Thanks to Sachem North girls track coach Alex Young, we have a novel’s worth of news and notes from his team’s League I championship.
Have at it …
*Sachem North won its first League Championship since the 2001-2002 season in a most exciting fashion today as the North Arrows edged out Sachem East 144.5-142. Sachem North prepared for the meet with a “swing for the fences” philosophy. This meant that Sachem North would attempt to maximize point scoring opportunities in open events and try to build a lead strong enough to withstand an expected late meet-relays charge by the deep-middle distance and distance Sachem East team. North coaches projected that East would outscore North 28-18 in relays. Coaches also knew that its 4×200 – while a favorite to win the relay – was the “wild west” of track and field where fortunes change quickly on a dropped baton or botched pass. When North’s sprint relay was DQ’d in the penultimate event in the meet, a level of excitement and anticipation grew in Suffolk West’s track and field arena. Did North just lose a chance for the League title? While Sachem athletes sat in stunned silence and tears flowed from relay team members faces, Sachem’s 4×800 m. relay stood together in the clerking area outside the track, unaware of the drama that had just taken place.
*It is hard to prepare the perfect line-up for a League Championship Meet. Sachem coaches wrote out several versions of a team line-up in the weeks leading up to the meet anticipating what other coaches would do with their top athletes. Some decisions were easy to make. Melissa Michels would compete in three open events (55, 300 and long jump) and Sunja Joseph would long and triple jump (a no-brainer). Decisions had to made regarding distance runner events – decisions that became more difficult to make as the flu was decimating distance ranks. In the two weeks leading up to Leagues, Kelly Lavan, Elise Ramirez, Mackenzie Coleman, Oriana Howell, Kristina Schrepf and Jess Humann all missed school and training days due to illness. All would play key roles in team scoring today. Sprinters and field eventers were not exempt from illness and injury. All-American race walker Katie Michta was nothing short of spectacular as she returned from a painful foot injury in early January. Alyssa Leto’s strained hamstring was being nursed along in workouts. Nikki Fogarty was cleared to resume competition only three days before the meet. Nikki suffered an injury following a blazing fast 9.24 55 m. hurdles in Sachem’s first meet of the season. Her return to Sachem’s line-up today would make a difference in the outcome of the meet.
*Today’s SAT would impact the meet. Key athletes from Commack’s talented team were missing at the beginning of the meet as they completed complex math problems and analogies at a testing center. While the absence of Mallory Dugan may help Alyssa Leto, it would also benefit East’s Essence Sterling (300) and Ebony Lewis (55). Edge – East. The absence of distance runners Lindsay Dougherty and Erin Neville in open events would help both Sachem teams score higher, but North coaches expected to see multiple East scorers in events from 600-3000 meters. Edge – East. Aware of the absence of Commack athletes as North entered Suffolk West, coaches quickly reviewed the team line-up. No changes were made; the team stuck with the game plan.
THE MEET BEGINS
*3000 m. run As the 3000 m. runners walked out on to the track to start the meet, it was seen that the expected top gun it the race – East’s Shannon O’Herir – was not in the event. Coach Young quietly spoke to sophomore Elise Ramirez as she walked by him, “Opportunity is knocking.” Elise nodded and, less than 11 minutes later executed a perfect race plan that resulted in a 2nd place finish in the race in a career-best time. Elise was far from done for the day. She would race more distance than any runner on the track in the meet by the end of the meet. Meet score, according to a tally sheet maintained by Coach Young, 8-6. Anticipated meet score based on “script” held by team member Brigid Rattiger, who had the important meet day assignment to stick with Young and keep his clipboard notes in order was 4 (North)-12 (East). There was no great excitement in this good fortune. The specter of the missing Shannon O’Herir loomed large. When would she strike? Junior Oriana Howell raced brilliantly in the event. Oriana knew that even a single team point mattered greatly today. Ward Melville’s young and talented distance squad would be a factor today. The (freshmen) Williams sisters struck hard in the 3000. Courtney won the race and Brittany held off Oriana for 6th place. Marysa Michels had season-best time in her race. Meet score 8-6 (North score is listed first).
