Sachem placed first in seven of the 13 events contested at Crossover B at Suffolk West Saturday.
The Flaming Arrows showed off its broad range of talent in track and field with wins in sprint events (55 m. dash and 55 m. hurdles) distance events (1000 m. and 1500 m. race walk) and field events (long jump, triple jump and shotput).
Sachem was led by Melissa Michels (55 m. dash, long jump), Nikki Fogarty (55 m. hurdles, triple jump), Elise Ramirez (1000 m.), Katie Michta (1500 m. race walk) and Kaitlyn Okvist (shotput).
They showed event depth as Michta was followed by Natalie DeQuarto and Kaitlin Martins with a top three places sweep in the 1500 m. race walk. Michels, Leah Blackall and Elaina DiSalvo took three of the top six spots in long jump. Sachem showed team depth with multiple top six finishers in five events.
The frosh-soph squad was part of Sachem’s strong showing. Leah Blackall placed third in long jump and ran second leg on the winning 4×200 meter relay. DiSalvo (long jump), Nicole Costanzo (55 m. hurdles), Julia Iadanza (300 m. dash), Samantha Somers (300 m. dash), Emily Lin (1000 m.) and Kelly Gardner (55 m. dash) were among North’s top performers.
Eighth grader Gabriella Mott – in her first indoor meet for Sachem – was her team’s third finisher in the 1500 m. run.
Sachem showed great team spirit throughout the meet. After a team warm-down, the team gathered in a snowy courtyard outside Suffolk West’s field house to pose for a team photo. Sachem has a short training week as the team will return to Suffolk West for Crossover C on Wednesday, December 18.
FOOTNOTES
- Twelve hurdlers competed – the largest number ever to compete in a meet for Sachem North. This number may increase as several more athletes are training in the event.
- Sachem took three of the top six places in race walk at last year’s League 1 Championship Meet. Determined to continue to improve and develop as a squad, two-time All-American Katie Michta and two-time Nationals competitor Natalie DeQuarto lead a stronger squad this season. Sachem had the fastest race walk time of the day in the four crossover meets held at Suffolk West today and three of the four fastest times (Michta, DeQuarto and Martins) of the day. The squad has its greatest depth in many seasons with newcomers Emily Leath, Meghan Tozza and Denise Barrera turning in great efforts today.
- Three’s a Charm – Nikki Fogarty and Melissa Michels took firsts in three events each today. Nikki won hurdles and triple jump and Melissa won the 55 m. dash and long jump before the duo ran the last two legs of the first place 4×200.
- And Miles to Go Before I Sleep – Most distance runners doubled in events today. Racing in events from 600 to 3000 meters then returning to the track in relays as little as 20 minutes later takes preparation found in workouts. Sachem’s D-Squad is up to this challenge early in the 2013-14 winter campaign.
-Submitted by Sachem North coach Alex Young