“It was the best of times, it was the best of times.”
Not exactly what Dickens wrote, but definitely what he would have written about the performance of the Sachem East girls track and field team at the 2017 Suffolk County Spring Track Championships.
Two days of season bests, personal bests, and school records that enabled the Sachem East to dominate the action, winning the meet with 133 points over second place Ward Melville (73 points) to win their third consecutive spring county title.
“Enjoy this moment,” Coach Schaub said strongly as he handed the championship plaque to the seniors. “You worked very hard for this and had an incredible meet!”
In addition to the team title, this squad crowned four individual event champions, with two school records set in the process. Kaitlyn Famiglietti won the 400 hurdles, Lauren Harris the 1,500-meter race walk, and school records were set by Jeilyn Balbuena while winning the 100 hurdles, and Jasmine Ahmed while winning the pentathlon.
Sachem East was the only team to score in all event areas as jumps, throws, sprints, distance, and relays were all areas where the Arrows racked up points.
The Arrows placed multiple scorers in a number of events, with the 1, 3, 5 finish in the 400 hurdles (Famiglietti, Skylar Papele, Angela Calabrese) and the 1, 2, 3 finish in the 1,500-meter race walk (Harris, Margaret Atwood, Chelsea Benedict) blowing the meet wide open.
Sachem East closed out the meet by being the only team to score in all three relays.
Next up for Sachem is the New York State Qualifier next Friday and Saturday at Port Jeff High, the New York State Championship in Binghamton the following weekend (for those that qualify), and then Nationals in North Carolina for the handful who have hit the national standards.
Sachem East Top Finishers at 2017 Suffolk County Championship
- Pentathlon: 1- Jasmine Ahmed, 2458 points (School Record)
- 100 Hurdles: 1- Jeilyn Balbuena, 15.29 (School Record)
- 400 Meters: 8- Brooke Papele, 59.83
- 800 Meters: 3- Shayna Arrigo 2:19.64, 5- Rachel Ruggiero 2:20.17, 6- Bridget Abraldes 2:20.52, 7- Melissa Merone 2:21.13
- 400 Hurdles: 1- Kaitlyn Famiglietti 63.29, 3- Skyler Papele 65.24, 5- Angela Calabrese 66.84
- 3000 Meters: 2- Lindsay Dodenhoff 10:06.87
- Long Jump: 4- Alice Tsai 16′ 9.5″
- Pole Vault: 10- Jordan Messineo 8′ 6″
- Discus: 3- Erin Leonard 111′ 1, 6- Rosalie Gandarillas 100′ 3″
- Steeplechase: 5- Melissa Merone 7:29.79, 10- Allison Rinfret 8:05.05
- 1500 Meters: 2- Lindsay Dodenhoff 4:51.37, 3- Rachel Ruggiero 4:54.77
- Shot Put: 4- Rosalie Gandarillas 35′ 5.75″, 5- Christina Artusa 35′, 8- Michaela Parker 34′ 1.5″
- Triple Jump: 4- Emily Schatz . 35′ .5″
- 1500 Race Walk: 1- Lauren Harris 6:37.43, 2- Margeret Atwood 6:57.01, 3- Chelsea Benedict 7:04.04, 7- Sam Piezzo 7:40.04, 10- Amanda Harnos 7:43.48
- 4×100 Relay: 5- B. Papele, Angela Consalazio, Tsai, Balbuena 51.08
- 4×400 Relay: 2- Famiglietti, Consalazio, B Papele, S. Arrigo 4:04.29
- 4×800 Relay: 2- Abraldes, S. Arrigo, Merone, Dodenhoff 9:38.72