*55 m. trials Melissa Michels had the fastest time of trials. Alyssa Leto had the third fastest time with Ebonie Lewis of East .01 behind her. Alyssa did not have a good start. She would work on this before finals. She did not bring up her hamstring. Madalyn Iadanza had a strong race in trials. Madalyn was moved into the 55 m. dash yesterday before the meet’s line-up was discussed in a team meeting. Madalyn’s younger sister Julia was taken out of the event. Coaches made a decision to hold Julia fresh for the 4×400 m. relay at the end of the meet. Freshman Julia would be give only one moment in the meet in only her third 400 meter race of the season (and in her short track career). Could she deliver?
*1000 m. run A star-studded field. Commack’s Rachel Glubiak, Jayda Allen and Ciara Murphy of East, three Ward Melville studs versus Kelly Lavan. Kelly’s race strategy was simple – win. Kelly settled in behind a fast race start and struck during lap two. She took a lead she never relinquished. East runners took places 3 and 4 in the race. 10 team points for each Sachem team. Jenn Weiss and Katie Pfeil PB’d for the North Arrows. Meet score 18-16.
*55 m. finals Melissa Michels (lane 3) and Alyssa Leto (lane 2) are training partners. They are used to being in the same sprint events. They both backed into their starting blocks as the race starter took over. The entire track complex was quiet as the starter gave his final command before firing his starter’s pistol. “Set.” Sprinters blasted out of their blocks on the gun. Michels emerged in the lead and Leto began to chase down runners who got out faster at the start. Michels’ win was clear. But who took second. Only .05 would separate places 2-4 in the race. When results were posted, North athletes and fans roared. Michels and Leto went 1-2. East’s Lewis placed third. Meet score 36-22.
*Shotput North junior Kaitlyn Okvist was having a career day. As finals began, Kaitlyn had already broken 35’ for the first time in her career. Kaitlyn’s father greeted Coach Young. They briefly spoke as Mr. Okvist commented that he knew Kaitlyn wanted to throw 35 today. But she would not talk about the meet at all before arriving at North to be with her teammates. Even then, Kaitlyn and Coach Young did not discuss meet day goals. They had their conversations about the meet in the days leading up to Leagues. Young knows Kaitlyn is a game-day performer and that Leagues couldn’t arrive soon enough for Kaitlyn. Going into the sixth throw of the competition, Kaitlyn’s 35’ 2 ½” career-best throw was still good enough for 3rd place. East’s Gabrielle Trejo entered the circle in 4th place for her final throw. The shot exploded off Gabrielle’s shoulder as she put the winning throw of the event 37’ 6 ½” away. East was sitting 1-2-3 (as expected) in the event. Kaitlyn entered the circle for her final throw. Kaitlyn’s mechanics came together in her finest put ever as the shot landed 36’ 1” from the circle – another PB! But East withstood Kaitlyn’s career day to take 24 big points in the event. Stefania Baglivo nearly matched her Stanner Games PB and Jenn Bloom had a career day. Meet score 40-46.
*Triple Jump When League 1 Championship Meet records were reviewed yesterday, Sunja smiled. Coach Young stated that he expected the triple jump mark to be broken. Sunja likes goals – she wanted the meet record. Triple jump was to be the beginning of a busy day for 3-eventer Sunja. And the beginning of East’s Essence Sterling’s busy day. Sunja won the event in a meet record jump of 36’ 6 ¼”. Sterling took third. Middle Country’s Nicole Catanzaro took second. Middle Country scored 32 team points today. Some of these points would displace East athletes. Gabriella Czerw nearly matched her season-best and Emily Lin had a season-best jump. Gabriella hustled back over to high jump after completing her final triple jump and Emily returned to our team spot in Suffolk West bleachers. Emily’s day was not over. She was our only freshman team member competing in more than one event today. Emily and frosh teammate Julia Iadanza were slated to run the middle legs of Sachem’s 4×400 m. relay later in the meet. Meet score 50-52.
