Strong Performances for East Girls Winter Track at Invitationals, Meets

The recent snowstorm snarled up holiday travel and complicated plans for many New Yorkers, and indoor track athletes were no exception. The Marine Corps Holiday Classic, a relay originally slated for Dec. 27 at New York City's Armory Track facility, was postponed for two days - the same day as the Rhode Island Classic (formerly the Brown Invitational).

"It was snowed out, so they ended up holding it on the 29th," said East girls winter track coach Pete McNeill. "That was the same day as the Rhode Island Classic, so the kids at Rhode Island couldn't go to the Marine Corps one. Of course, we had to completely revamp the plans for the day, we were missing 24 of our top athletes. It kind of changed what we were doing, but it was a great experience for those who went."

The teams at the Holiday Classic - a relay-based competition featuring both running and field events - were not grouped the way McNeill had wanted initially, which was supposed to be more balanced between veterans and newcomers, but the finishes were still strong. McNeill traveled up to Providence on the 28th with fellow coaches Kathy McNeill (his wife) and Dan Schaub, where the team enjoyed a rare indoor workout on their first day up.

Throwing another monkey wrench into the plans, several veteran athletes were to make their winter season debut at the Holiday Classic, in preparation for facing high-caliber competition at the Rhode Island Classic. East regularly attends the invitational, alongside programs closer to home (Bay Shore, Uniondale) as well as from further away (Mount Vernon, Saratoga Springs). 

But once in Providence, McNeill said, the team made the necessary adjustments to score in several events. Melanie Notartstefano, Ashley Ayers, Laurie Semetsis and Rachel Paul took second place in the distance medley relay with an overall time of 12:49.91. Paul, who anchored the relay, came back and won the 800-meter run in a meet record time of 2:19.77.

Alyssa Genduso finished second in the long jump, clearing 17' 9 1/4". In the high jump relay, East took fourth place - jumpers Ayers, Sarah Hansen, and Samantha Maurice totaled a height of 13' 8". 

Shannon O'Hehir ran the freshman mile in 5:43.29 for a fifth-place finish. "It was her first foray into top freshman competition," said McNeill. "We know she had said that the only time she had got was for the gym class mile. She had never broken 6 [minutes] until that day, so she was really proud."

Shot putter Britanny Christiansen, whom McNeill praises highly for her leadership role, took third with teammates Brittany Sepe and Gabby Trejo in the shot put relay for a total distance of 98' 2 3/4". for Christiansen, who had been honing her technique in the weight throw and had won in the St. Anthony's Developmental meet on December 18, the much-anticipated weight throw event, she fouled on all three attempts.

Though East fell just shy of a score in the shuttle hurdle relay (it placed seventh), Semetsis, Jessica Grassi, Samantha Eng and Shannon Haberkorn had an "oustanding performance" to finish in 40.6 seconds - less than one-half a second difference off the sixth-place time.

Meanwhile at the Armory and joined by fellow coach Dan Coffey, East runners Kaitlin DiMartino, Jackie Wasilko, Amanda Di Salvo, and anchor Sam Marrone grabbed sixth place in the Holiday Classic's freshman 4 X 800-meter, timing 11:14.6 overall. Other individual performances of note included Jenna Kelleher's throw of 25' 3 3/4" in the shot put relay, Kristen Chiovari's 8' flat clearance in the pole vault, plus a set of solid relay splits from Kara McCabe. 

A field event contest was hosted at Connetquot High School on Dec. 30. Representing East, pole vaulters Amanda Zaput and Stephanie Curtin both cleared 7'6". 

But the highlight was undoubtedly Genduso, who cleared 9'6" for a school-record-tying performance and second place overall (Brianna Christiano of Connetquot won the contest, clearing 10' flat). Genduso could not participate in the pole vault at the Rhode Island Classic due to a time conflict - the long jump had been scheduled for the same time.

At the Girls Crossover C meet on January 2, In the 1,500 racewalk, East swept the top three thanks to efforts by Kelly Maranchuck (first place, 7:49.35), Amanda Catherall (second place, 7:58.53) and Holly Lindoe (third place, 8:41.19).

Meghan Walsh won the triple jump with a distance of 33' 7 3/4" - improving over a foot and half from her previous jump at Crossover B. Eng jumped 30' 3 1/4" in the same event, and took third in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 9.97 seconds. Haberkorn followed for fourth place in 10.07 seconds. Jessica Grassi grabbed a placement in sixth, timing 10.47 seconds. 

At East's previous crossover meet on Dec. 16, Christiansen had first place in the shot put, throwing 36' 4", supported in second place by teammate Ariane Hutchison's throw of 28' 9". Walsh landed a third-place finish in the triple jump with a distance of 32' 1". Hansen took fifth in the high jump, clearing 4' 8".

Haberkorn took second in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 9.81 seconds. Eng, who finished in 10.04 seconds, took sixth in the same event.

Lindoe, Catherall and Sarah LaPorta all had scoring placements in the 1,500-meter racewalk, respectively timing  8:35.59 (second place), 8:43.96 (fourth place) and 9:06.55 (sixth place).

The next meet is Jan. 5 at SCCC Western Campus at 5 p.m. - the team's final crossover meet.