Track: Grace Adeyeye gets state qualifying time, Ram Quinn Kennedy PBs at Eastern States
NEW ROCHELLE — When Grace Adeyeye hit the finish of the girls 100-meter hurdles at the Section 1 state qualifier Thursday, she was upset, despite having clocked a personal-best 15.32.
After all, midway through the race, she and eventual winner Dami Modupe of North Rockland were clearing hurdles together, almost making it seem like a synchronized sport.
But Adeyeye hit the final hurdle, slipping to third place.
Worse, her time wasn't good enough to qualify her for the upcoming state championships, a blow for anyone but particularly for a departing senior, whose junior year was marred by physical problems.
That's what made Sunday so special.
Adeyeye didn't win the girls 100-meter hurdles at the 87th annual Eastern States Invitational at Iona Prep. But with her runner-up, personal-best time of 15.07, Adeyeye hit the state championships qualifying standard, meaning she'll compete later this week as one of New York's best at Cicero North Syracuse High School.
Adeyeye's time also tied her with Modupe for Section 1 season leader in the event.
She'll try to further cut her time to 15.04 Tuesday in Lakeland's Last Chance meet to qualify for the emerging stars division at nationals later this month.
But even if that doesn't happen, her senior year of high school track has been a gift after a junior year of frustration.
"Going to states two times my senior year is so great," said Adeyeye, whose rebound to her old self was pretty much official when she qualified for and competed in the 55 hurdles at winter states.
In her junior year, Adeyeye suffered a sprained left growth plate that forced the separation of part of her pelvis.
Crutches and rest were prescribed, hardly what Adeyeye wanted to hear.
"I'm not the type of girl who can lay in bed and not do anything," she said.
So when the same problem occurred on her right side immediately before the start of the spring 2021 season, she was determined to miss little time.
She competed full-time last May and June but the accumulated rust showed and she fell short of her old times. So Adeyeye, who was finally pronounced 100% healthy last fall, trained hard.
Now, poised to run at another state meet and readying herself to compete at the Division I collegiate level next year for Albany, Adeyeye is happy with where she is and with herself.
"I've worked so hard. I've got to see who I've become as a person. I'm so proud of myself," she said.
Union Catholic's Ajanae Thompson (14.62) took gold in the hurdles and Nyack's Manhattan College-bound Makayla Dorvil fourth (15.28).
Adeyeye also ran the second leg on Lakeland/Panas's first-place girls 1,600 sprint medley relay team.
She, Alanalee Hughes, Kailey Burdett and Wofford College-commit Brooke Sayre ran 4:15.95 with Ursuline squads taking both second and third (4:31.75 and 4:41.05) out of six schools.
The Lakeland/Panas time is good enough to compete in the emerging division at nationals but the team will try for the championship division qualifying time at the Last Chance meet.
Rye resident wins boys 110 hurdles
Rye resident Quinn Kennedy of Fordham Prep clocked a personal-best 14.99 to win the boys 110-meter hurdles.
Stepinac's Eloha-Karmiel Yitzchak, running right beside him, followed in 15.27.
Third place went to Fordham Prep sophomore Chris Camara (15.89) of Bronxville.
Karmiel Yitzchak was also second (personal-best 57.07) to teammate David Davitt (55.98) in the boys 400 hurdles with Newburgh Free Academy's Anthony Burnett (1:00.35) third and Iona Prep's Winter (1:00.52) fourth.
Kennedy, who'll run next year for Middlebury College, had previously qualified for the state championships, competing in the state Federation (all public and private schools) division, so Sunday was basically an opportunity to cut time.
He's looking for a better showing later this week at outdoor states after a "pretty bad" performance in the 55 hurdles during winter states, where he tripped over a couple of hurdles.
Kennedy has been much more consistent since then and hopes to qualify for the 110 hurdles finals at states.
"Any better time would be great to have," Kennedy added, noting, ideally, he'll shave at least .02 off his time, which would move him to second all-time in the event at Fordham Prep.
A personal-best jump — off her other foot — to states
"God is good," Nephlini Desrosiers said during a call to her Nyack coach, Edgar Lambert, immediately after she landed in the long jump pit, then perhaps jumped higher learning the distance she obtained.
That was a personal-best 17 feet, 11 inches.
Not bad for anyone, and especially for someone who has spent the last couple of months learning how to jump off her opposite foot.
Desrosiers, who'll compete next year for Division I Binghamton, injured her right ankle during indoor track this past winter.
