Track and field: Tappan Zee girls and Pearl River boys win Section 1 Class B team titles
MONTROSE — Neither the Pearl River boys team, nor the Tappan Zee girls team left the Hen Hud track complex Sunday with many gold medals.
But that didn't matter.
Accumulating most points via second-through-sixth-place finishes, the two squads left as Section 1 Class B team champions.
With 13 teams scoring, Tappan Zee's girls won with 123.26 points.
Pearl River (112.42) was second, Nyack (101) was third, Hen Hud (72) fourth and Nanuet (51.42) rounded out the top five.
For the boys, Pearl River had 138.5 points. Hen Hud (96) was second, Nyack (79.5) third, Nanuet (57) fourth and Ardsley (47) finished fifth with 14 schools scoring.
The Pirates' points came with only three first-place victories.
Sophomore Michael Malfitano recorded a personal-best 2,216 points in winning the boys pentathlon. He won three of the events, the high jump, long jump and shot put.
Pearl River's Andre Esteril threw a personal-best 127-9 to win the boys discus.
And Pearl River Evan Cruz, Justin Boamah, Nick Almeida and Finn Farrell-Painter clocked 3:34.78 to win the boys 4x400 relay.
For Tappan Zee, Mackey Donovan, Sofia Fenton, Grace Reynolds and Cassidy Donovan clocked a collective 9:55.07 to win the girls 4x800 relay.
Donovan won the only other gold for the TZ girls. She knocked more than six seconds off her previous personal-best time in winning the girls 2,000-meter steeplechase in 7:32.94.
Hen Hud boys' second-place team finish was embraced by longtime coach Marcia Bailey, who described herself as "thrilled," remarking, "We haven't done that in ages."
Bailey was also extremely happy with her girls 4x100 relay team's second-place finish. While Emma Schembari, Jessica Redmond, Princess Golden and Lindsay Tellez couldn't quite catch Nyack, which clocked 51.66, their 51.85 finish broke Hen Hud's oldest track and field record. That had been the girls 4x100's 52.6, set in 1974.
The meet began Saturday but didn't conclude until Sunday due to a storm suspension.
Pearl River's Una Boylan, who'll run next year for George Washington University, won the girls 1,500 in 5:00. And she captured the 3,000 in11:01.04.
Boylan, who finished Saturday's 3,000 race soaked, appeared to shrug off the conditions.
"We train in all types of weather, all year round," she said.
Boylan, who, as planned, broke to the lead with about 600 meters to go in the 1,500. noted the meet wasn't just another championship.
"This meet is definitely special. The last two meets have been with all of my best friends," she said, referring to the fact from here on out only those who've met stringent qualifying standards will compete.
Boylan wasn't the only one who performed well.
Brewster's Michael Brill came close to his personal best time in winning the boys 400-meter hurdles in 59.57.
And some athletes did hit personal bests.
One was Brill's teammate, Pat Ford, who cut more than 22 seconds off his previous best time to win the boys 3,000 steeplechase in 10:07.14.
Nyack's Alexander Riobe, who entered the meet with a 39-11.75 personal best in the triple jump, left with a gold medal after jumping 41.2.25.
Nyack's Bobby Royston also ran a 1:59.33 PB to capture the boys 800 and teammate Amber McDonald PB'd at 27.2 to win the girls 200.
Edgemont's Connor Fisher tied his personal best in clearing 6-1 to win the boys high jump.
At 59.46, Peekskill's Juliette Salazar ran a personal best in winning the girls 400.
Nyack's Matt Schutzbank was a double winner.
Clocking 9:37.69, he won the boys 3,200. And Schutzbank ran a personal-best 4:24.45 to win the 1,600.
Nanuet sophomore Shane O'Neill, who PB'd while finishing third in discus, PB'd at 44-4 to win the boys shot put.
Putu Sutayasa of Nyack also recorded a personal best. His 22-2.25 jump won the boys long jump.
Running on his home track, senior John Sterner won the 400 in 51.68 and the 200 in a personal-best 22.9.
Sterner has the times to run in college but noted he didn't plan to do so.
"This is it," said Sterner, explaining his desire to "just end on a high note."
That would include, he said, setting PBs in both the 200 and 400, hitting 50 in the latter.
Nyack's Makayla Dorvil won both the girls 100 hurdles in 15.8 and the long jump at 16-6.
Harrison's Katrina Torelli clocked 2:18.32 for the girls 800 championship.
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Other winners
Hen Hud's Trey Feirman cleared 11-0 to win the boys pole vault.
Lourdes' Chris Boston ran 11.29 for the boys 100-meter win.
Nanuet's Sam Dow finished in 1:06.13 for the girls 400-meter hurdles win.
Eastchester's Lakala Beadle ran 13.07 for the girls 100 win and her teammate, Jacob Mairena, ran 15.73 for the boys 110 hurdles win.
Pearl River's Kate Dowling won the girls pole vault at 8-6.
Hen Hud's Karli Martin captured two golds.
Martin won the girls shot at 32-7 and threw 96-0 to win the discus.
Teammate Madeline McKinley won the girls high jump at 4-10.
Pearl River's Alyssa Croke, who won the girls pentathlon hurdles, won the overall pentathlon girls title with 2,054 points.
Other relay winners
Lourdes (44.44) won the boys 4x100 relay by just .01 over Hen Hud.
The boys 4x800 relay went to Tappan Zee (8:21.1).
Pearl River (4:07.51) won the girls 4x400.
Nancy Haggerty covers cross-country, track & field, field hockey, skiing, ice hockey, girls lacrosse and other sporting events for The Journal News/lohud. Follow her on Twitter at both @HaggertyNancy and at @LoHudHockey.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Track: Tappan Zee girls, Pearl River boys win Class B team titles
