OK, so here are my long awaited predictions for the top five finishers on the boys side:

1. Ramapo: I know I’m really going out on a limb here. They have so much talent they will dominate a handful of events and score enough points everywhere else to win their second straight county title.

2. Suffern: That second place finish at leagues really impressed me. The Mounties have a lot of talented runners and they should score enough points to claim second place. The emergence of Dom McEnery and Jesse Sarka should give this team enough diversity to do well.

3. North Rockland: The Red Raiders haven’t had that impressive of a season. They have a lot of depth and should score in a lot of events, but I don’t know how many points they’ll score in some of these events. They will lack the big scorers needed to make a serious threat. Who will get them 20-30 points?

4. Spring Valley: Its strength is the same as Ramapo’s strength. A lot of really talented sprinters, but the Tigers should pick up points that Ramapo doesn’t get in the 1, 2, 4 and the relays.

5. Clarkstown South: The injury to Antoine McGill is brutal. I’m not sure how serious it is, but if he can’t compete then the Vikings are in trouble. You’re taking out of the lineup someone who can not only score but win three events on his own. Not to mention being a team leader.

Sorry for the late post, I went up to Boston after Loucks, and one of the city’s more famous bands, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones inspired me for the title of this post. Now The impression that I get:

Kristin Reese is on a roll. This weekend at Loucks she was running like a state champion. To win the 800 and 1,600 in back to back days is tough enough, but it’s the way that she did it. She was in control the whole way. Even yesterday with Shelby Greany running off her back shoulder, it never looked like she was in trouble. She said winning the 800 on Friday gave her confidence, now she won the 1,600 to go along with that. And both times were impressive, 2:11 in the 8 and 4:51 in the 16, she is already having a good season, but this could be a monster season.

Pole vaulting is always such a weird event. Sometimes jumpers look so good and then other times they just can’t get over the bar at any height.  Brian McGovern had that problem at Penn, but he can potentially clear 16 feet. He cleared 15-7 yesterday and looked great doing it. He cleared it on his first jump, but he no heighted at Penn and it took him three times to clear 14. Then on 15-7 he cleared it in one shot. I think by the end of the season he should be clearing 16.

You know what impresses me about Ramapo; it’s their determination. Coming down the final straight away if one of these guys are tied or close with another runner I expect them to win. It happened again yesterday in the 1,600 relay. Chidi Ezemma had the lead lost it in the first 200, it looked like he was broken, but then around the final turn he comes back and passes the kid from Colonie.

Elizabeth Mott ran two really good times in the hurdles. She is not content with her times yet this season, but she is definitely getting better each meet.

I’ll be back tomorrow to talk about counties…see you then…

League III-A championship

Boys

Team standings and key: 1. Byram Hills (BH) 178; 2. Croton-Harmon (CH) 110; 3. Westlake (Ws) 66; 4. Pleasantville (Pv) 57; 5. Kennedy (JFK) 55; 6. Putnam Valley (PV) 45; 7. Lincoln Hall (LH) 21; 8. Briarcliff (Bc) 20.

100 – 1. Miles Peterson (Pv) 11.38; 2. Tim Wuebber (BH) 11.57; 3. Jerron Willis (LH) 11.93. 200 – 1. Peterson (Pv) 23.0; 2. Wuebber (BH) 23.6; 3. Nick Dorkin (Bc) 23.6. 400 – 1. Nick Fasano (BH) 53.14; 2. James Granata (BH) 53.89; 3. Pete Skurman (BH) 55.03. 800 – 1. Fasano (BH) 2:08.60; 2. Granata (BH) 2:08.81; 3. Skurman (BH) 2:09.83. 1,600 – 1. Chris Ryan (BH) 4:49.57; 2. Jon Zupa n (PV) 4:50.46; 3.Joe Violone (BH) 4:52.08. 3,200 – 1. Violone (BH) 10:28.3; 2. Ryan (BH) 10:55.1; 3. Chris Cioffoletti (BH) 10:55.4. 110 hurdles – 1. Benson Njie (CH) 16.2; 2. Colin Powers (Ws) 17.8; 3. Dylan Schuck (JFK) 18.2. 400 hurdles – 1. Brendon O’Hara (CH) 1:00.9; 2. Schuck (JFK) 1:02.9; 3. Njie (CH) 1:04.2. Pole vault – 1. Pete Batalla (BH) 9-6; 2. Chris Peri (PV) 8-6; 3. Geoffrey Penny (Ws) 7-6. Triple jump – 1. Wuebber (BH) 39-4; 2. O’Hara (CH) 38-9 1/2 ; 3. Richard Sune (JFK) 38-5. Javelin – 1. Schuck (JFK) 151-11; 2. Shawn McDonald (BH) 145-7; 3. Bello (Ws) 121-8. Shotput – 1. Adam Bello (Ws) 45-0; 2. T.J. Hari (CH) 44-3; 3. David Hamilton (PV) 41-5 1/2 . Long jump – 1. Sune (JFK) 19-2; 2. Wuebber (BH) 18-10 1/2 ; 3. O’Hara (CH) 18-10. High jump – 1. O’Hara (CH) 6-0; 2. Max Odland (CH) 5-6; 3. Kyle Ng (Pv) 5-3. Discus – 1. Hari (CH) 119-0; 2. Bello (Ws) 116-8; 3. Brandon Sargent (CH) 108-1 1/2 . 400 relay – 1. Croton-Harmon (Alex Lozado, Ryan Sawyer, Njie, Jordan Brown) 47.27; 2. Byram Hills 47.28; 3. Lincoln Hall 47.96. 1,600 relay – 1. Byram Hills (Granata, Marshall Pollack, Andrew Cataldo, Skurman) 3:44.21; 2. Croton-Harmon 3:56.37; 3. Westlake 3:58.28. 3,200 relay – 1. Byram Hills (Alex Wilson, Eli Kominsky, Liam Weiland, Steve Blaser) 9:16.6; 2. Pleasantville 9:32.7; 3. Westlake 9:36.3.

