I won’t waste a lot of time since there’s a bunch of stuff to get too. Although, how about Ramapo’s 1,600 relay team? Wow – 3:16.50 at Grand Prix. What else can you say about that team. That time was good for third at the meet. That team just gets better and better. It’s really impressive.

Now onto the qualifiers:

Boys

200 – Mike Abelard just continues to get better. He ran a 21.58 to win the 200 and was very impressive in doing so. He has an outside shot to win two state titles, although he definitely has a better chance to win the 200. And let’s not forget that 1,600 relay team. Unfortunately Jesse Drinks pulled up about 60 meters from the finish line. It didn’t look like a straight pull and he did finish the race. He seemed to be walking around OK afterwards, so hopefully it was just a cramp.

For Division 2, Nat Recine of Bronxville again proved that he is the best sprinter in the small school division. He won both the 100 and 200 (22.63). He edged out a very impressive runner in Kevin Sainsvil (22.66) of Woodlands who qualifies for states in this and the 400.

400 – I would say there was a bit of an upset in this event. Chris Davis of Roosevelt ended up surprising a lot of people by winning this event in 48.83, the first time he’s broken 49 in the event. This is a big kid who is very talented. He clearly hasn’t reached his potential. The big surprise was Alex Petit-Frere of Spring Valley qualifying in the event. He ran a great race and edged out Chidi Ezemma – 50.16 – 50.31, to take second. Unfortunately another Justin Allen from Mount Vernon who ran sub-49 at Loucks has battled hamstring injuries since that meet and had to limp through the race.

As I just mentioned – very promising junior from Woodlands – Sainvil also qualified for states in the 400 with his first place time of 49.57. To run that in his first season, watch out for him. If he runs at Easterns that could be a big race for him. It’s tough to get a good time at states, so I don’t know what to expect from him there, but he’ll be right there for D-2 and possibly federation.

1,600 – There was little surprise as to who was going to win this race. Chris Carrington had it from the start. He definitely wanted to run faster than the 4:18, but at qualifiers the main goal is to qualify. He still has plenty of chances to break that 4:10 mark. I mentioned this yesterday, but the more interesting story will be Mike Dapice. He took second in 4:23, so he has until next week to get the standard of sub-4:17. Easterns is really his last chance to qualify for the meet. It’s tough, but I wouldn’t count him out.

In Division 2, Julian Saliani had to battle with Christian Yoo of Bronxville to qualify for states. Saliani has an excellent shot to do really well at the D-2 meet. He’s one of the top distance runners in the state and him along with Nick Hughes, Manu Kumar, Kevin McKenna and a few others will be the top runners in cross country next fall.

400 hurdles – Again there was little doubt about this event. The two favorites all spring (and last spring) were Ryan Whitley and Zack Weisbrot. They went out and finished 1-2 again this spring. Those two guys are real good runners, but put them in this event and they are superb. And it’s a similar story in D-2 where Nanuet’s Nick Steel was the best hurdler in the small school division and he is able to qualify in the event.

400 relay – I’m not going to spend to much time on this because I had to leave before this event went off in order to make deadline. But it looks as though Ramapo used a fairly new crowd – Jason Senat, Aaron Thevinin, Travis Abelard – to team with Chidi Ezemma to qualify in the event. Keep in mind Ezemma’s the only senior out of this foursome. And in D-2 it looked like a close race as Valhalla edged out Bronxville – 44.56-.76. It’s a little surprising to see Jon Filipe on the relay considering he also qualified in the 800. To run the 100 and 800 is pretty versatile.

1,600 relay – This was Ramapo’s “A” team and it won in 3:21.32. Mount Vernon edged out Suffern to also qualify in the event. Pawling got the win for Division 2.

3,200 relay – The top three teams also finished below 8 minutes. New Rochelle had the lead early and just continued to hold on. Aki Bajulaiye has been running great this season and it was his 1:53 anchor leg that really keyed New Rochelle to victory. But that’s not to discount Daquan Oliver, Ruben Barajas and Harrison Quamily all of whom ran exceptionally well. Arlington has a lot of talented runners and to beat them is a great accomplishment. Unfortunately the team that really loses out is Fox Lane. It’s 7:55 time and third place finish won’t make it. I believe only one of those runners is a senior, so hopefully that team will be back next year.

In D-2 you had a late charge by Julian Saliani of Irvington to pass Pawling in the last lap and get the first place finish and automatic bid to states for the team of Sean Lippin, Sam Lindberg, Matt Menard.

Pole vault – Jordan Yamoah of Arlington ended up winning the event clearing 14-0, but Chris Spadaccini of Pearl River took second and the other qualifying place at states clearing 13-0. Apparently Jesse Sarka of Suffern is no longer on the Mounties’ track program. In Division 2 Nanuet’s Tom Roeder qualified for states as he cleared 10-1, which is a pretty unusual height. He has cleared 10-6 earlier this season.

Triple jump – Another event where there’s a lot of talent. Sean Reilly is an incredible leaper. He jumped 47-5 in the triple and get get to 6-9 in the high. But it looks as though Dasheen Ellis is back as he jumped 45-9 1/2 to take second and qualify for states. Qualifiers is where Ellis jumped onto the scene over the winter and he had another big jump at this meet. He’s been in enough big meets where states shouldn’t bother him.

