Track: North Rockland's Joseph, Cornwall's Baloga, Yorktown's Leitner win at Red Raider
THIELLS — When David Joseph got set in the starting blocks Friday during the first day of the two-day, 35-school Red Raider Relays track and field meet, he had two specific short-term goals in mind.
They were to get out of the blocks quickly and, in turn, to cross the finish line 110 meters away faster than anyone else had at the high school level in the state this spring.
After he did both, Joseph's longer-term goal for the spring became that much more realistic.
Blasting out of the blocks, North Rockland senior shaved well over half a second off his previous best time in the 110--meter hurdles Friday, winning in 14.63 seconds.
"I felt great. Going into the meet, I was trying to get to No. 1 (in New York this season)," said Joseph, who has worked recently with his coach, Orlando Rivera, to improve his starts.
His 14.63 was a personal best by .68 and boosted him from fourth in the state to first for the season.
But Joseph, whose brother, Emanuel, was a silver medalist in both the indoor 55 hurdles and outdoor 110 hurdles before going on to compete now for Syracuse, is looking for even better.
"I'm trying to be a state champion. That's my goal," he said.
Karrie Baloga already achieved that this past winter in the girls indoor 3,000 meters.
Now, the Cornwall junior would like to win gold in the 2,000 steeplechase at outdoor states, which will take place in June.
But Friday, Baloga, who has had a terrific year, gaining All-American status in indoor track and also in cross-country, where she was fourth at East Bay cross-country nationals, made her 2022 spring track debut running the girls 1,600.
Baloga left the track happy.
While not a personal best, her 4:48.93, which was more than 20 seconds faster than the 5:09.69 time clocked by runner-up Jade Pazmino of North Rockland, showed she's in good shape, Baloga said.
"To get a really solid time (this early) is exciting. ... I feel I'm trusting my training and getting really strong," Baloga said.
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While Baloga wasn't pushed in her race, Yorktown senior Sydney Leitner, who'll run for D-I Binghamton next year, bolted off the starting line thinking about the seventh-grader who was in her race.
That was Northport's Mia Wikard, who, at indoor states this winter, ran the fastest time ever in the country for a seventh-grade girl at 3,000 meters.
Wikard and Leitner entered Friday's outdoor 3,200 with similar best times at that distance, a fact Leitner termed "really terrifying."
Leitner was "not really feeling up to par," running with a head cold.
But it was hard to tell that.
She immediately took the lead and set a fast pace, although that wasn't planned.
"I didn't know what my plan was," Leitner joked. ... "I always go do that. I get lost in my own legs and go out thinking I have two laps (to run, instead of eight).'
But instead of fading because of her initial blistering pace, Leitner expanded her lead.
At the finish, she crossed in 10:51.62 with Wikard well behind in second in 11:09.36 and Pearl River's Una Boylan taking bronze in 11:27.98.
Leitner had a lot of time to think and worry and, if she chose, strategize, during her race.
Caigan Leonard did not.
The Cornwall sophomore ran a personal-best 16.27 in capturing the girls 100-meter hurdles title.
"My goal was just breaking the time from my last meet," said Leonard, who had run a 16.4 hand-held (stopwatch) time and whose previous best electronic time was 16.94.
"I'm happy about it," Leonard said of 16.27, adding, though her season goal is to go sub-16 seconds and compete at states.
Megan Novo of Paul Schrieber/Port Washington was second in 17.4. Leonard's teammate, Ninalyn Montero, was third in 17.55, and the first Section 1 finisher was Scarsdale's Elizabeth Fine, who clocked 17.86.
With one jump left in the girls long jump final, Avery Bensche found herself in first place.
But the senior, the youngest of three sisters to star in track and field at Scarsdale, wasn't happy with her 15-11.5 top jump.
In fact, she said not hitting 16 feet had her "very worried."
But Bensche, whose personal best in the event is 17-1, came through at the end, recording a final jump of 16-10 to easily secure the win.
Spring Valley's Giselandra Clerge was second (15-2) and North Rockland's Rachel Ramirez was third (14-10.5).
Other winners
Horace Greeley's Alex McKenney cleared to tie his outdoor personal-best 13-0 to win the boys pole vault.
Hen Hud's Trey Feirman was second at 10-6.
The girls pole vault went to Grace Zagoria of Bronx Science at 10-0.
Hackley's Katelyn Qu grabbed silver at 8-0.
At 135-11, Smithtown West's Patrick Noto won the boys discus with Amityville's Brandon Dennis a close second (personal-best 134-3).
Cornwall's Matthew Gold and North Rockland's Huguens D. Stfort tied for third (126-7), Gold's throw being a personal best.
Hackley's Michael Abbey took the boys triple jump at 42-5.5.
Rye's Dominic Cich clocked 9:47.18 for the boys 3,200 title with Northport's Brandon Cruz second (9:48.3) and Pleasantville's Alex Searle third (9:52.74).
Northport's Wyeth Semo crossed in a personal-best 4:15.99 to win the boys 1,600.
The top local finisher was Hackley's Brendan DiStefano, who finished fourth in a 4:21.92 PB.
Locals swept the first three spots in the girls shot put.
North Rockland's Deborah Estabine won at 35-10.
Clarkstown North's Ella Maerz threw a big personal-best 35-1 for second and Tappan Zee's Hannah Preble, at 32-9.5, was third.
No area athletes placed in the top three in the boys high jump, which Amityville's Shy Lucas won at a personal-best 6-0, edging Paul Schrieber/Port Washington's Charles Bosworth, who cleared the same height but had more attempts.
East Meadow's Jason Matthias (PB 5-10) was third, Cornwall's Victor Perez was fourth at 5-7 and Scarsdale's Henry Rifkin was fifth at the same height but in more attempts.
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: North Rockland's Joseph, Cornwall's Baloga win at Red Raider