Girls

Team standings and key: 1. Croton-Harmon (CH) 124; 2. Pleasantville (Pv) 102; 3. Westlake (Ws) 89; 4. Kennedy (JFK) 84; 5. Putnam Valley (PV) 67; 6. Byram Hills (BH) 53; 7. Briarcliff (Bc) 39.

100 – 1. Stephanie Deangelis (Ws) 13.29; 2. Amanda Howard (CH) 13.50; 3. Brittney Batalla (BH) 13.62. 200 – 1. Amy Wagner (Bc) 27.2; 2. Leomi Wright (PV) 27.3; 3. Howard (CH) 27.5. 400 – 1. Wagner (Bc) 1:04.19; 2. Caroline Spring (CH) 1:06.37; 3. Rachel Ahias (CH) 1:07.07. 800 – 1. Breeda Mannion (JFk) 2:30.06; 2. Libby Lazare (Pv) 2:33.38; 3. Beth Turchioe (BH) 2:36.02. 1,500 – 1. Mannion (JFK) 5:08.51; 2. Lazare (Pv) 5:14.42; 3. Diana Thethean (Pv) 5:32.31. 3,000 – 1. Lazare (Pv) 11:22.5; 2. Mannion (JFK) 11:49.0; 3. Thethean (Pv) 11:53.6. 100 hurdles – 1. Maggie St. Leger (CH) 16.9; 2. Mary Anderson (JFK) 17.3; 3. Julie Ledee (Ch) 18.0. 400 hurdles – 1. Anderson (JFK) 1:12.7; 2. St. Leger (CH) 1:15.3; 3. Katie Weiener (Bc) 1:16.2. Pole vault – 1. Brittany Commick (Ws) 7-6; 2. Jenny Chen (Ws) 6-6; 3. Jessica Occhipinta (CH) 6-6. Triple jump – 1. Amanda Douville (Ws) 30-10; 2. Melissa Schuck (JFK) 30-4 1/2 ; 3. Deanglis (Ws) 30-2. Shotput – 1. Kerri Lapuzzo (PV) 33-4; 2. Commick (Ws) 28-10; 3. Ruth Bluestone (CH) 26-2. Long jump – 1. Christina Villa (Pv) 14-3 1/2 ; 2. Anderson (JFK) 13-10 3/4 ; 3. Weiener (Bc) 13-10. High jump – 1. Dakota Laidman (Ws) 4-8; 2. Cassidy Danyao (Pv) 4-6; 3. Jackie D’Arco (Pv) 4-3. Discus – 1. Lapuzzo (PV) 83-6; 2. Kellianne Makinowski (CH) 77-2; 3. Chloe Gilroy (Pv) 76-8. Javelin – 1. Nicole Carey (PV) 71-0; 2. Lapuzzo (PV) 68-1; 3. Tina Elliot (Pv) 64-8. 400 relay – 1. Byram Hills (Batalla, Kristin Paresi, Rachel Schuman, Jessica Katz) 55.21; 2. Croton-Harmon 55.50; 3. Westlake 55.52. 1,600 relay – 1. Byram Hills (Turchioe, Alex Zaretsky, Batalla, Paresi) 4:29.07; 2. Croton-Harmon 4:35.85; 3. Pleasantville 4:39.41. 3,200 relay – 1. Pleasantville (Christine Miller, Claire Eichinger, Thethean, Lazare) 10:43.7; 2. Croton-Harmon 10:50.3; 3. Byram Hills 11:32.3. Race walk – 1. Sam Sanders (BH) 8:47.75; 2. Anna Drabek (CH) 9-22.53.

League III-B championship

At Edgemont

Boys

Team standings and key – 1. Eastchester (Ea) 154; 2. Edgemont (Ed) 146; 3. Rye® 120; 4. Woodlands (Wd) 64; 5. Pelham (P) 26; 6. Ardsley (A).

100 – 1. Liam Byrne (Ea) 11.6; 2. Matt Jackson (Ed) 11.6; 3. Eric Picrod® 11.7. 110 hurdles – 1. Slade Capasso (Ea) 18.3; 2. Jeff Gordon® 19.2; 3. Johnny Dorvilvus (Wd) 19.7; 200 – 1. L. Byrne (Ea) 23.5; 2. E. Picrod (RV) 23.7; 3. Franco Fleumond (Wd) 23.7. 400 – 1. Odian Smith (Wd) 51.6; 2. MacGregor® 52.9; 3. John Swikata (Ea) 53.4. 400 hurdles – 1. Ross Devore (Ed) 1:01.0; 2. J. Dorvilvus (Wd) 1:01.9; 3. Sean Fahy (Ea) 1:03.1; 800 – 1. O. Smith (Wd) 2:06.1; 2. Curtis Trueb (Ea) 2:07.7; 3. MacGregor (RZ) 2:08.0. 1,600 – 1. Dan Steinberg (Ed) 4:39.7; 2. Max Robinson® 4:41.3; 3. Mike Russo (Ea) 4:42.1; 3,200 – 1. Ben Steinberg (Ed) 10:25.4; 2. Max Robbinson® 10:27.5; 3. Andrew Silverberg (Ed) 10:34.7; 400 relay – 1. Woodlands (Essex, Smith, Booth, Fleumond) 45.7; 2. Eastchester, 46.1; 3. Rye, 46.3; 1,600 relay – 1. Woodlands, 3:40.9; 2. Edgemont 3:42.3; 3. Rye, 3:47.4. 3,200 relay – 1. Edgemont (Tahara, Silverberg, Dorzdov, Steinberg) 8:35.5; 2. Eastchester, 8:39.1; 3. Rye, 9:27.7. High jump – 1. Spence Lord (P) 5-10; 2. Max Yanker® 5-8; 3. David Manguin® 5-6. Long jump – 1. Slade Capasso (Ea) 19-7 3/4 ; 2. Selim Cjaka (P) 19-7 1/4 ; 3. Fahy (Ea) 19-3; Triple jump – 1. David Weinstein (Ed) 39-4; 2. Cjaka (P) 37-11; 3. Capasso (Ea) 37-3 3/4 . Pole Vault – 1. Adam Gelanzman (Ed) 9-6; 2. Joe Blau (Ea) 9-0; 3. Tom Jackson® 9-0; Shotput – 1. Sebasian Saunders® 40-5 1/4 ; 2. Paul Dibbini (Ed) 39-8; 3. David Jung (Ed) 38-4 1/2 ; Discus – 1. (Ea) 116-3; 2. (R) 106-10; 3. (Ed) 98-0.

