The spring season has been a meteorologist’s delight to date. Sachem – and all teams – are used to challenging weather conditions as the fourth week of the spring season ended at Lindy Relays today.
We don’t need to know “real feel” temperatures. 31 degrees in late March sounds cold enough. Wind gusts exceeding 40 mph have made pole vault a greater adventure than it is on a typical day – sprint, jump, hand stand on a pole, hope wind gusts don’t twist and turn you away from mat.
The same winds have redirected discuses, have sent crossbars flying and have presented unique challenges to 7th and 8th grade distance runners called up to lend slender muscle to high school squads.
Athletes, coaches and spectators arrived at Lindenhurst Middle School under cloudy skies yesterday with a stoic pessimism that the nicest part of the morning was behind all. They were right. Lindenhurst reached a high temperature of 48 degrees today. At 9:05 a.m. The meet began at 9:30. The first drops were felt during the second running event of the meet. A light drizzle partnered up with a breeze two events later. Pole vaulters could no longer grip their poles.
By mid-meet, the rain was steady. A high jump official had to temporarily suspend the event while he went inside to rewrite his rain-damaged results sheet. By then, most athletes had moved to locker rooms and stairwells inside Lindy Middle School to escape the elements. The shotput and discus sectors looked like mud pits. “I hate it when the weatherman is right,” grumbled one coach.
The bleachers looked like a recycling center as athletes used trash bags (an essential part of any track and field backpack) to protect racing shoes and equipment. “I surrender!” declared Sachem pole vaulter Katie Pfeil as she passed on her third attempt at 6’ 6”. She could no longer grip her pole and had little feeling left in her hands in the third hour at pole vault. High jumper Mara Bigornia cleared 4’ 4” then waited and tried in vain to stay to warm while the high jump official recopied results before Coach O’Brien ended Mara’s day after more than 30 minutes had passed. “Thank you!” cried Mara. She then joined her 4×100 teammates to prepare for her next event.
Sachem athletes closed out the field event portion of the meet at shotput. 4 kilogram shots were disappearing in muck deep enough to excite Upton Sinclair and Ida Tarbell. Coach Young passed Teresa Parisi on her final throw. She lost feeling in her fingers earlier in the competition.
Sachem discus throwers got to throw before weather became problematic today. Senior Kaitlyn Okvist led Sachem throwers as she has for the past three season. Kaitlyn had a season-best throw of 87’ 8”. Sophomore relay teammate Kira Audia had a career-best throw with a 78’ 5” toss. The duo took third in the relay. Sachem’s deep and ever-improving squad saw several season and career-best days today.
There were still three running events left when the wind picked up. Gusts exceeded 20 mph. Sachem DMR anchor Emily Lin ran a career-best 1600 m. leg (6:06.0) despite a strong headwind on the homestretch side of the track. Sachem coaches worried that deteriorating conditions may lead to muscle pulls for sprinters waiting to run 4×100 relays.
Yesterday, Sachem was looking forward to an early season showdown race against North Babylon’s vaunted sprint relay. Fast times now? The starter’s pistol sounded and Sachem’s Alyssa Leto shot out of her blocks. Nikki Fogarty, Leah Blackall and Melissa Michels flew around the oval and 50.27 seconds later owned the #1 time in NYS in the young season. North Babylon had the NYS #2 time in 50.44. Bad weather? It was never an issue.
In the final track event, Sachem racewalkers Natalie DeQuarto and Kaitlin Martins went 1-2, taking first in the relay. Sophomore teammates Emily Leath and Megan Tozza took fifth. Sachem’s racewalk squad grew by one as senior Monica Abrams volunteered for the event after her second running event. She paired up with rookie frosh Jacqueline Isler to complete her team’s fourth relay pairing of the event. Monica is impervious to the cold. She typically wears just a t-shirt as her top layer in workouts.
During the indoor season, Monica led her distance teammates in a shorts and t-shirt only “cool-down” on a single digit temperature day in January. The Sachem girls distance squad sang and laughed on a polar run from North to Samoset and back. A bemused boys team – appropriated dressed in layers, hats and scarves – took double and triple takes as the girls ran by waving greetings. Ask a Sachem distance runner what a bad weather day looks like. She won’t have an answer. She has never experienced one.
Sophomore Leah Blackall did not seem effected by the weather. She had the meet’s best jump with a 16’ 10 ¾” leap as she paired with senior Sunja Joseph to place first in the event. Leah ran a blistering turn on Sachem’s winning 4×100 squad. Leah led off the frosh-soph sprint medley relay with a 200 leg that helped secure a second heat win and fourth place finish overall. Sachem coaches named Leah the North Flaming Arrows athlete of the meet.
Athletes cheered for medal winning team members in a brief team meeting following their return to Sachem North. The team then redirected its focus to a good training week beginning Monday and headed home to dry clothes and warm meals.
-Submitted by Sachem coach Alex Young