The injury, a bad sprain, has lingered, forcing her to jump off her left foot, a difficult change.
"I'm excited. The whole outdoor season I've had to relearn how to jump," said Desrosiers, whose jump, coming at the end of the meet, was cheered by family members and a Binghamton coach.
Desrosiers, who's now eligible to compete at both states and in the New Balance Nationals in Pennsylvania, said her next goal is 18 feet.
Milillo second best in New York
Iona Prep's Chris Milillo will not doubt also be looking for more after unleashing a huge 195-9 throw to win the boys hammer.
That not only was a personal best for him but put him No. 2 in New York in the event and No. 15 nationally among high school boys.
Milillo also won two silvers.
New Jersey's top high school boys discus thrower, Benjamin Shue of Bergen Catholic, broke his state-leading personal best mark by eight inches with a 193-8.
That throw couldn't be approached. Milillo finished second at 145-4.
Shue also took the boys shot at 59-10. Milillo threw 51-9.5 for second.
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Other strong finishes
Iona Prep (Lucas Levenson, Matt Sidoti, Jordan Hargraves and Marcellus Harris) ran 3:51.18 for second behind Xavier (3:39.87) in the boys 1,600-meter sprint medley relay.
Lakeland/Panas's Oliver Smith, who finished second in the Section 1 state qualifier in the boys high jump at 6-0, cleared a personal-best 6-2 to win the event. But, finishing second at the qualifier, he needs to make the state standard of 6-3 to compete at states and will attempt to gain that the Last Chance meet.
His chances appear legitimate. The bar was hiked two inches from 6-2 to 6-4 Sunday with no chance for him to clear 6-3, but Smith nearly got the 6-4.
The boys javelin was decided by just two inches. Bergen (New Jersey) Catholic's Sean Coll took gold at 162-11 and Lakeland/Panas's Kyan Muendell was second in a more than five-foot personal best of 162-9.
St. Anthony's Nicholas Lourenco cleared 16-0 for the boys pole vault win.
Croton resident Carter Tresgallo of Fordham Prep was second (14-6) and Iona Prep's Luke Stinga finished third, tying his personal best of 13-6.
Iona Prep's Marcus Nahim clocked 11 flat to win the boys 100.
Nahim (22.95) also finished third in the boys 200 behind Wayne Simmons Jr of Clara Barton (22.89) and runner-up Jaylin Santiago (22.92) of Fordham Prep.
Newburgh Free Academy's John Fermpong, who'll compete at states in the 200, captured the boys 400 in 49.54.
His teammates, David Pinnock, Xavier Williams, Quistin Leathers and Anthony Burnett, clocked 3:29.36 to win the boys 4x400 relay.
Ursuline's Prizila Negrete, who had already qualified for states in the girls discus, won the shot at 37-11 and the discus at 110-10.
The junior also took second in the girls javelin (102-11) behind Trinity School's Julia Magliaro (141-7) and ahead of bronze medalist Shannon Pfeifer of Arlington (94-7) and was sixth (104-10) in the girls hammer, which was won by Shenendehowa's Alexa Dochat at 132.
Yorktown's Melissa Severino threw a personal-best 32-6 for fourth in the girls shot.
Iona Prep (Peter Winter, Andrew Brogan-Kim, Sidoti and Hargraves) ran 8:49.13 to win the boys 4x800 relay.
At 10-6, John Jay-East Fishkill's Maia Perillo won the girls pole vault.
Arianna Gonzalez, also of John Jay-EF, took the girls 400 in 59.25.
The girls mile went to Ursuline's Kyleigh O'Keefe (5:40.42). Lakeland/Panas's Lily Day (5:40.45) was second.
Harrison's Ami Goble won the girls high jump at 5-0.
Fellow Husky Katrina Torelli clocked 2:18.45 to take silver in the girls 800 behind Notre Dame's (of Manhattan) Maggie McCabe (2:17.03) and Harrison's Meghan McGurk (33-6) was second in the girls triple jump, which went to Union Catholic's Alexandra Bonn (38-9).
In 6:42.44, Lakeland/Panas's Bobby Mayclim captured third in the boys 2,000-meter steeplechase.
Hackley's Asher Beck clocked a personal-best 4:27.68 for fourth in the boys mile. Wagner's Fernando Diaz won that event in 4:27.68.
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: Adeyeye clocks states qualifying time, Kennedy PBs