Who do you think could have a big meet at Loucks this weekend?  Here are my picks of people to stand out:

Kevin Malivert: The Ramapo junior was the indoor state champion in the 55, and has the fastest time this season in the 100. He’s also on the fastest relay teams in the state.

Antoine McGill: He could be the best athlete in the section, and I don’t mean just in track and field. He is one of the top athletes in each sport he competes in. He has the potential to just explode at any meet, and this could be one of those meets.

Watch out for the pole vault. Aaron Konigsberg of Hackley and Brian McGovern of MSM will be going head to head at Loucks and this could be a preview of the state meet. McGovern has the better jumps this season, but Konigsberg may be more consistent. Aaron’s also coming off a throw of 199 feet in the javelin at Somers.

This could be the meet that Aki Bajulaiye cements himself as one of the better runners in the section.

Watch for Fordham Prep! The 1,600 relay of Wayne Seaton, Bruce Grant, Carlos Petrovic and Zach Keefer are among the best in the section. There 3,200 relay team running 7:53 at penn was no fluke either.

Julian Sheinbaum and Nelson Hall could potentially have big meets. Keep an eye out for those two.

Girls to watch for:

Jen Clayton: This is an obvious choice. She’s the best female athlete in the section. We’ll see how she does this weekend. She’s obviously the favorite heading into Loucks.

Shelby Greany: She’s such a great distance runner, and now she’s going to be running the steeplechase. She runs with such ease it’s almost a surprise when she doesn’t win.

Kristen Reese: The Carmel senior has the ability to control and dominate a race like nobody I’ve seen.

Elizabeth Mott: She should be hitting her stride by now. It seems that hurdle runners always take longer to get into a groove than some of the other athletes.

Sasha Richards: Eric really thinks she could have a big meet. She runs really well, and is always under the radar. This is the meet where she could really show her talent against some of the best runners she’ll run against.

Now that you know my predictions for the meet…. Who else should we keep an eye on?

Boys:

Team scores: 1. Monroe Woodbury 37, 2. Kingston 34, 3. Washingtonville 29, 3. Pine Bush 29, 5. Ramapo 28, 6. Cornwall 24, 7. Vernon 15, 7. Spring Valley 15, 9. Westwood 12, 9. Suffern 12, 11. Teaneck 11, 12. Beacon 10,  12. Veritas Christian Academy 10, 14. Clarkstown South 9, 14, Wallkill 9, 16. Minisink Valley 8, 17. Tappan Zee 4, 18. Townshend Harris 3, 19. Pearl River 1, 19. Goshen 1

Suffern’s DMR team of Dom McEnery, Evan Flach, Mike Pereira and James Biondi came in first in 11:12.7.

Clarkstown South’s Kyle Cranston finished fourth in the 800 in 2:02.4 and Brandan Hallas came in fifth in 2:02.7.

Kevin Malivert of Ramapo is continuing his exceptional season winning the 100 in 11.1 seconds.

In the 400 hurdles, Ryan Whitley finished first, running 55.3. This kid’s only a junior and is probably the best intermediate hurdler in the section.

Macolm Zamor, surprise, surprise another Ramapo athlete finished fourth in the long jump in 19-3.75

Ramapo had two top five finishers in the shot put, Hendrick Jean won the event throwing 52-4 and Marvin Payen came in fifth in 44-10. Mike Letizia threw 48-1, finishing second.

Jesse Sarka has thrown his name in as the best pole vaulter in Rockland. He cleared 13-0 at the meet as he came in third.

Antoine McGill won the 110 hurdles in 14.4 seconds.

Girls:

Team scores:

1. Monroe Woodbury 50, 2. Suffern 36.5, 3. Pine Bush 22, 4. NFA 19, 5. Vernon 18, 6. Cornwall 17, 6. Kingston 17, 6. Longwood 17, 9. Middletown 16, 10. Tappan Zee 11, Ramapo 9, 11. Washingtonville 9, 11. Westwood 9, 14. Clarkstown South 8.5, 15. Cicero North Syracuse 8, 16. Depaul Catholic 7, 16. Spring Valley 7, 16. Wallkill 7, 19. Minisink Valley 6, 20. Calara Barton 4, 20. Port Jervis 4, 22. Pearl River 2.

Suffern’s quartet of Carlson, Clayton, Montana and Greany won the Sprint medley in 4:15.5 and Greany, Avriles, Carlson and Soares won the DMR in 12:58.1.

Jen Clayton won the long jump in 17-10.

Michelle Eberheart won the triple jump 35-6.

Any other notable performances?

Somers:

Boys

Team key and scoring: 1. Arlington (Arl) 74, 2. Lakeland/Panas (Lk/Pn) 67, 3. Iona Prep (IP) 62, 4. Yorktown (Yk) 40, 5. Mount Vernon (MV) 39, 6. Brewster (Bw) 37, 7. Pawling (Pw) 35, 8. John Jay-East Fishkill (JJEF) 31, 9. Somers (S) 29, 10. Hackley (Hk) 26, 11. Byram Hills (BH) 23, 12. Roosevelt (Rs) 22, 12. Lincoln/Gorton (Ln/G) 22, 14. Croton-Harmon (CH) 18, 15. Peekskill (Pk) 17, 16. Ossining (O) 16, 17. Hen Hud (HH) 14, 18. Carmel© 12, 18. Sleepy Hollow (SH) 12, 20. Horace Greeley (HG) 11, 21. Kennedy (JFK) 8, 21. Westlake (Ws) 8, 21. Bronxville (Bv) 8, 24. Valhalla (V) 7, 25. Fox Lane (FL) 6, 26. Pearl River (PR) 4, 26. New Rochelle (NR) 4, 26. Mahopac (M) 4, 29. Beacon (Bc) 2, 30. Albertus Magnus (AM) 1, 31. Millbrook (Mb) 1.