*55 m. Hurdles trials Line-up decisions changed several times in the days leading up to Leagues in this event for North. Ashley Miskovsky was moved from hurdles to the 600 on Wednesday. With Nikki Fogarty cleared to return from injury at mid-week, coaches carefully tested Nikki in workouts. Nikki was told that she would be in the meet mine-up on Friday. Nikki was the first team member (even before the coaches) to arrive at North on Saturday. She stretched before team members began to arrive a half hour later. Nikki and Emily Rathmann advanced to finals as expected. Melissa Muller had a strong start a looked sharp as she cleared hurdle 1 and 3-stepped to hurdle 2 as she won her heat.
*600 m. Fast heats run last at Leagues. While Kristina Schrepf waited to step on to the track, teammates Ashley Miskovsky and Taylor Buechner ran their respective races. Both had PBs but a yellow flag at the break-in line denied Taylor an official time. She cut in too early and was DQ’d from the event. Kristina stepped on the starting line with the rest of section 3. She was prepared for her race. Before the meet, Coach Young spoke with Kristina about race tactics in the fast heat of the race. “What if I am not in the fast heat?” asked Kristina. A more aggressive “just-in-case” plan was discussed. Kristina took the lead in section 3 (while section 4 waited) and never looked back as she had a 2 second PB. Could she score for Sachem? A stud field took to the track for the final section of the race. Race favorite and top seed Laurie Semetsis of East won the race. Other top seeds delivered. But Commack’s Rachel Glubiak – the race’s 4th seed – had just finished racing the 1000 where she placed second behind Kelly Lavan., Rachel faded badly in her second race in ten minutes and a door opened up for North as Kristina took sixth place a scored a team point for the North Arrows. Meet Score 51-62.
*55 m. Hurdle finals. Six of Long Island’s top hurdlers took the starting line in an exciting and much anticipated hurdles finals. This could be a big event for North. Nikki was excited but not in peak race shape. Emily had a breakout race a week ago and had a great week of training. East had Shannon Haberkorn. But the race had Section XI’s #2 hurdler in YoonSeo Lee of Commack on the line. The race favorite delivered. Nikki raced through the first 4 hurdles but suffered a mis-step after clearing her final hurdle. Haberkorn moved ahead of Nikki to take third in the race behind Longwood star Nikki Mosby. Emily placed fourth, Nikki took sixth. While East won the battle 6-5, only a week ago, North coaches were unsure if the team would score any points in the event. Meet score 56-68.
*1500 m. run This was one of the “swing for the fences” events for North. Elise and Kelly were to run their second open event of the meet. Both already delivered big in their earlier races. Mackenzie Coleman was running fresh. Coaches believed that Mackenzie may be one of the few fresh runners in the event and expected (and needed) her to deliver well beyond her seed in the race. East’s Shannon O’Herir made her first appearance of the meet in the race. Kelly and Elise understood that they were to stick with lead race packs and get ready to make and respond to moves. Mackenzie was to be more aggressive and look to run with rivals who 15 or more seconds faster than her on seed sheets. And Mackenzie was still feeling the effects of the flu that had sidelined her earlier in the week. Seven runners in the field had run faster 1500s than Mackenzie. Unfazed and fearless in the middle of a talented field, Mackenzie took over the lead pack that developed behind race leader and eventual winner Shannon O’Herir and tired but determined Kelly Lavan. Moments after Shannon and Kelly took 1-2 in the race, Mackenzie and East’s Kelly Hempfling were locked in a neck and neck battle down the final straightaway of the track. Katie crossed the finish line .13 seconds ahead of Mackenzie to take third. This was a big four point swing for East. Spectators could not pause to appreciate the dramatic finish as Elise surged ahead of Middle Country’s Olivia Janssen two steps before the finish line to place fifth over Janssen by .11 seconds. Mackenzie’s seed sheet-busting race would loom large as there were only two track events left before the start of relays and both teams were running out of scoring opportunities. Mackenzie, Kelly and Elise delivered for North with 14 event points against the 16 scored by East. East’s big guns were neutralized by North’s deepest distance squad in years. In the meet-within-the meet battle for points from 600-3000 meters today North scored 36 points. East scored 42 points. The six point edge by East was much smaller than North coaches anticipated. North distance runners had pushed the door open. North coaches also knew that our strongest distance arsenal had just finished warming up for the battle between some of the best high school race walkers in the United States! Meet score 70-84.
