There’s nothing like a meet that comes down to the relays. With the score tied at 67.5, the team that could win 2 out of the 3 relay events would win the meet.
With parents, fans, and team members from both teams lining the track, the decibel level soared as the Sachem East quartet of Ebonie Lewis, Rebecca Carroll, Sam LoCascio, and Lauren Alberg used clean handoffs to take the 4 by 100 Relay in a season best 51.7.
Score five points for Sachem East. Next up – the 4 by 400 Relay. This time however, despite excellent efforts from Ciara Murphy, Kerstyn Ciulla, Danielle Curran, and Alex DeCicco, Connetquot made it to the finish first (4:14.9-4:17.1) and the Thunderbird fans went wild. Score now tied again, 72.5-72.5. It would come down to the final event, the 4 by 800 Relay.
With senior Jayda Allen running the fastest split of the day (2:27.2), Sachem East took the lead on the first leg and Rachel Semetsis, Katie Hempfling, and Shannon O’Hehir expanded it throughout the race to lock up the meet win yesterday at Connetquots home track, recording a fast 10:01.9. Final score Sachem East 77.5, Connetquot 72.5.
Ebonie Lewis again led the team by excelling in 4 events. Besides her part in winning the 4 by 100 Relay she won the 100 (12.7) and the Long Jump (16’9″), and grabbed 2nd in the Shot Put (31’11”). Other event winners were Carley DiMartino (Triple Jump – 33’5″), Jayda Allen (400 Meter Dash – 61.8), and Val Romero (3000 Meter – 10:59.6). Paige Picascio won the 100 Hurdles (16.4), with Rebecca Carroll (16.5) and Dana Tyner going 2-3 to sweep the event.
Despite Connetquot winning 9 individual events over Sachem Easts’ 6, East won the meet with it’s team depth, as it grabbed 18 second and third place finishes over the T-Birds’ 12. And of course, team depth always plays into the relays, as taking two of the three relays enabled the Arrows to pull out the win.
Additional outstanding marks were recorded by Jordan Messineo (Pole Vault – 9’6″), Kerstyn Ciulla (Pole Vault – 9’6″), Kayla Garry (High Jump -4’8:), Lauren Harris (1500 Meter Racewalk – 7:14.5), and Stephanie Robertson (1500 Racewalk – 8:03.1).
Next up on the schedule will be the Suffolk Coaches Invitational at Sachem North this Saturday, and then the team will be traveling upstate during the spring break to the Red Raider Relays, a major 2 day Invitational that features many top teams from the tri-state area.
-Submitted by Sachem East coaching staff