100 – 1. Danny Alves (SH) 11.2; 2. Mile Peterson (Pv) 11.2; 3. Andrew Ricketts (AS) 11.2. 200 – 1. Jack Curtain (Yk) 22.0; 2. Chris Davis (Rs) 22.9; 3. Jonathan Gaston (Ln/G) 23.2. 400 – 1. Lawrence Campbell (Pk) 51.0; 2. Chris Davis (Rs) 52.0; 3. Gaston (Ln/G) 52.6. 400 hurdles – 1. Steve Carey (Pw) 59.1; 2. Max Grossman (Lk/Pn) 60.8; 3. Scott Peragine (Lk/Pn) 61.1. 800 – 1. Sean Halpin (IP) 1:57.9; 2. Pat Porteus (S) 1:58.6; 3. Jesse McCormick (O) 1:59.8. 1,600 – 1. Chris Mezias (HG) 4:35.7; 2. Brandon Freyer (Bw) 4:38.1; 3. Ben Brink (IP) 4:38.9. 3,200 – 1. Colby DelBenee (Pw) 9:25.6; 2. Mark Castelli© 9:59.6; 3. Dan Kane (Arl) 9:59.8. 800 relay – 1. Mount Vernon (Harrison, Henry, Pollack, Williams) 1:32.5; 2. Lincoln/Gorton 1:36.4; 3. Lakeland/Panas 1:36.7. 1,600 relay – 1. Mount Vernon (Harrison, Siva, Winslow, Williams) 3:35.0; 2. John Jay-East Fishkill 3:35.4; Peekskill 3:38.4. 3,200 relay – 1. Arlington (Muller, Howard, Leslie, Doherty) 8:16.5; 2. Byram Hills 8:24.5; 3. Pawling 8:33.5. Sprint medley relay – 1. John Jay-East Fishkill (Joyce, Bunce, Clifford, Gomba) 3:40.0; 2. Byram Hills 3:42.9; 3. Lakeland/Panas 3:45.2. 4 mile relay – Arlington 18:06.1; 2. Iona Prep 18:16.2; 3. Fox Lane 18:59.3. High jump – 1. Sean Riley (Arl) 6-8; 2. Jordan Pollock (MV) 6-0; 3. Spencer Lord (Pl) 5-10 Long jump – 1. Myles Thomas (O) 20-3; 2. Mike Thomas (Bw) 19-2; 3. Aaron Hernandez (HH) 18-10 3/4 . Triple jump – 1. Jordan Pollock (MC) 42-4 1/4 ; 2. Alfsono Scannapicco (Lk/Pn) 41-9 1/4 ; 3. Tim Weeber (BH) 41- 3/4 Pole vault – 1. Aaron Konigsberg (Hk) 13-6; 2. Michael Berg (IP) 11-0; 3. Alfonso Scannapieco (Lk) 11-0. Discus – 1. Matt Hudson (Arl) 140-2; 2. Teddy Mottola (IP) 131-3; 3. Stu Meissner (Bw) 127-2. Javelin – 1. Aaron Konigsberg (Hk) 199-10; 2. Andrew Bocskocosky (Lk/Pn) 165-0; 3. Dylaan Schuck (JFK) 158-1. Pentathalon – 1. Will Johnson (Arl) 2,660; 2. Peter Frank (Yk) 2,627; 3. Derek Toub (Yk) 2,063. Shot put – 1. Matt Hudson (Arl) 45-5; 2. T. J. Hair (CH) 43-3 3/4 ; 3. Adam Bello (Ws) 42-4 3/4 . Hammer throw – 1. Brian Bourque (IP) 157-1; 2. Eric Vergo (Yk) 148-2; 3. Teddy Mottola (IP) 134-5.

Girls

Team key and scoring: 1. Arlington (Arl) 102; 2. Mount Vernon (MV) 94; 3. Somers (S) 93; 4. Bronxville (Bx) 84; 5. Peekskill (Pk) 32; 6. Carmel© 26; 6. Brewster (Bw) 26; 8. New Rochelle (NR) 25; 9. Ursuline (U) 24; 10. Harrison (H) 21; 11. Port Chester (PC) 20; 12. Hackley (Hk) 18; 13. Albertus Magnus (AM) 16; 13. Hen Hud (HH) 16; 14. John Jay-East Fishkill (JJEF) 15; 14. Mahopac (M) 15; 15. Sleepy Hollow (SH) 11; 16. Saunders (Sn) 10; 17. Hastings (Hs) 8; 17. Yorktown (Yk) 8; 19. John Jay (JJ) 6; 19. Rhinebeck (Rb) 6; 21. Pleasantville (Pv) 4; 22. Pawling (Pw) 3; 22. New Fairfield (NF) 3; 24. Pearl River (PR) 2; 24. Panas (Pn) 2; 24. Kennedy (JFK) 2; 27. Fox Lane (FL) 1; 27. Millbrook (Mb) 1.