*300 m. Dash and Long Jump Coach Lasher moved Melissa Michels to the first flight of long jump as the meet’s second horizontal jump event was beginning as the 300 dash was getting ready to clerk in. Coach Lasher told Melissa took approach her first jump as though it may be her only jump. As Melissa completed her warm-ups, Coach Young walked up to Melissa to advise her to attack her first jump as though it may be the only jump she took in the event. Following the meet, coaches compared notes and learned that Melissa was getting useful advice in stereo. Melissa’s first jump was a career-best 16’ 7 ¾”. Melissa’s second jump was close but short of her first mark and Melissa passed on her third jump as she led East’s Essence Sterling by 2 ½” following Sterling’s third jump in the same flight and both headed to the 300 starting line for the third and final event of the meet for both athletes. In early 300 heats, Siarra Fiol ran her second fastest 300 of the season in 50.14. Freshman Leah Blackall blazed to a PB in a blistering fast 47.55 – more than two seconds faster than she ran only a week earlier and the third fastest 300 m dash of the season for Sachem! Melissa and Essence were joined by William Floyd long-sprint star Ashley Wakefield and other studs in the final heat of the 300. Melissa ran with a poise she had never shown before and, in her third event of the day, won the 300 in a career-best time. Wakefield took second and Sterling placed third. Sachem eyes went back to long jump as top seeds Sunja Joseph and Longwood’s Nikki Mosby put on a clinic. Sunja broke the 17’ barrier for the first time in her indoor career with her winning 17’ ¼” jump. Mosby vaulted in third – ahead of Sterling with a 16’ 6 ¼” leap. Michels held on to second place by 1 ½” with her PB. Coaches believed that the long jump would be a turning point of the meet. Michels delivered two prime time performances in the space of five minutes and Sunja won her second event of the meet. Race walkers were stepping to their starting line and there was a lot of cheering coming from high jump. Meet score 98-94.
*1500 m. Race Walk North’s lone All-American Katie Michta was sidelined by a painful foot injury in early December. She spent many hours in pools and on cardio equipment before returning to competition earlier than expected in early January. Katie’s workouts were carefully planned by big sister and Olympian Maria Michta. Katie would join race walk teammates for the portion of their workouts that fit her own. At times, team race walk workouts would be altered so that the squad could train together longer. This seemed to suit the squad’s great support of each other. East had NYS’s #2 race walker Holly Lindoe on the line as well as veterans Sarah LaPorta and Valerie Auciello. North’s race plan was simple. All three score. Katie, Natalie DeQuarto – in the middle of a breakout season – and Patricia Romano who broke 8:00 at the Hispanic Games and never looked back would finish in the top 6. East’s walkers and Emma Holland of Ward Meville were not forewarned of the race plan. Katie went after Lindoe with a 49 second first lap with Natalie and Patricia close behind. Lindoe took control of the race and Katie settled into her own pace and second place in the race. Patricia stuck with Natalie through the halfway mark before the attack from East and Ward Melville began. Natalie moved ahead of the chase pack but Patricia was locked in a back and forth battle as four athletes battled for three scoring spots in the race. Auciello took fourth, Holland finished fifth and Patricia placed sixth in the event. Patricia had a PB and Katie had a season-best as North outscored East 15-12 in the event. Tally the RW results with distance scoring and East edged North by 54-51, a margin closer than that hoped for and expected by North coaches. Meet Score 113-106.
