossed the finish line in 43.27. For the moment, Kelly held the race lead. DeCicco was in 2nd place. Alyssa took the lead immediately in the seeded section of the 300. Her win was decisive as she equaled her season-best with her time of 41.96. Brentwood’s Sheisedo Robinson edged Longwood’s Keyshanna Symns for second place. Kelly held on for 4th place in the race. DeCicco took 6th. Longwood’s Jade Warner took 7th. Chassity ran a career-best 46.93. East’s other entrants – Samantha LoCascio and Angela Calabrese placed 9th and 10th respectively.
Edge
North. An expected and needed win by Alyssa and an outstanding and need scoring race by Kelly.
Meet Score
- East – 82
- North – 70
- Longwood – 43
1500 m. Racewalk
East has the top racewalk squad in NYS. North may have the second-best squad. But North has the top seed League 1 racewalker in Kaitlin Martins. North hoped to keep the points differential close enough in a clash of All-American contenders to make late-scoring high jump and long jump points relevant before relays.
Emily Leath was added to the meet line-up this morning. Upon her return to the team yesterday after a week-long absence from school and workouts due to a flu-like illness, Emily passed her workout test. While weakened from illness, Emily would give North a scoring chance that the team would not have without her. Rookie sophomore Leanne Curaro was given the assignment to keep Emily in range throughout her race. East countered with League 1 #2 Lauren Harris, #4 Stephanie Robertson and #5 Jamie Fleming. Brentwood’s Claudia Argueta was expected to push more than one Sachem North and East runner down scoring ranks from her League 1 #3 spot.
North and East team members cheered loudly throughout the race. Kaitlin and Harris were locked in a dual that featured several lead changes and counter moves to gain favored position on the inside of lane one. Emily and Leanne raced within themselves. It was hoped that one of them would score and that Emily may be within striking range of fifth place in the final 400 meters of her race.
The final lap of the racewalk showed the results of Kaitlin’s tough workouts throughout the season. The combination of strength and speed was reinforced in track workouts. Kaitlin fought to move into the lead on the bell lap. As Kaitlin and Harris went around the final turn, there was brief confusion to at least some spectators. The pair was no longer in the inside lanes. Kaitlin was in lane 5 as she crossed the finish line. Harris was in lane 4. It would take a careful review of finish line video to determine a race winner. After several tense minutes, Kaitlin was declared the winner by .02 seconds. Fleming took 4th. Robertson was a DNF. Emily (5th) and Leanne (6th) gave North its first and only three athlete scoring event of the meet.
Edge
North. North outscored East 13-12 in an event where East was favored to score big.
Meet Score
- East – 94
- North – 83
- Longwood – 43
High Jump
Coach Stillufsen has used video review at workouts and meets to provide valuable lessons to our high jump squad. A physics teacher, Coach Stillufsen carefully breaks down all phases of the approach and jump mechanics for athletes. Nikki Fogarty, Nicole Costanzo and Mara Bigornia were Sachem’s scorers today. Nikki and Nicole would have their jumps interrupted by hurdles. The trio was ready to compete. All would clear 4’ 8” today – a height coaches believed was necessary to score in League 1.
East’s three jumpers were out by 4’ 6”. East would fail to score in an event for the only time today. North could take advantage of the opportunity if it could outlast Pat-Med’s and Longwood’s gravity defying duos in the event. Longwood a 5’ 0” jumper in Bethany Cruz. Pat-Med’s Caitlyn Burgbacher was the only other League 1 jumper to clear 5’ 0” during the indoor season. Both teams also had 4’ 10” jumpers. Longwood had an off day as it placed 5th and 6th in the event with 4’ 9 ½” jumps. Nicole jumped the same height as the Longwood pair but took 4th for North with fewer misses. Nikki and Burgbacher both cleared 5 ‘0” before heading off to hurdles finals. After a brief recovery period upon returning to high jump, the pair missed first attempts at 5’ 1”. Nikki nailed her second attempt with great height and outstanding form – a third career-best on the day for her. Burgbacher missed her final two attempts at the height. Nikki’s high jump victory gave her a total of 24 team points on the day for North. A career-best day for one of Sachem’s greatest-ever track & field athletes. North took the lead for the first time. One open event remained before the expected East relay attack.