In D-2 it’s getting pretty apparent that Philip Flynn is the best jumper in the small schools for Section 1. He’s an excellent high jumper and possibly better in the triple as he qualified in 44-5 3/4. He’s also a member of the 4×1 team.

Shot put – What I said yesterday about Joe Fox in the discus is true today for the shot put. This is probably his better event, but he’s just a terrific thrower. There was a slight upset in the boys shot as Henry Palermo of Bronxville took first with a throw of 45-6 beatin out Mar Troiani of Valhalla.

Pentathlon – In Division 1 that was an intense event. Jason Raeburn ended up winning the event with 3,138 points, second was Kyle Sanders of Clarkstown South with 3,127 and third was Joe Gibbs of Saunders with 3,107. Three athletes all over 3,000 points. Not bad. In D-2 Mike Carroll was the favorite going in and unfortunately he had no competition in the event – literally. He was the only D-2 pent athlete.

Girls

200 – This was a similar event to the girls’ 100 the day before. Pretty much the same runners except for Jen Clayton. Shilesha Johnson again qualifies for the state meet in 25.01. The battle for second was a close one as Ihiechi Ohia-Enyia of Saunders edged out Tanaya Yarde of Mount Vernon, 25.19-.20. That was going to be a close race coming in and similarly to the 100 on Thursday it did not disappoint.

For Division 2 it was Alexis Easterling running away with the event finishing in 25.32. Tamika Smith of Hamilton also qualified for states taking second in 26.34. Easterling apparently has decided to move away from the jumping events and focus only on running. It looked like a very wise decision at qualifiers.

400 – Brie Roller was the heavy favorite heading into the event and she did not disappoint as she won in 56.83. She is one of the best 400 runners in the section right now and it will be interesting to see how she improves over the next two years. The other top 400 runner – Easterling. She dominated the D-2 race winning in 56.62. She could be in for a big state meet. She looked really good at qualifiers.

1,500 – It looked as though Jacki Gamboli was going to cruise in for the victory, but with a furious final lap Hayley McMahon of Arlington flew past and won in 4:35.31. Gamboli still qualifies as she took second in 4:38.23. I’d keep an eye on McMahon. First at the Class A meet and now at quals. She’s been impressive late in the season.

In D-2 it was another good race as Megan Young won the 1,500 in 4:47.09 just edging out Caitlin Jelinek (4:47.17) of Pawling. Young missed out on the 3,000 on Friday as she took third, but it’s good to see her going to states as she is a really promising young runner.

400 hurdles – I talked about this in my article the other day, but Nina Sarmiento of Harrison looked pretty smooth in the 400 hurdles as she won in 64.84. Her coaches have have told me how talented she is, and the way she ran on Friday they’re right. And in D-2 Rachel Kim of Bronxville again qualifies for the state meet in 68.49.

400 relay – As with the boys I had to leave before this event went off. But the Mount Vernon team of Lexus Harney, Kenina Bonner, Michelle McCrae and Tanaya Yarde ended up winning the event in 48.60. Suffern also qualifies as it edged out Ramapo – 49.14-.63. It looks like there were only two girls’ teams in this event for D-2 with the Woodlands quartet of Diana Sainvil, Sharlene Chisolm, Nia Holmes and Easterling taking first in 50.18.

1,600 relay – I think this event was a bit of a surprise. Now again, I wasn’t there to see it, but I would’ve bet that Mount Vernon – the team that set the section record in this event earlier in the season would have qualified. But John Jay-EF ended up winning in 3:58.74, just ahead of Ursuline (3:59.95). For D-2 it was Pawling taking the victory.

3,200 relay – I was forced to watch this race unfold as I was walking to my car. The North Rockland team of Alexis Hatcher,  Kristen Walsk. Ellie Hekker and Jackie Gamboli were able to hold on to the victory as both Henrietta Miers of Bronxville and Shelby Greany made a late charge at Gamboli. But she was able to hold on as did Miers over Greany. It was a good race, but all three teams will be going to states where they will most likely compete again.

Triple jump – There was some big-time competition in this event. Olivia Stevens of Lourdes is the best triple jumper and won with a jump of 37-4 1/4, but she was pushed by Amber Stephens of North Rockland who took second at 36-8 1/2. For a while Amber was in first, but Olivia was able to secure first by the end. In D-2 Erica Wharton has been doing really well in this event most of the season and the sophomore set a persona;-best by over a foot at qualifiers. This is an event where an athlete can definitely improve by quite a lot by just working on your form.

Discus – Similar to what I said for Joe Fox, Charlotte Pope is the best thrower in the section for the girls. She won both the shot and discus. I originally thought the shot was her best event, but now I’m beginning to lean towards the discus. In D-2 Tiffany Henry won this event for Edgemont in 100-1. She has had better throws, but she has always been one of the better discus throwers in the section this year.

Pentathlon – For the girls it was Ashai McLean from New Rochelle winning the event. She won three of the five events – hurdlers, shot and long jump on her way to a fairly comfortable victory. In D-2 Brittany Brown is arguably the best in the state in this event and it would have been extremely difficult to beat her. Although, give credit to Alexa Piccoli of Valhalla and Hannah Demartino of Nanuet who  both made a run at the title and had strong performances.

Let me know what some of your thoughts were from the meet or if I left anything out. Hopefully I’ll see you all soon and thanks for reading.