Sachem Track State Quals Preview

Sachem East and North girls winter track and field teams will be well-represented at the Section XI Indoor Track State Qualifier Meet on Sunday. Sachem East has several top seeds in the meet (Rachel Paul, Kelly Maranchuck and the 4x800 squad). Sachem North will seek to compete well with its young sprint squad and veteran distance runners.

The top two finishers in each open event are automatic qualifiers for the State Championship Meet held at Cornell University on March 3. Third place finishers can also qualify if they hit tough state standards in their respective events.  Winning relays qualify for the State meet.

Sunday’s meet starts at 11:00 a.m. at Suffolk West. The meet is co-ed and talented athletes from the North and East boys teams will compete at the meet as well.

The pole vault event does not take place at Suffolk West on Sunday. It actually happened this past Wednesday. East's Stephanie Curtin (9th grader) placed second at the pole vault state qualifier.

Sachem East and North girls team qualifiers are listed below (seeds are in parentheses):

Sachem East

• 4x400 (#4)
• 4x200 (#10)
• 4x800 (#1)
• 1,000 m.: Rachel Paul #1
• 55 m. Essence Sterling (#18)
• 1,500 m. Racewalk: Kelly Maranchuck (#1)
• 1,500 m.: Shannon O’Herir (#6) Danielle Vazquez (#12), Katie Hempfling (#16)
• Shotput: Brittany Sepe (#3), Gabrielle Trejo (#8), Pam Emengo (#11)

Sachem North

• 4x200 (#4)
• 3,000: Kelly Lavan (#4)
• 55 m.: Melissa Michels (#4), Alyssa Leto (#6)
• 600 m. Becca Duffy (#7)
• 1,500 m. Racewalk: Katie Michta (#2)
• 55 m. Hurdles: Nikki Fogarty (#6)
• HJ: Kristie Michta (tie #5),Carly Swinford (tie #9)