Edge
North
Team Score
- North – 97
- East – 94
- Longwood – 47
Long Jump
Blackall vs. Henderson Part 2. Leah had the upper hand (or foot) in long jump as she was the higher seed going into the event. But by only 1”. Elaina DiSalvo and Ali Van Sicklin were North’s other entrants. East was led by Kerstyn Ciulla, Amanda Fitzgerald and Jordan Messineo. The East trio would all finish in the top 10. Only Ciulla would score with her 4th place season-best leap of 16’ 3”. Elaina – who had long jumped for the first time ever at Wednesday’s crossover meet – placed 7th. Henderson was in her third event in her busy day, something she was used to and able to do at a high level based on earlier meet efforts. Henderson jumped a season-best and NYS #6 17’ 9 ½” today. Leah took full advantage of her 1” seed sheet edge in the event and jumped to a League 1 Championship Meet record 17’ 10 ½”. Leah won the event. North extended its lead. But would it be enough? Leah ran from the long jump pit to the starting line in search of her 4×400 teammates. The gun went off to start the race as Leah crossed the track. Leah had a few minutes to catch her breath. She was the race anchor.
Edge
North. Leah’s second win and second meet record helped extend North’s late-meet achieved lead. Longwood had lost any chance to win the meet or event place second earlier in the meet despite Henderson’s outstanding day. The Lions would have to settle for their best team performance in years today.
Meet Score
- North – 107
- East – 98
- Longwood – 55
4×400 m. Relay
North hoped to break 4:20 with it talented and veteran squad of Sam Sommers, Ali Van Sicklin, Krista Goodman and Leah Blackall. North had a fresh-leg alternate in Kayla Goodman. Kayla was told earlier in the week that she was too valuable to enter in an open event. She would be held in reserve for the 4×400. North coaches expected East to score at least 22 points in relays. They would have a chance to win both 4×400 and 4×800 (where East was a heavy favorite) relays. Ciara Murphy set up East’s win with a strong leadoff leg. Shelby Trentini, Faith D’Angelis and Kayla Wessberg would finish the task and gain an important East victory. Sam, Ali Van and Krista ran season-bests splits to set up Leah’s anchor leg and 3rd place relay finish. North missed a sub-4:20 time by 1.05 seconds. North’s lead shrunk by four points. North expected to outscore East in the 4×200. The 4×800 loomed larger then ever.
Edge
Too close to call. East was on the good side of a four point swing. But only two events remained.
Meet Score
- North – 113
- East – 108
4×200 m.
Even without Crystal Henderson, Longwood can put a fast 4×200 on the track. Kelly Gardner led off North’s relay. Kelly and Lauren Driscoll had a great exchange as Lauren took the stick in first place. Longwood’s Keyshanna Symns passed Lauren on the backstretch. Lauren battled Brentwood’s Briana Shand around the track. A second great exchange and Arianna Mosquera was in second place. The stage was set for a Leto anchor. Alyssa was almost as confident in her ability to chase down any rival anchor as her coaches. Alyssa took off as Arianna entered the exchange zone. Too soon. Alyssa was outrunning Arianna. A zone violation spelled doom for North. Déjà vu to 2013 and a disqualification in the 4×200 on a zone violation. Alyssa slammed on the breaks and came to a near dead stop to stay in the exchange zone. This gave Longwood’s anchor Nicole White a big lead. Alyssa cut the lead in half on her leg but ran out of track. Longwood won its signature event in a time of 1:50.18. East came back on Brentwood to take 3rd.
Edge
North. Only a two point swing over East when more was hoped for. But there was only one more event in the meet.
Meet Score
- North – 121
- East – 114
Except North coaches didn’t know the score. Even though high jump ended much earlier, results had not been posted yet. North did not know how it would fare in the jump off tie-breaker at 4’ 9 ½” as coaches did not know how many misses Longwood’s jumpers had. If Nicole was on the wrong end of the tie-breaker, Nicole’s 4th place finish may be a 6th place finish and its lead would be only four points.