*High Jump North’s prospects to score big points were enhanced by the absence of Ward Melville’s Emily Astarita. Emily’s absence also helped East. Top seed Carly Swinford hoped to be joined by teammates Gabriella Czerw and Emily Rathmann in team scoring. With Astarita absent from the event, a door opened for East’s two top high jumpers. Both Madeline Egan and Alissa Naer would deliver. Emily Rathmann tied for 5th with her 4’ 6” jump. Naer also jumped 4’ 6” but beat out Emily on misses. Egan cleared 4’ 8” and took third place. North was about to go 1-2 in an event for the third time in the meet (also 55 m. dash and long jump). Coach Stillufsen and Carly agreed to end her day after the senior cleared 5’ so she could joined her 4×200 relay teammates. Gabriella Czerw cleared 5’ 0” (winning the event on fewer misses than her teammate) and prepared for her first attempt at 5’ 1”. Czerw cleared the bar and North fans and teammates erupted in cheers. As Gabriella hugged teammate Carly, the crossbar that had been nicked by Gabriella ever so slightly finally fell to the ground. What looked to be a season-best jump was declared a miss by a sympathetic and correct-ruling official. Gabriella missed her next two attempts at the high but earned her first-ever League championship with her event win. North had its biggest scoring event of the meet with 19 ½ points as the relay portion of the meet began. Meet Score 132 ½ – 116
*4×400 m. relay The North Arrows “swing for the fences” meet plan went as well as coaches hoped. Going into relays without Millrose Games-bound Melissa Michels could change the outcome of the 4×200 and looking ahead to a 4×800 that could include runners racing for the third time in two hours was not ideal but fit in with a meet plan that saw Sachem East running out of time and opportunities as North’s 15 ½ point meet lead could hold off a strong relay attack by East. In fact, North coaches believed East could outscore North 28-18 in relays. A double digit lead could evaporate quickly in the relays. Sachem coaches Young, Lasher, Stillufsen and Wood continued to carry out meet responsibilities with little dialog as the 4×400 stepped on the track. North’s 4×400 was the team’s freshest relay of the day. Senior Kristina Schrepf would leadoff the relay. Kristina was having her finest season ever for Sachem and was expected to turn in a strong leadoff leg for her team. Early in the season, Coaches Lasher and Stillufsen were very pleased with Julia Iadanza’s progress in the short sprints. Julia was tested in the 400 at Stanner Games in early January with good results. Julia also sprinted to a 7.97 in the 55 m. dash a week ago. Julia was marked for both the 55 and 4×400 until the day before Leagues. Julia would be asked to run big for Sachem as the 4×400 second leg in her only event of the meet. And she would be asked to help her relay score important points for Sachem. Freshman Emily Lin was in her second event of the meet. Emily had already demonstrated her race mettle and innate skills at race decision-making many times in her rookie season. Emily’s third leg race in the Millrose Qaulifier 4×400 less than two weeks ago showed her strength and savvy as a quarter-miler as well as her poise under pressure. Julia and Emily were polar opposites as Julia is vocal and outwardly emotionally-charged and Emily is stoic. They would cover the middle legs of the relay and follow the team goal to keep the baton in the race for the next runner. Junior Corri Moran would anchor the relay. Corri had been quiet about shin pain until early in the week went Coach Lasher saw her wince during a hard workout. Since then, icing became an important part of Corri’s training regimen. Sachem was in the “slow” section of the race. That meant nothing to coaches as teams often used “fresh legs” seed times at Leagues even though most League Championship meet relays contained runners racing for the second or third time in a short span. That Ward Melville was one of the three teams in the first section of the relay was pleasing to North coaches as Ward Melville had a veteran team that could pull or push Sachem around the track. Relay members were reminded that they would be racing the clock as well as the teams on the track. The race began with Kristina running her second PB of the meet. Kristina’s 65.6 split put her in a dead heat with Ward Melville’s leadoff leg at the first exchange. Melville’s second runner took off on a dead sprint with Julia right on her heels. Julia could not maintain the blistering pace on her second lap but she ran a 68.5 leg – a time hoped for by her coaches. Emily took off after Ward Melville after taking the baton from Julia. A four second gap began to disappear quickly as Emily tracked down her rival. With 100 meters to go, Emily moved ahead to take Sachem’s first lead in the race. 68.0 seconds after getting the baton, Emily handed off the stick to anchor Corri. Corri took off as though she could see the anchors in the race section to follow. A strong stride and quick turnover that makes Corri sub-30 200 meter runner carried Corri around the track in 67.4 seconds. Where would the relay’s 4:29.54 time place the relay after the next section ran? North coaches were thrilled with the relay’s time. The second section of the race began with five relay teams including Sachem East. It became clear by mid-race that North would score well in the event – but how well? Sachem East held a race lead as their anchor finished her first lap. Longwood’s anchor Nikki Mosby was relentless as she chewed up track closing a big race gap. Could Longwood chase down East? “It’s happening!” declared Coach Stillufsen. Coach Young shook his head slightly. “Mosby is running out of track. She won’t catch her.” The chase by an anchor is one of the most exciting moments in track and field. Mosby caught East’s anchor and Longwood won the 4×400 by a half second. North beat all but two relays in the event and placed third. Meet Score 138 ½ – 124.