100 – 1. Sasha Richards (MV) 11.9; 2. Anjelique Pamell (Hk) 12.7; 3. Kenina Bonner (MV) 12.9 200 – 1. S. Richards (MV) 24.7; 2. Karlie Dean (JJ-EF) 25.4; 3. Shamika Mindingall (MV) 26.7. 400 – 1. Heidy Palacios (Sn) 58.6; 2. Vanessa Crump (MV) 59.8; 3. Julia Miller (MV) 61.6. 400 hurdles – 1. Rachel Kim (Bx) 67.5; 2. Sereta Steen (MV) 69.2; 3. Cynthia Heriveaux (Arl) 69.5. 800 – 1. Kristin Reese© 2:14.1; 2. Andi DeFonce (H) 2:19.2; 3. Hayley McMahon (Arl) 2:19.7. 1,500 – 1. Caitlin Hudson (Bx) 4:50.5; 2. Gabby Gjonaj (Arl) 4:55.2; 3. Rachel Sorna (Arl) 4:57.1. 3,000 – 1. Emma Clarke (Bx) 10:37.1; 2. Jackie McGowan (AM) 10:38.8; 3. Sami Jorgensen (Pw) 10:43.3 800 relay – 1. Mount Vernon (Mindingall, Richards, Bonner, Crump) 1:44.4; 2. Peekskill 1:52.1; 3. Bronxville 1:52.1 Sprint medley relay – 1. Carmel (Maurer, Comiskey, Montana, Reese) 4:07.8; 2. Bronxville 4:12.7; Ursuline 4:16.5. 1,600 relay – 1. Bronxville (Goff, Miers, Hudson, Bruton) 4:08.0; 2. Arlington 4:14.7; 3. Carmel 4:14.9. 3,200 relay – 1. Bronxville (Murray, Dawson, Clarke, Flannery) 9:43. 2. Arlington 9:56.9; 3. Rhinebeck 10:12.6. 4 mile relay – 1. Bronxville 21:16.1; 2. Arlington 21:31.4; 3. Mahopac 23:36.6. High jump – 1. Avery Faeth (S) 5-0; 2. Lauren Galasso (PC) 5-0; 3. Laura Olson (JJ) 5-0. Long jump – 1. M. Parnell (Hk) 16-6; 2. Genevieve Ruppel (SH) 16-1; 3. Michelle McCrae (MV) 15-8 1/2 . Triple jump – 1. M. McCrae (MV) 33-4; 2. Sasha Tharani (H) 32-5; 3. Maura Maloney (M) 31-10 1/4 . Pole vault – 1. Shona Craig (S) 9-3; 2. Michelle Walters (AM) 9-0; 3. Fiona Nugent (U) 8-6. Discus – 1. Sam Spindel (Bw) 116-6; 2. Henna Monte (S) 91-2; 3. A. Pehmoeller (Arl) 89-7. Hammer – 1. Alyssa Pehmoeller (Arl) 133-10; 2. Charlotte Pope (NR) 128-9; 3. Katrina Anderson (NR) 102-8 Race walk – 1. Catie Davis (Pk) 7:56.8; 2. Becca Katz (Hs) 8:17.4; 3. Crosby Tillman (S) 8:35.8. Shotput – 1. A. Pehmoeller (Arl) 34-7 1/2 ; 2. Lauren Campbell (S) 34-7; 3. Megan Faeth (S) 33-10. Pentathlon – 1. Ashley Ramsay (Pk) 2,699; 2. Alice O’ Dell (HH) 2,394; 3. Abigail Winsted (Y) 1,572. Javelin – 1. M. Faeth (S) 116-8; 2. A. Faeth (S) 102-7; 3. Nicole Kosko (JJ) 101-7.

Well, the Mets lost a tough one today, and normally I’d be fairly depressed, but Dan and I were both at Somers High School today and saw some excellent performances at The Somers Invitational.

     I was very impressed with the Somers girls, who did quite well at their home meet. Megan and Avery Faeth led the way, and the Tuskers’ performance really convinced me that they will be a factor in the Westchester County meet. Somers is really solid in a number of field events (Like javelin) where a lot of other teams are week. This means Somers has the ability to score a lot of points and might sneak up on some people as a real contender at the county championships.

     Mount Vernon’s Sasha Richards had another excellent day, winning the 100 and 200 meter dash. Richards might be the best pure sprinter in Section 1. She’s a lot of fun to watch.

     I know I’ve said this before, but Bronxville’s distance runners just continue to amaze me. That such a small school could come to a meet and just completely dominate every distance race is phenomenal. It’s really a credit to Bronxville coach Jim Mitchell.

   I should also mention Ashley Ramsay, Sam Spindel, and Kristin Reese, who were all solid in winning the pentathlon, discus, and 800 meters respectively. I’m going to try to post the full meet results tomorrow for your viewing pleasure.

     Before I go I must say that Dan and I are really excited for the county and sectional meets, and, of course, for states later on. We have some amazing athletes in Section 1, and I have a feeling we’ll see a few state champions. Until next time, I’m Jose Reyes, signing off. Oh wait, no, I’m Eric Lebowitz…still signing off.

Okay now that the league meets are all but over, let’s see what we have learned:

Ramapo is still the team to beat on the boys side and Suffern for the girls. While I’m not sure how serious the injury to Abelard and Kevin Malivert didn’t run they were able to plug in Aaron Thevenin and Jermaine Ricketts and still pick up the win.

Brewster  has some promising young talent, especially in the long jump with James Courte (20-1) and Mike Thomas (19-10). That was a surprising and an impressive win for the Brewster boys track team over Somers. However, Somers is still one of the top five or six teams the county and probably the top B school. But I think Harrison can give Somers a run for its money at the county meet. I would still rank Somers ahead of Harrison, but it’s a lot closer than in the indoor season.

The New Rochelle boys track team will come away with the county title. I’m going on a hunch here, but this team has been impressive this season. Chris Rones, Pierre Eliezer, Aki Bajulaiye and Shawn Day have really stepped up their game. If I had a guess of how the county meet will play out in Westchester it will be: New Rochelle, Iona Prep, Scarsdale and Mount Vernon, in that order. Pollack, Williams, and Henry have been real impressive for Mount Vernon, but I think they lack the depth to keep up with the other teams in the county. But they will be my sleeper pick. If there’s a team that can surprise and win the county it’s Mount Vernon.

I’m not sure what’s up with Tewado Latty of White Plains. I saw him run at the Penn Relays and he looked good, but I haven’t seen him anywhere else.

Are there any other surprises or items worth noting from the league meets?

One more league meet finished up today, with little surprises, the boys:

League I-B championships

Team team and scoring: 1. Ramapo (Ram) 148 5/6; 2. Suffern (Sf) 120; 3. North Rockland (NRk) 107 5/6; 4. Clarkstown South (CS) 92 1/2 ; 5. Clarkstown North (CN) 54 5/6.