4×800 m. Relay
If North had a lead or deficit of more than 10 points, anchor Elise Ramirez would be replaced by alternate Kaitlyn Licata. In fact, Kaitlyn had been told to stay ready for the 4×800 after Coach Young told fresh leg Amanda Carlson that she was getting the third leg assignment. Amanda missed some training time in after the New Year due to illness but bounced back to run a 2:38 relay leg at Zeitler League Relays. A 2:38 would suit Sachem coaches just fine today. Sam Giambrone ran a great 600-4×800 double at Stanner with one hour between events. She had the same hour between events today. Sam would get leadoff duties. Sachem had a second fresh runner held for the 4×800 in Jess Humann. East led off with Shayna Arrigo. Sam chased her around the track. North would handoff in second place. Alex DeCicco took the baton from Arrigo. DeCicco dashed around the track. “I ran with her for about five steps,” stated Jess after the meet. DeCicco extended the lead East held from wire to wire in the relay. Jess – despite a season-best split – had fallen back to 4th place.
“We’re five points up!” Coach Lasher kept an eye out for high jump results. They arrived just before Jess handed off the baton to Amanda Carlson. At Coach Young’s request, Lasher checked meet results and confirmed the meet score. This did not change our race tactics and goals in the 4×800. Before the race, Young asked Amanda “What is Rule #1 of relays?” Amanda paused and Young answered the question for her. “Keep the stick in the race. Stay close and set up Elise’s anchor leg.” Amanda nodded. Amanda is an aggressive and fearless racer. She would not back off from a fast pace third leg. While Jess had fallen back to 4th place, she was in contact with both Ward Melville and Longwood runners in the exchange zone. Amanda had runners to go with. She would keep the stick in the race. While Amanda raced around the track, Young crossed the track to where Elise waited and told her that “We only need to finish third.” Elise understood the brief instruction. North was still in 4th place at the final handoff of the meet. Elise calmly measured the pace of Longwood’s anchor, struck and made a pass on her first lap. But Elise was not done. Nearing the 4400 meter mark of her 4500 meter race day, Elise passed Ward Melville’s anchor and moved into 2nd place. Elise had put a final stamp on the meet day for Sachem North.
Meet Score
- North – 129
- East – 126
Sachem took its first team scoring lead in the eleventh event of the League Championship Meet. It was a lead that North would not relinquish. North’s determination to succeed in all fifteen events was strong today. Sachem scored in all but two events today with multiple scorers in five of the twelve open events. The North Flaming Arrows scored 22 relay points and was one 4×200 handoff away from matching East’s 24 relay points. North created opportunities in several events, most notably the 300, 1000 and racewalk events. The team overcame strong East efforts in the 1000 and 1500 and East event wins in four open events and two relays.
North coaches double-check and then triple checked meet results at the scoring table. Coaches were on the lookout for clerical errors in recording results. Assured that the meet score was correct, coaches walked over to the team area. The team mood was somber. The team did not learn of the team lead during the 4×800. The team never let up on its enthusiastic cheering for teammates in the relay as all recognized the will to win by teammates exhibited in each event today.
“You did it! You made it happen! You won! Congratulations, Sachem!” The team’s loudest cheers of the day erupted. Tears streamed down the faces of some. “That moment when it all pays off,” tweeted Alyssa Leto several hours after the meet ended. Hard work paid off as the Sachem North Flaming Arrows 3-peated as League 1 Champions today. Led by captains, the team took a quiet lap around Suffolk West’s track as team victory continued to sink in. “We came off the ropes, Coach,” declared an athlete to Young.
Sachem North also had the greatest team championship in its history. North coaches knew the team was not the favorite that it had been in the previous two seasons. The team was down by more than 25 points two different times during the meet. Team stars Alyssa Leto, Nikki Fogarty, Elise Ramirez and Leah Blackall put the team on their strong shoulders and carried the North Flaming Arrows to victory with a combined 80 team points plus scoring relay efforts.
The team returned to North and a post-meet meeting and celebration in the Pit. Coaches and athletes then shifted gears. Only eight days until Counties.