North Resets Record at Zeitler Relays

Both the North and East teams gathered at Suffolk Community College's Western Campus in Brentwood for Monday night's Zeitler relays - the last time this season that either team would compete united.

Celebrating Sachem's past while ensuring its competitive edge for the future, a team of North runners sporting throwback Samoset jerseys broke the school record in the 4 X 1,600-meter relay. Demolishing the old time of 23:02.17 from the 2010 Zeitler relays by nearly 28 seconds to place third, Kelly Lavan, Mary Cipriano, Lauren Waka and anchor Kiera Wood finished with a time of 22:34.40, placing second. In addition, Waka ran a season-best split time of 5:52.3 - one of 21 season-bests achieved that night. 

"We make an annual assault on that," said North head coach Alex Young, adding that the new record will set the bar that much higher for the 2011-12 season. "We've set a very good standard for next year."

In both the lanes and in the field, North fared strongly. The 4 X 200-meter relay team of Shanice Futrell, Stephanie Richer, Melissa Michels, and Kayla Cataldo placed second in with a time of 1:53.50. 

In the shuttle hurdle relay, Samantha Swift, Mishaina Joseph and Krystal Cheng took third place with a time of 29.7 seconds. Swift, Cataldo, Becca Duffy and Kelsie Larson took fourth in the 1,600-meter spring medley relay to time 4:40.80 - Cataldo's split time as the anchor was 2:33.9, a season-best. Carly Swinford and Kristie Michta claimed first in the high jump, combining for a height of 9' 8". 

North placed second in the long jump, triple jump and shot put categories for League II. Futrell and Lilly Meyer's final attempts combined for 31' 5 1/2 in the long jump. Wood and Richer competed in the triple jump, combining for 67' 6".

Shot putters Brittany Wienclaw and Marisa Romano combined for 60' 5 1/2".

For the next two Saturdays, Young said that the team will split to attend events at both SCCC Brentwood and the Armory, where the Hispanic Games were held January 8. Besides Wood's notable performance at the Games, where she finished the mile run in 10th place out of 286 runners to time 5:20.52, Katie Michta placed 15th out of 55 athletes in the 1,500-meter racewalk, timing 7:58.44.

At the final crossover meet on Jan. 5, North placed second in several events: The 55-meter hurdles (Swift, 9.47 seconds); the 4 X 400-meter relay team in the 'A' heat (4:34.34, plus a sixth-place finish in the 'B' heat with a time of 5:02.39); the high jump (Kristie Michta, 4' 10", supported by Swinford in fourth with a height of 4' 8"); and in the shot put, where Wienclaw threw 30' 9 1/2".

Richer placed third in both the 55-meter dash (7.91 seconds) and in the triple jump (34' 4"). Futrell took third in the 300-meter dash with a time of 45.45 seconds; Cataldo placed sixth in the same event, timing 46.25 seconds. Katie Michta finished the 3,000-meter run in 11:56.56, placing fourth. 

East Girls Winter Track

East won four events at the Zeitler relays, and also came away with some solid times and distances besides.

Kelly Maranchuck and Amanda Catherall won the 1,500-meter racewalk with a combined time of 15:50.30. A second team comprised of Holly Lindoe and Sarah LaPorta took fourth place in the same event, combining for a time of 17:36.30. Laurie Semetsis, Ashley Mercado, Essence Sterling and Rachel Paul combined for a winning time of 4:27.80 in the 1,600-meter sprint medley relay. 

Other wins included the 4 X 800-meter relay - Melanie Notarstefano, Krystle Grygo, Meghan Walsh and anchor Danielle Vazquez joined to finish in 10:31.60 (East's 'B' team in the same event took third, finishing in 11:12 flat), and Alyssa Genduso and Kristen Bagley's joint performance in the long jump, where they combined for a distance of 31' 9 1/2".

Sarah Hansen and Ashley Ayers combined for second place in the high jump, clearing 8' 11". Samantha Maurice, jumping independently, cleared 4' 6". 
Shot putters Brittany Christiansen and Brittany Sepe also joined for a second-place finish, throwing a combined 65' 8".

Third placements included the distance medley relay team (13:47.30), the 3 X 55-meter shuttle hurdle relay team made up of Samantha Eng, Shannon Haberkorn and Ally Figalora (30.30 seconds), the triple jump (Walsh and Eng combined for a distance of 62' 4 3/4") and the 4 X 400-meter relay: Ayers, Nicole Silvestre, Maeghan Murphy and Grygo as the anchor timed a combined 4:30.50.

In the 4 X 200-meter relay, Maddy Egan joined Sterling, Bagley and Genduso to finish in fourth place with a time of 1:58.60. 

"There's still some things we need to figure out, who will go where for certain events, but it's shaping up very nicely," said East head coach Pete McNeill, citing solid competition from Ward Melville and Longwood that may prove pivotal en route to the postseason.

Previously at the Hispanic Games on January 8, Maranchuk also competed in the 1,500-meter racewalk to finish seventh out of 55 athletes with a time of 7:37.36. Teammate Amanda Catherall captured 16th, timing 8:18.24. 

At SCCC Brentwood for the final crossover meet on Jan. 5, Paul won the 600-meter dash with a time of 1:38.20. Semetsis came in fourth in the same event, clocking in at 1:48.96. 

Christiansen won the shot put, tossing it 37' 8 3/4". Sepe took second in the same event with a throw of 33' 2". Elsewhere in the field, Hansen and Ayers each jumped 4' 6" in the high jump, finishing third and fourth respectively. 

Genduso finished third in the 55-meter dash, timing 7.93 seconds. Notarstefano took third in the 1,000-meter dash, timing 3:13.42. Vazquez finished fourth (3:24.37) in the same event, just ahead of teammate Shannon O'Hehir (3:25.10). In the long jump, Bagley also placed third, landing 14' 7 3/4".

Freshman runner Kathleen Hempfling finished fourth in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 11:51.71.