North Girls Set Records at Indoor Nationals

Multiple runners from Sachem North set school records at the New Balance Indoor Track & Field Championships Saturday at The Armory Track & Field Center in New York City.

Sachem sent nine girls who competed in three events: 1,600-meter sprint medley relay, shuttle hurdle relay and one-mile race walk.

Katie Michta completed the race walk in a personal best 8:25:95.

The sprint medley crew of Stephanie Richer, Melissa Michels, Kayla Cataldo and Keira Wood finished in a school record 4:17:64.

The shuttle hurdle relay team of Krystal Cheng, Mishaina Joseph, Sam Swift and Andrea Hegarty finished in 38:25, another school record for the third time this year.

The SHR quartet broke a Sachem record that they shattered in December, broke again in January and broke at nationals with outstanding legs by all hurdlers and with strong closing speed by anchor Hegarty as she out-leaned a rival at the finish line. 

A January 2011 SMR squad broke the school record set at 2010 Nationals.  Michels joined three of the January record-setters to set a new standard for Sachem.  Outstanding handoffs and Keira Wood’s indoor-best 2:19.49 800 m. split were keys to Sachem’s second school record in as many races at the national championship meet.

East has Strong Finish

The Sachem East girls track distance medley group of Melanie Notarstefano, Meghan Walsh, Laurie Semetsis, and Rachel Paul ran the event in 12:19.98 and finished 12th overall.

Brittany Christansen competed Friday in the shot put event, taking 15th out of 20 competitors in the Emerging Elite event and on Sunday for the 20-pound weight throw. She took 23rd out of 30 competitors in that event.

Paul placed 7th in the 800 and her time of 2:10.62 was a school record and has her ranked No. 8 in the U.S. for the indoor season.