*4×200 m. As the 4×200 m. relay teams were walked up to the starting line by officials, Coach Young sat down with Elise Ramirez and Kelly Lavan. Looking at each, Young asked “How do you feel? Are you ready to run again?” Both runners looked tired. The 1500 ended about 30 minutes earlier. The two had delivered big for Sachem. The duo responded, “We’re okay. We can run the 4×800.” Elise and Kelly left to clerk in with the rest of the relay. As the gun went off for the first section of the 4×200, Young walked into the clerking area to tell Monica Abrams, Jess Humann, Elise and Kelly that the 4×800 was to be race of position. A top four finish was our goal. Then Young walked back to the track. Sachem North’s leadoff leg Carly Swinford waited for the starter’s commands as Young joined his team to watch the race. Team cheers erupted as Carly blazed around the track. The cheers turned to stunned silence as the unthinkable happened. Sachem’s sprint relay squads had shattered indoor and outdoor records for the past two years. In addition to senior veteran Carly Swinford, Sachem’s League Championship meet relay was made up of Sunja Joseph, Emily Rathmann and Alyssa Leto. Sunja, Emily and Alyssa were part of the 4×100 squad that ran at States end the end of the spring season. Anything short of an event win would not satisfy the four All-County athletes. Before the race, Coach Lasher – aware of the meet score- reminded the relay to keep the handoffs safe. Handoff work looked sharp at yesterday’s workout. The relay nodded in understanding. Sunja took off as Carly entered the exchange zone. Too soon. Carly could not get the baton to Sunja inside the rapidly shrinking exchange zone. A yellow flag was raised. North was DQ’d. A stunned Rathmann took a handoff from a dejected Sunja and prolonged the inevitable for Sachem. Four Sachem coaches – each in a different area of the track reacted differently. Coach Stillufsen remained expressionless. Coach Lasher involuntarily uttered an expression of shock and disbelief. Coach Wood looked as shocked and speechless as many team members. Coach Young softly kicked a hurdle. Young also told a stunned Leto to “leg it out” as Alyssa watched her teammate Emily run her lap. The brief moment of quiet at the dramatic turn of events in the meet was broken by cheers from Sachem East athletes who understood the significance of what was happening. East took second in the relay. Middle Country’s talented sprinters out-leaned East by .06 seconds for the relay win. An official would seek out Coach Young after the event ended to make the DQ official. Meet score 138 ½- 132.
