After Bronxville won titles in both the boys and girls, now it’s Pearl River’s turn to win both titles. It was the boys first title since 1994, while the girls have won four in a row.

It was close though for the boys as Nyack – which may have had one of the most underrated teams in the sectiion – finished second.

Mike Hickey obviously had a very impressive meet winning the 1,600 and 3,200. He needed to have a big meet in order for this team to have a chance. But one of the realy keys to the Pirates victory was senior sprinter Rich Ricca. Winning the 100 and 200 were crucial to Pearl River’s win.

And then of course you have the team’s plethora of pole vaulters. In case you lost count -it’s up to three the number of athletes they have that can clear 12 feet. You have Chris Spadaccini, Pat Scognamiglio and Frances Depinto.

And then you have the girls. Pearl River was the obvious favorite heading into this meet and the team delivered with an impressive victory over Harrison. From Chelsea Kushner and Maria Kohlbrenner in the distance events to Angelica Gilsenan and Michelle Brady in the jumps, Pearl River just has so much talent on the team.

Its the teams fourth straight sectional title. When you watch the meet, the Pirates rarely have a first place winner, but each time you look at the scoreboard, the team just adds to its lead.

Here are some other points:

• Harrison has some promising sprinters with Nina Sarmiento and Sasha Tharani.


• Watch out for Edgemont junior Marissa Lafayette. This is only her first track season and she won the 400 in 59.3. Next year she said she was going to do both indoor and outdoor. She’s only been running for six weeks and is already one of the top runners in the event.


• That was a big meet for Christi Maraccini of Harrison. She was clearly the best hurdler at the meet. Unfortunately she will not be competing at state quals as she has a prio committment the day of the state meet.


• Since we’re on Harrison – Claudio Delli Carpini competed and looked strong in the meet. He ran the hurdles and dominated his heat. His hamstring was a little tight doin gthe long jump, so he stopped competing, but he’ll be back in time for state quals. He just didn’t want quals to be his first meet back. He’ll also only be focusing on the hurdles, not the long jump.


• That was a nice win by Jessica Kendzor in the 800. She had a real strong cross country season, and looks to be back.


• It’s apparent, but I’ll say it anyway – Megan Young is going to be good, very good. She is clearly on her way to being the top distance runner in the section. And let’s not forget her teammate – Hannah Demartino – who is another promising young athlete and is just incredibly well-rounded.


• Irvington has a real nice athlete in Megan Talay. She is clealy an athlete to keep an eye on. She can hurdle and high jump – avery nice combination.


• I was really excitied to see Jarman Esperance go against Claudio in the hurdles, unfortunately it was not meant to be, so Esperance ended up winning it anyway. There was some confusion with the long jump and some type of conflict so the officials only allowed him one jump – he fouled and that was it. He has a good shot at qualifying in two events next week.


• Hen Hud’s Zach Weisbrot looks to be ready for the 400 hurdles. It will be tough for him to beat Ryan Whitley, but it shold be interesting.


• Another excellent run by Lyle Haywood of Nyack. He pushed the pace again, but this time he didn’t have Carrington chasing him and he won in 1:56. The 800 is shaping up to be a great race next week.


• Rye has a nice team as well with a  couple of good jumpers in Max Yanker and Dan Forsman, This is a team that has really built a nice program.