Saavedra and Scarpelli Place on First Day of Suffolk County Division Championships

While the sky remained dark and gray, the rain held for the Sachem East and North boys varsity track teams as they competed on the first day of the Suffolk County Boys Division Championships at Connetquot High School Monday afternoon.

East's Alex Saavedra placed first in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 9:34.12. Ryan Scarpelli, also from East, placed third in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:00.33.

Although those were the only two athletes that scored points for either teams, East's Zach Patsy placed first in the unseeded 3,200-meter run with a time of 10:12.

Other performances included North's Colin Eberhardt and East's Dan Wynne in the 800-meter run with times of  2:05.50 and 2:06.04, respectively, and North's Chris Weilbacher and Alex Lazarich in the 400-meter dash with respected times of 53.54 and 55.82 seconds.

East's Morgan Genoino ran 11.64 seconds in the 100-meter dash semi-finals and 22.93 seconds in the 200-meter dash semi-finals, but did not make it to Wednesday's finals.

Both teams raced in the 4x100- and 4x400-meter relays, and North had a team in each race.

Even though East's coach Greg Wrightson said it was not a good day for times, he said the boys ran well.

"They ran as hard as they could," he said.

Wrightson said the team is looking forward to Wednesday, as senior Greg Markfelder is seeded first in the high jump at 6'10" and junior Eddie Silber is seeded fifth in the event at 6'01".

Also on Wednesday, the second day of the meet, boys from each team will compete in the shot put, 4x800-meter relay, 3,000-meter steeplechase and 1,600-meter run.