After the performances Sachem North boys track had at the Divisional meet, the team was looking to carry that momentum forward to get up to Syracuse for the state championship meet. Everyone’s goal was to win their event. If they didn’t win they had to come in second and hit the standard if they hadn’t already.
Jonathan Lauer was the only one that was missing the standard. When he stepped out on the track for the 3K Steeplechase, he knew what he had to do. Running a great race he separated himself from the rest of the field coming in 10 seconds ahead of second place. He finished as the County Champion with a time of 9:34.72.
Chris Fasano had the standard in both shot put and discus. He had just thrown 53′ 7″ at divisions in shot and was looking to build on that at the qualifier. It was going to be a battle between him and Danny Byrne from Kings Park. Danny came out on top, but Fasano had another personal best of 54′ 7″. That throw would put him in 2nd and enter him into the State meet. The discus he did not have as much luck with. He finished with a respectable throw of 153′. Good enough for fourth place making him All County for both Shot Put and Discus
Another athlete who had a full workload at the State Qualifier was Chris Tibbetts. He was entered in the 800 and the 1600. Chris was division champ in both events and hoping that one of them would be his ticket to the state meet. On day one Chris had a bad start in the beginning of the 800 putting him in a very tough position. He worked his way back up to a fourth place All-County finish with a school record time of 1:54.44. While a record is great, the state meet is the goal. So Chris had to really focus on the 2nd day when it came to race in the 1600. As the second seed, that is all Chris had to do was finish second. He ran a very tactical race kicking a little earlier than normal. When he crossed the finish line he was County Champion with a time of 4:16.09.
The last one to compete in the meet was also the youngest of the group. Sophomore, Connor Pallmann had been having an outstanding season in High Jump. He would be going up against the toughest competition of the day , Daniel Claxton of Smithtown who is ranked No. 1 in the state. It took a little bit of time for Connor to get settled, but when he cleared 6′ 4″ he knew he was going to the state meet. After that he was able to clear a season best 6′ 5″ which is an inch away from the school record and solidified his All County status.
The goal was to get these guys upstate. Once that happened the goal shifted to seeing how well they can do upstate and hopefully helping them to earn All State or even better All Federation. The group of four Sachem North Underclassman travelled together to Cicero North Syracuse all with the same goal, to do as best as they can. Suffolk County is viewed as one of the most competitive counties in the state as far as track & field goes, so they were certainly prepared for the level of competition they would be facing at the State Meet.
The camaraderie that was seen between the athletes representing Suffolk County is a reason to come up there all by itself. These athletes compete against one another all season long and then for this meet they become teammates rooting one another on. Section XI did an outstanding job.
New York State Championships Results
- High Jump: Connor Pallmann, 6′ 2″, 16th
- 3K Steeplechase: Jonathan Lauer, 9:27.96, 9th, new school record
- 1,600: Chris Tibbetts, 4:19.75, 9th, 6th in public- All State, new school record
- Shot Put: Chris Fasano, 58′ 2 1/2″, 3rd, 2nd in public- All State, new school record
ALL-LEAGUE
- Liam Donohue, 400 Intermediate Hurdles
- Chris Fasano, Shot Put
- Nick Hadzigeorgiou, Triple Jump
- Jonathan Lauer, 3,200
- Jose Morel, 110 High Hurdles
- Connor Pallmann, High Jump
- Chris Tibbetts, 1,600
ALL-COUNTY
- Chris Fasano, Shot Put & Discus
- Jonathan Lauer, 3K Steeplechase
- Jose Morel, All-Academic Team
- Connor Pallmann, High Jump
- Chris Tibbetts, 800 & 1600
-Submitted by the Sachem North Track & Field Coaching Staff