Representatives from the Nassau and Suffolk County Track Coaches Associations, the NSCHSAA, and from the Long Island branch of USATF have come together to select the All-Long Island athletes for the spring track and field season.
Performances throughout the season were analyzed, with an emphasis placed on achievements from Championship meets (county, sectional, state, national). Three athletes were selected for each track and field event, and three school teams were chosen in select relay events. Additionally, the top teams from Long Island were ranked.
Sachem North garnered three selections to the All Long Island Team on the boy’s side, with Jonathan Lauer (Steeplechase), Chris Tibbets (1,600 meters), and Chris Fasano (discus throw), all named No. 1 on Long Island in their event. The top ranked boy’s teams were No. 1 Uniondale, No. 2 Smithtown, and No. 3 Massapequa. Adding to the list of All-Long Island athletes from Sachem North, on the girl’s side Molly Ramirez (Steeplechase) was named No. 3 on Long Island.
The Sachem East girls squad was selected as the Long Island Team of the Year, with Lauren Harris and Margaret Atwood given the No. 1 and No 2 rankings, respectively, in the race walk, the Sachem East 4 x Mile Relay Team and Distance Medley Team both earning No. 2 rankings, and the Shuttle Hurdle squad earning a No. 3 ranking on Long Island. The top ranked girl’s teams were No. 1 Sachem East, N. 2 West Babylon, and No. 3 Uniondale.
The selection of Sachem East as the top team on Long Island was based in part by commanding wins at the Saint Anthony’s Invitational and County Championship meets in May, but locked up with some outstanding performances at the National level.
In June, at High School Nationals in North Carolina, Margaret Atwood (3rd-15:10.83) and Chelsea Benedict (4th-15:15.56) both earned All-American status in the 3000 Meter Racewalk. One week later Lauren Harris traveled to Sacramento, California to place second in the 10K Race Walk (52:47.84) at the USATF Junior (U-20) Championships, earning her not just All-American status, but qualifying her for 2 more United States Teams; the U.S. vs Canada dual meet August 20 in Georgia, and the Pan American Games in Trujillo, Peru July 21-23.
In related news, Harris’s mentor- Olympian and Sachem Alum Maria Michta Coffey- won yet another National Championship in the 20K Race Walk at the USATF Championships, her time of 1:33:19.61 besting the field by over 3 minutes and earning her a place on the U.S. team that will compete at this year’s World Track and Field Championship in London, England from August 4-13.