At the midpoint of the dual meet season, the Sachem East Girls Track & Field team remains undefeated, having upended Longwood (98.5-51.5), Ward Melville (82.5-67.5), and Middle Country (126-23). The last home dual meet of the season- Senior Day- will be against William Floyd on Tuesday, May 2nd at 4:00.
This year’s team features a healthy mix of experienced veterans and energetic newcomers and, as always, is a balanced squad that covers all the events. With Connetquot being the Suffolk County pre-season favorite, East’s strong Senior contingent hopes to play the spoiler and defend last year’s County Title. That defense will begin with the Race Walk where National Record holder Lauren Harris leads the strongest Race Walk squad in the nation. Chelsea Benedict, Margaret Atwood, Sam Piezzo, Anna Arrigo, Hayley DiCarlo, and Amanda Harnos are all potential scorers in the County Meet. The distance running squad is led by Rachel Ruggiero, Lindsey Dodenhoff, Bridget Abraldes, Melissa Merone, Allison Rinfret, Cait O’Hehir, Carly Napoli, Maria DeKoning, and Brooke Howell. The equally impressive mid-distance/long-sprint squad is led by School Record holder Kaitlyn Famiglietti, Angela Calabrese, Skylar Papele, Shayna Arrigo, Alice Tsai, Angela Consolazio, Judy Le, and Juliana Grillo.
Senior leader Jordan Messineo, Hannah Shapiro, and Marisa Cuevas all score points in the Pole Vault and are part of the short hurdles squad that includes Skylar Papele, Jeilyn Balbuena, Juliana Mercado, and Imani Martin. East sports a very strong 400 Hurdle squad featuring Famiglietti, Calabrese, Skylar Papele, and Isabelle Jimenez. Multi-eventer Jasmine Ahmed leads the High Jump squad along with Alexa Palotta and Cierra Dolan. Emily Schatz and Alice Tsai have posted some outstanding early season marks to lead the Long/Triple Jump squad that also showcases Brooke Papele and Lauren Kane.
The short sprints are led by Brooke Papele, Balbuena, Mercado, and Gianna Pepitone. The throws squad is both large and deep, with School Record holder Erin Leonard leading the way, and Rosalie Gandarillas, Michaela Parker, Christina Artusa, and Aliya Martin all either 30 foot plus in the Shot Put or 90 foot plus in the discus. Right behind them is Victoria Rodriguez and Kaitlyn Westerdale. A strong showing here at Counties could be a key to East pulling off the upset at Counties.
Also key will be team depth come relay time. Team scores will probably be very close, with Connetquot, Ward Melville, Bay Shore, and Sachem East all likely to be in the mix when the meet closes out with the 3 relay events (4 by 100, 4 by 400, 4 by 800). The team that can score big points here will likely come out on top.
Next up for the Lady Arrows is the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, and that will be followed by elite Invitationals at Saint Anthonys, North Shore, and the Eddy Games in Albany. But the best way to see the Lady Arrows in action is to be in the East bleachers on May 2nd, as the seniors compete for the last time on their home track. Start time is 4:00.
-Submitted by Sachem East track staff