Track: Ursuline, Greeley Westchester team champs, Doherty and Smith No. 1 in state
NEW YORK — Matt Doherty didn't have the best fall.
The Mamaroneck senior, who was second in the 2021 Section 1 Class A cross-country championships and who went on to win the state boys indoor 1,000-meter championship last winter, finished 23rd, well over a minute slower on the same course, during this fall's section championships.
And he was physically healthy.
"It was really a mindset thing. I really get into my head. I really couldn't race well," Doherty said, explaining his thoughts would drift to how much truning hurt.
That was cross-country.
Saturday night, Doherty was running track.
And if he were in pain, his mind decided not to tell him.
Celebrating his 18th birthday, Doherty appeared in control from the get-go and posted the fastest indoor 1,600-meter time in the state by a high school boy this season and one of the fastest in the country while competing at the Westchester County Indoor Track and Field Championships at The Armory.
Doherty shaved almost eight seconds off his personal-best time, clocking 4:13.63 with teammate Sam Young second (4:21.01).
Smiling, Doherty explained of his performance, "It was a little birthday present to myself."
Team champions
With 26 teams scoring, Doherty's Mamaroneck squad finished in the top five for the boys county team championship.
Horace Greeley won with 79 points, followed by Bronxville (53), Somers (32), Briarcliff (30) and Mamaroneck and Lakeland/Panas both at 28.
Ursuline captured its first ever county girls championship with 62 points, edging Bronxville (60). With 25 teams scoring, New Rochelle had 53 points, Hen Hud 49 and Scarsdale had 38 to round out the top five.
Olson, Negrete lead Ursuline
Prizila Negrete won both the girls shot put (38-2) and the girls weight throw (45-11) and Elena Olson captured the girls 55-meter hurdles to help lead Ursuline to the girls title.
The Koalas also got other key points in the hurdles with teammate Ivana Richards finishing just behind Olson (8.69-8.71) for second place.
Richards' and Olsons' times were both personal bests.
Greeley wins the 'Wright' way
Nicholas Wright played a big role in Greeley's boys title.
The junior, who explained he competes focused on placement and medals, not times, ran a personal-best 6.46 to take the 55-meter dash and he clocked a personal-best 35.06 to win the 300.
His 55 time is sixth best among high school runners this season in New York.
Wright also teamed with Ben Ho, Kyle McKenney and Manuel Bruses to win the boys 4x200 relay in 1:32.96.
"I just wanted to win," said Wright, who said his relay team wants to run at nationals, where the goal would be gaining gain all-American honors.
The Quakers also won first-place points by capturing the boys 4x800 relay in 8:33.65 and got more top points with Ho winning the triple jump at 40-9.75.
Smith runs NY No. 1 in 1,000
Ursuline was super happy and Greeley was super happy.
But ecstatic might have been the best way to describe Briarcliff senior Kornel Smith.
In a very competitive race, Smith pulled slightly away from the rest of the field on the final straightaway of the boys 1,000 for the win. After crossing the finish, he shouted "Yes!" multiple times.
That was in reaction to both his win and his time. Smith clocked 2:31.16, a personal-best by more than four seconds.
That time is No. 1 in the state among high school athletes this season.
"I dreamed of this," said Smith, who attributed his time to "consistency and doing all the little things right," as well as to being pushed in the high-level field.
Briarcliff coach Zach Rose noted Smith failed to qualify for the state championship last year in the 1,000, although his placement put him in the intersectional relay at states.
He said he had Smith run shorter races to build speed and his speed was evident in a recent performance in the mile.
"We knew his strength and speed were there. He came back and put it all together," Rose said of Smith, whose time is a school record.
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Googel wins two golds, teammate takes 55
Somers senior Jared Googel threw the shot put a personal-best 42-4.5 for the boys win and also won the boys weight throw at 57-11.5, another personal best that's 11th best in the state this season.
He attributed his wins in part to "staying calm under pressure," explaining, sometimes "I get yipped up."
The girls 55 sprint went to his sophomore teammate Haylie Donovan in a personal-best 7.38.
Donovan, whose personal best was 7.58 prior to Saturday, cut that to 7.49 in the prelims.
Saturday marked only the second time she used starting blocks. She used them while winning her league title last Sunday but had trouble with them and ran 7.65.
"This is good redemption," Donovan said.
Bender No. 5 in NY in 3,200
University of Chicago-bound Fox Lane senior Noah Bender has been winning his 3,200-meter races on a consistent basis this winter.
But there has been little consistent in his times.
They're plummeting.
Bender, who ran a 10:15.6 to win his first 3,200 this season, clocked a personal-best 9:21.08 to beat runner-up Bobby Mayclim of Lakeland/Panas by five seconds.
Bender's time was fifth best among high school boys in the state this season.
Bender credited his performance to training, mental preparation and his seasoning as a veteran runner who knows when to hold back and when to make a move to the front.
"You really have to have all the pieces (to be successful)," he said.
"He had a rough winter season last (year) but he never changed the person he was. I think that's very important," Fox Lane coach Chris Dossena said of Bender, explaining his runner respects opponents but is confident.
Yitzchak sets PB, now 5th in NY in hurdles
Mount Vernon's Eloha-Karmiel Yitzchak also joined the top-five rankings for high school boys in the state.
The senior, who's still deciding what college to run for next year, explained his approach to Saturday's race was simple.
"I was telling myself, 'Just run your race.' I was telling myself, 'You're going to PR today,' " he explained, referring to setting a personal record.
Other top finishes
Peekskill's Juliette Salazar, still on the way back after being sidelined by hip problems for cross-country season, took a big step forward in winning the girls 1,000 in 3:02.46.
In 41.59, Valhalla's Juliette Sullivan took the girls 300.
Irvington's Miles Demarest won the boys 600 in a personal-best 1:26.86.
Bronxville's Juliet Winiecki, Mai Ly Reinking, Kara Kochansky and Danielle Dragoni clocked 1:44.35 to set a school record while winning the girls 4x200 relay.
Teammate Max Dicker, who travels to Warwick twice weekly to train at an indoor pole vaulting facility, took the boys pole vault at 13-0. He believes he can clear at least 14-6 this season.
Bronxville, which took the girls 4x800 title in 9:57.61, also got first-place points from Mady Williams, who ran 4:46.27 in capturing the 1,500.
Eastchester's Ava Pennachio, who was fourth in that race, ran a personal-best 10:19.72 to win the girls 3,000.
Scarsdale's Eva Gibney cleared 9-6 ton win the girls pole vault crown.
Scarsdale also won both the boys and girls 4x400 relay and Scarsdale's Maria Roberts ran a personal-best 1:38.62 to capture the girls 600 title.
In a personal-best 16-9.5, New Rochelle's Jaelee Hewitt won the girls long jump.
Julia Beckman of White Plains registered a personal-best 8:06.79 to win the 1,500 racewalk.
In boys long jump, Rye's Rafferty McSweeney, one of four jumpers to exceed 21 feet, went 21-7.25 for the win.
Hen Hud's Morgan Davis cleared 5-2 for the girls high jump title.
The boys high jump went to Edgemont's Connor Fisher at 5-10.
Signe Olsborg of Rye won the girls triple jump at 33-9.5.
Nancy Haggerty covers cross-country, track & field, field hockey, basketball, skiing, ice hockey, girls lacrosse and other sporting events for The Journal News/lohud. Follow her on Twitter at @HaggertyNancy
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Ursuline and Greeley win Westchester track championships