100 – 1. Nick Padilla (Ram) 11.0; 2. Chidi Ezemma (Ram) 11.2; 3. Dom McEnery (Sf) 11.3. 200 – 1. D. McEnery (Sf) 22.5; 2. C. Ezemma (Ram) 22.7; 3. N. Padilla (Ram) 22.7. 400 – 1. C. Ezemma (Ram) 49.6; 2. Dozie Ezemma (Ram) 50.9; 3. John Taylor (CS) 52.0. 800 – 1. Evan Flach (Sf) 1:59.3; 2. Christopher Carrington (NRk) 2:00.8; 3. Kyle Cranston (CS) 2:03.1. 1,600 – 1. C. Carrington (NRk) 4:30.3; 2. Nick Hughes (NRk) 4:33.2; 3. Mike Pereira (Sf) 4:34.1. 3,200 – 1. N. Hughes (NRk) 9:54.0; 2. Terrence Galasso (Sf) 10:08.1; 3. Tyler Frigge (Sf) 10:13.1. 110 hurdles – 1. Antoine McGill (CS) 14.7; 2. Ryan Whitley (Ram) 15.7; 3. Anthony Congress (NRk) 16.1. 400 hurdles – 1. R. Whitley (Ram) 57.2; 2. A. Congress (NRk) 59.5; 3. Dasheen Ellis (NRk) 60.5. Pole vault – 1. Jesse Sarka (Sf) 11-6; 2. Rich Desimone (Sf) 106; 3. Sam Goldman (Sf) 10-6. Triple jump – 1. Eric Chacko (CN) 42-6 1/4 ; 2. A. McGill (CS) 42-1 1/4 ; 3. Alex Maisonette (NRk) 30-4. Shotput – 1. Hendrick Jean (Ram) 54-1; 2. Marvin Payen (Ram) 45-7 1/2 ; 3. Shane Jacobs (CN) 44-7. Long jump – 1. A. McGill (CS) 21-4 3/4 ; 2. Al Kleber (Sf) 18-11 1/2 ; 3. Malcolm Zamor (Ram) 18-7. High jump – 1. M. Zamor (Ram) 5-10; 2. A. Maisonette (NRk) 5-8; 3. Kyle Sanders (CS) 5-6. Discus – 1. H. Jean (Ram) 133-5; 2. S. Jacobs (CN), 131-0; 3. Stanley Tyrell (Sf), 124-0. 400 relay – 1. Ramapo (Shaq Belizaire, Aaron Thevenin, Jermaine Ricketts, N. Padilla) 44.7; 2. Clarkstown North 45.1; 3. North Rockland 45.3. 1,600 relay – 1. Ramapo (R. Whitley, D. Ezemma, Jean Solon, C. Ezemma) 3:28.5; 2. Clarkstown South 3:33.6; 3.Suffern 3:37.8. 3,200 relay – 1. Clarkstown South (J. Higgins, B. Hallas, J. Taylor, K. Cranston) 8:26.0; 2. Suffern 8:27.1; Clarkstown North 8:40.6.

Girls

League I-B championships

Team team and scoring: 1. Suffern (Sf) 220 1/3 ; 2. North Rockland (NRk) 155 1/2 ; 3. Clarkstown South (CS) 80 1/2 ; 4. Ramapo (Ram) 42; 5. Clarkstown North (CN) 34 5/6.

100 – 1. Jen Clayton (Sf) 12.3; 2. Tamikah Montama (Sf) 12.8; 3. Ruth Alexandre (Ram) 12.9. 200 – 1. J. Clayton (Sf) 24.8; 2. Britney Clarke (NRk) 24.8; 3.T. Montama (Sf) 26.4. 400 – 1. Gayle Walters (Sf) 60.0; 2. Nicole Landis (NRk) 60.8; 3. S. Flood (CS) 61.1. 800 – 1. Shelby Greany (Sf) 2:19.2; 2. Lisa Lungaro (NRk) 2:21.2; 3. Katherine Hekker (NRk) 2:22.2. 1,500 – 1. S. Greany (Sf) 4:47.1; 2. L. Lungaro (NRk) 4:48.7; 3. K. Hekker (NRk) 4:53.6. 3,000 – 1. S. Greany (Sf) 10:34.4; 2. Jackie Gamboli (NRk) 10:37.7; 3. Jana Soares (Sf) 10:44.5. 100 hurdles – 1. B. Clarke (NRk) 16.0; 2. Amber Stephens (NRk) 17.5; 3. Jamie Etkind (CN) 18.0. 400 hurdles – 1. Janelle Clayton (Sf) 69.0; 2. Liz Cangialosi (NRk) 69.6; 3. Ann Marie Aviles (Sf) 72.3. Triple jump – 1. Michelle Eberhart (CS) 35-4 1/2 ; 2. Ja. Clayton (Sf) 32-10 1/3 ; 3. L. Cangialosi (NRk) 31-7 1/3 . Shotput – 1. T. Montama (Sf) 32-11; 2. B. Clarke (NRk) 31-11 3/4 ; 3. sabrina Legros (NRk) 31-3. Long jump – 1. J. Clayton (Sf) 17-1; 2. B. Clarke (NRk) 16-8 1/2 ; 3. Michelle Eberhart (CS) 15-2 1/4 . High jump – 1. Ja. Clayton (Sf) 5-0; 2. A. Stephens (NRk) 4-10; 3. F. Consiglio (Sf) 4-8. Discus – 1. Lauren Schlanger (CS) 87-0; 2. Miranda Nortey (Ram) 77-7; 3. Brooke Fischer (CN), 72-5. 400 relay – 1. Suffern (T. Montama, Ja. Clayton, Jenna Schafer, Gayle Walters) 50.4; 2. Ramapo 50.4; 3. North Rockland 52.5. 1,600 relay – 1. Clarkstown South (Shannon Flood, Yazmin Seymour, Taylor Quilty, Francesca Jean Charles) 4:10.6; 2. North Rockland 4:12.4; 3. Suffern 4:21.0. 3,200 relay – 1. Suffern (Nicole Tassello, Carol Duganzic, Christy Goldman, Allie Carlson) 9:38.5; 2. North Rockland 9:39.9; Clarkstown North 10:42.1.