*4×800 m. Relay North still controlled its own destiny as the 4×800 m. relay was walked out to the track. Throughout the meet, North athletes would cheer as their teammates would walk past the team’s bleacher seats. This time the 4×800 walked past team members with expression ranging from shock to tears. Young stopped Emily and Carly as they approached the team area and told them to regain their composure. Emily and Carly turned their backs to the track so that their 4×800 teammates would not see their tears. Sunja and Alyssa were nowhere to be seen and several team members approached 4×800 squad members to pass along the news of the 4×200 DQ. Team order was quickly restored as Coach Young ordered athletes away from the relay and quickly told team members to tell teammates that North still controlled its own destiny. A fourth place finish would clinch victory. Word spread quickly and cheers began to erupt from the North section of the bleachers. But was the damage done? What did the 4×800 believe as Monica stepped on to the track? More thought had gone into the 4×800 than for any single event of the meet. Until the end of yesterday’s practice, the relay card contained seven names. The parts were interchangeable as Coach Young had great faith in the distance squad’s ability to deliver a strong meet performance. The seventh name belonged to Mackenzie Coleman. Young knew she had been sick all week and decided that Mackenzie would best serve her team as the fresh runner in the 1500. “Mack the Knife” delivered in the 1500. The team’s second fastest half-miler would not be available for the relay. Young hoped he would not have to use Kelly and Elise but also knew – as he told them only minutes earlier – there were no two runners he would rather have available in the last event of the meet than the two training partners. Two things were certain for the 4×800. Monica Abrams and Jess Humann would run the first two legs of the relay. The two were held out of open events to give the relay strong, fresh legs at the start of the race. The usually stoic Monica expressed mild surprise when she was told she would be the leadoff leg of the relay yesterday. Monica ran the race of her life a week earlier in the 1000 m. run as she PB’d at the Art Mitchell Meet. The team needed Monica to deliver the same type of race effort. Frosh Jess Humann would run the second leg. A decision to keep Jess out of open events was made easier as Jess showed flashes of her great middle distance talent in several races in her rookie season. There was also no quit in Jess in tough workouts during the season. Jess was assigned to run leg two in the expectation that she would have runners to go with for at least two laps. Patricia Romano showed an ability to double well throughout the season. She ran a strong 4×800 leg at Art Mitchell only 15 minutes after her race walk race – she was a great option for the League relay. Oriana Howell may be our team’s best chaser. She was added to the relay with the expectation that she would PB if called upon. Before the 4×200 took the track, Young made up his mind. Elise and Kelly would run legs 3 and 4 of the 4×800. The outcome of the meet was not determined as the relays began. There would be no second-guessing. All six runners warmed up and reported to the 4×800 clerking area together. They were rising to their feet in the clerking area when pandemonium broke loose on and around the track in the 4×200. Time slowed down as the 4×800 began. The only expression Monica revealed as she raced around the track was one of determination. Coach Young saw the same look on Monica’s face a week earlier as the junior ran her best race ever. Monica ran a PB 2:38.4 split as she handed off the baton to her freshman teammate. Jess tried to pace a Commack runner – the pace was too fast and Jess fell into 4th place behind East, Ward Melville and Commack runners. As Jess handed off the baton to Elise after a strong 2:40.4 split, the outcome of the race began to take shape. Casey Gelderman, Jayda Allen, Shannon O’Herir and Laurie Semetsis had taken command of the race for East. Commack and Ward Melville were battling for second. Then Elise began her chase. Elise closed on Ward Melville through her 2:38.8 leg. Elise set up the most exciting anchor leg in a decade for Sachem. The North Arrows had not won a League title since 2002. Elise gave the baton to Kelly and concluded her 5300 meter racing day – a longer total race distance than any other athlete in the meet. Team cheers had not subsided since the relay began and North knew that the race’s outcome would determine the meet winner. Kelly easily moved into third place ahead of Ward Melville as 4 laps turned into three and then into two laps left in the meet. The final lap bell rang with Sachem East in the lead – they would win the race by four seconds over Commack. Kelly crossed the line 10:29.86 seconds after the race began. Ahead of Ward Melville. In third place. Coaches Lasher and Stillufsen wanted to confirm meet results at the scorer’s table before reporting the outcome of the meet to the team. Coach Young acquiesced. Meet officials confirmed the score that North coaches had tallied. The coaches walked back to a quiet team area. “Congratulations, League 1 Champions!” declared Young. Cheers and celebrating began. Tears of joy were seen in the eyes of many seniors. There was no need to hide these tears. Final Meet score 144 ½-142.