Alright, now that most of the league meets are finished, let’s take a look and see what happened. Here are the links to see some of league meet results:

http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080501/SPORTS02/805010499/1110

http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080430/SPORTS02/804300379/1110

The League 1-A meet results will be in tomorrow’s paper, but here are the team scores, first for the girls:

1. New Rochelle 254, 2. Mount Vernon 158, 3. Scarsdale 71, 4. White Plains 60, 5. Mamaroneck 28

Boys:

1. New Rochelle 194, 2. Scarsdale 181, 3. Mount Vernon 145, 4. White Plains 42, Mamaroneck 12

Now that I’m back and settled in at my apartment after a long day on Saturday going back and forth to the Penn Relays, let’s talk about what happened and what might happen in the next few weeks.

I know it’s still some time away, but I think this could be interesting. The league meets have been or will be getting under way within the next week or so and I feel like they are a decent indicator of where a team stands. That being said, I will start handicapping the favorites heading into counties.

I’ll focus on the Rockland boys today and then we’ll go from there over the next few weeks, with a break for Loucks, which is only next week.

Heading into this weekend, I believed that Ramapo was the best team in the county and probably the section. Now, as I’m sure most of you have heard, Mike Abelard, one of the team’s best runners, hurt his hamstring in the 400 relay on Friday. It might be a minor injury and he could be back in a week, but we don’t know.

This is a big blow to the Gryphons, he was one of the best runners on the team, and now the team, instead of finishing 1-2-3 in the sprints, they might only finish 1-2.

Are they still the best team in Rockland? Can a North Rockland or a Clarkstown South or even a Suffern throw its names into contention?

Personally, I think Ramapo is still the best team, even if Abelard doesn’t run again this season. They still have too many quality athletes and they will still win most of the sprinting events and all the relays, except the 3,200.

This is my problem with picking any team besides Ramapo, the distance events. There are too many quality runners that run the 800, 1,600, 3,200, or 3,200 relay for one team to sweep those events. Ramapo’s strength is its domination in one area. Then it’ll probably win the shot put, and no team will win enough points in the distance or field events to catch them.

If we look at the field events, again we see that the quality is spread throughout the county. You have McGill, Fowler, Carroll, and a few others who will win or place in their events. I think the injury to Abelard has moved Ramapo closer to the pack, but they are still the team to beat. N. Rockland has so many athletes that they will be right with Ramapo, but can they place in enough events? C. South will win its share of events, especially McGill, but Cranston and Sheppard among others will score points, but will it be enough?

What do you think? We’ll revisit Rockland as the meet gets closer and talk about Westchester later this week, but I thought with leagues coming up it would be an interesting topic to discuss.

The Fordham Prep 3,200 meter relay of Harley Griffiths, Michael Jennings, Carlos Petrovich, and Zach Keefer qualified for the Championship of America in 7:54.97. Apparently this kid Jennings is a 4:24 miler, so he could be someone to definitely look out for.I’m interested to see McGovern pole vaulting tomorrow. He only jumped once in the outdoor season and he cleared 15-6 at the New York Relays.What meet does everyone like better Loucks or Penn? Or something else? 

Well I just got back from the first day of Penn Relays, and what an exciting day it was.

     I have to say the atmosphere at Franklin Field was different from any meet I’ve been since I’ve been on the track and field beat. Attendance was over 23,000 today, and the crowd was into every event.

     Congrats to the Mount Vernon girls 4×100 relay team of Shamika Mindingall, Sasha-Gay Richards, Michelle McCrae, and Kenina Bonnerfor taking its heat.  The Knights narrowly missed qualifying for the championship race but they will compete in the large school final later today. Dan Marra will be keeping an eye on that race and all the action later today before he heads down to Philadelphia on Saturday.

     The Urusuline 4×800 relay also missed qualifying for the championship race by a whisker. Just .08 seconds kept the Koalas from running in that race later today. Still, an impressive time of 9:14.61 for Rosie Crean, Katie Sullivan, Jackie McCarthy and Meghan Brown.

     Jen Clayton placed third in the long jump, her best jump a 5.91-meter leap. Clayton was definitely nervous competing in front of so many people but her long-jumping is clearly getting more consistent. Clayton’s fellow Mounty Shelby Greany ran a strong race in the 3,000, finishing 5th. Greany is really off to a good start in the outdoor season and I have a feeling we may see her post some spectacular times later on. She told me after the race she’s especially looking forward to the steeplechase later this season….WATCH OUT!

OK, I’m probably going to make another post tomorrow, but after driving back and forth to Philly today I am TIRED so I’m going to catch some zzzzzzs

With Ryan Whitley in the hurdles, and then they have Abelard, Malivert, Padilla, the two Ezemmas, and Shaq Belizaire to spread out among the 100, 200, 400, the 4×1, 4×2, and 4×4. This, in my opinion, is the best team in the section. They have the most talent, but the team’s only downside is that they might not have enough athletes to compete among some of the other teams. That being said, they are still the best.

Other notes:

Elizabeth Mott continues to impress as she won the 400 hurdles and anchored the 1,600 relay team that won.

Aki Bajulaiye continues to look very strong in the spring season, winning another event, this time it was the 800. He was able to use a late push and then hold off Pat Porteus of Somers. These two could be battling it out the rest of the season in the event.

All the credit in the world to Britney Clarke of North Rockland and Mike Carroll of Nanuet for winning the pentathlon, an event I would never dream of competing in. The running stuff I could do, but the jumping that’s a little different. I have a hard enough time jumping into bed (my wife and I have it on lifts so we can cram more junk underneath). Then the shot put. I know I must look pretty physically fit to most of you, but picking up a weighted ball and throwing it, that surprisingly is not one of my stronger attributes.

Kristin Reese looked real strong in the 800. That whole race, even though she didn’t take the lead until the final 100 meters, she looked like she was in complete control.

I just wanted to mention this because I’m sorry I missed it, Nelson Hall clearing 6-8 in the high jump, congratulations. I know he’s been working hard and he deserves it. That’s a great jump, and I think he could continue to get better.

Alright, that’s all for now. I will see you all in the City of Brotherly Love. I’m thinking about wearing my Antonio Pierce jersey or maybe Eli Manning? I could go out and get a T.O. jersey for the trip. Any suggestions?

So I was out at North Rockland HS for the first day of Red Raider Relays today, and what a nice day it was. Great day of competition too.   The girls 1,600 was a tremendous race, as Suffern’s Shelby Greany showed a lot of heart with a big kick in the last 200 meters.  Greany outkicked Sarah McCurdy from Bay Shore to win the race and break the meet record in the process. McCurdy was clearly NOT happy. Greany (who is just about the nicest girl in the world) offered a friendly handshake after the race and McCurdy refused.

     Scarsdale had a impressive first day as well. Julian Sheinbaum and Jacob Wexler took first and second place in the boys 1,600 respectively, and Nelson Hall took first place in the high jump, clearing a personal best 6 feet, 8 inches.

      For the second year in a row Carmel’s Kristin Reese took the girls 3,200 title, and Suffern was 1-2 in the boys 5,000 with Evan Flach and Mike Pereira respectively.

     Tomorrow all the sprint finals will be held, as well as most of the relays, more field events, and the completion of the boys and girls penthathons. It should be another tremendous day of competition. Dan Marra will be out at North Rockland tomorrow, so be sure to check out the blog tomorrow night for Dan’s take on all tomorrow’s action. Talk to you all soon!

-Eric

After my rough start to open the season at New Rochelle, I came prepared to the Fulton invitational yesterday. I spent a good 30 minutes before I went to Harrison just putting sunblock on. I went over and over making sure I got every last inch, and it worked!

The meet was pretty good. It honored Coach Fulton of Harrison for his 18 years of service, and it had some pretty good performances. I am constantly being impressed to the start of the season that New Rochelle is having. They have three athletes in particular who look impressive, and are constantly getting better, Chris Rones, Aki Bajulaiye and Deon James. Only Aki’s a junior, the other two are sophomores. This team could be pretty good next year.

And Harrison, especially the girls really impressed me. Clare McManus looks to be a triple threat in the 200, long jump and the 4×4. They also had this runner, Nina Sarmienta, who ran the 800 and for the first 4-500 meters was stride for stride with Tori Flannery of Bronxville. She eventually hit a wall, but with little training in the event and to do that well is pretty impressive. Apparently Sarmienta had been running modified and then they moved her up.

This Saturday is Nanuet and then next week is the Red Raider Relays. The track season should be getting into full swing. Just an fyi, track notebooks  are coming out this Wednesday, keep an eye out.

Like Dan, I too was at my first meet of the spring season yesterday.  I headed out over the Tappan Zee bridge to Pearl River to take in the Pirate Relays on a surprisingly beautiful day. It was interesting talking to some of the athletes who ran deep into the indoor season at states and nationals. Many of them had just come back to practice and it seems that after reaching their peaks at the end of the winter season, they all shut it down for a week or two and then start the process of building towards the big meets again. I was impressed with the Bronxville girls distance runners. These girls just never seem to have a down race. Jim Mitchell is certainly a heck of a coach.  One of the things I’m really looking forward to this spring is seeing which athletes who didn’t run in the winter (usually because they play a different sport) will give their teams a boost by returning to the track in the spring.  Anyway, I’ll be in Rockland for the Nanuet Relays this weekend, and I’m looking forward to seeing everyone out there.

-Eric

How’s it going everybody? I just got back from my first track meet of the spring season where I was covering the New Rochelle invitational. Surprisingly the weather men were wrong…the rain stayed away, who could believe that. Thankfully I put on no sunblock, and I got burnt, pretty bad I must say. If any of you see a bright red light floating around lower Westchester, don’t panic, it’s just me hanging outside my apartment.

Anyway, the meet was fun. New Rochelle has a beautiful set up. The track and the artificial turf look amazing. I heard some complaints about the track being only 350 meters, but I think once you found out what the zones are you were okay.

Elizabeth Mott looked pretty good. I was a little surprised she ran at this meet, but she looked good. She finished second in the 100 hurdles and won the 400 hurdles. She looked a little rusty and her steps were off, but still had pretty good times, which is scary. Sasha Richards seems poised to have a big season.

I was really impressed with Aki Bajulaiye from New Rochelle. He ran three events and ran them all really well. For the first meet I thought he would slow down each event, but I think he got stronger. Pat Porteus and Todd Apgar of Somers look poised to have big springs. Both look to be in great shape. Once Turro comes back, Somers could have a big year. Those are some of the main things I noticed at the meet. As for now I’m off. Keep running….

With the spring season upon us, I want to pose a question to you trackies out there. Which athlete that people might not be familiar with yet will make her presence felt during the outdoor season?

OK, so I was planning on making a post similar to Dan’s “for those we’ve met already hello again, for those we haven’t, looking forward to it,” but he beat me to it.

Got to give the man credit; he’s on top of things.

I will say that this winter season was incredibly exciting.

We have so many standout athletes in Section 1. I want to encourage anybody who we haven’t met to find us and say hello at any meet this spring, even if it’s to yell at us…..hopefully it’s not to yell at us.

Looking forward to the spring, see everybody out on the track soon!

I’m Dan Marra and I will be teaming up with Eric Lebowitz to continue our tag team coverage of track and field. Most of you have probably seen us at the Armory this past winter, and now you are stuck with us (for better or worse) for the spring.

I will be focusing on the boys side. Eric will be covering the girls. There were a lot of really talented athletes this past winter in Section 1, and we are really looking forward to see how they develop and improve in the spring.

I hear there’s this one girl from Suffern, Jen Clayton. She’s apparently pretty good. We’ll try and keep an eye on her.

I am a little familiar with the track and field scene as I was a former track “star” (I’m using that word as loosely as possible) at John F. Kennedy up in Somers.

My best season was the fall where I ran cross country, but I did run in all three seasons. The one thing I remember during my high school career is losing to Pearl River my senior year by one point at WCC in the cross country sectional championships.

That was rough.

But I’m back on the track scene and am excited to be covering one of the top sports in Section 1. We will be here periodically posting our thoughts on the blog, and feel free to openly disagree or agree with one or both of us.

By the way, the preview for the outdoor track season is coming out on April 3, for both boys and girls.

You should definitely check it out.