The boys indoor track and field teams at Sachem East and North competed in the League I championship meet Sunday at Suffolk County Community College’s Brentwood Campus.
Sachem North and Sachem East finished third and fourth, respectively with 71 and 55 points.
North crowned three individual league champions and one relay league champion, while East had four second place finishes in a range of events.
In the high jump Sachem North senior Rob Yannotta earned league champion status with his leap of six-feet, a full six inches better than the second place finisher.
North senior Alex Lazarich defended his 1,000-meter league title from last year by leading the five lap race from start to finish. He ran 2:38.31, just over 3 seconds in front of second place. In the 1,600-meter run, junior Anthony Coccia continued his outstanding winter season by leading the field through all eight laps. He crossed the finish line in a time of 4:43.90, three seconds in front of second place.
In the last event of the meet, the 4×800 relay team of Ryan Beierle, Jason Karpinski, Anthony Coccia and Alex Lazarich used a late surge from Lazarich’s anchor leg to pulled ahead of Ward Melville and earn league champion status. In that same race, the relay team of James Trofa, Dan Stretz, Bryan Runz and Mike Neftleberg ran an outstanding race to finish in third place thanks to a late race sprint by Mike Neftleberg.
The boys team also earned team points thanks to sophomore John Onken’s sixth place finish in the 3,200 meter run, junior Mike Kearns’ second place throw in the shot put, Yannotta’s second place finish in the high hurdles and third place finish in the triple jump, sophomore Tyler McNamara’s sixth place finish in the 1,600-meter run and the sixth place finish by the 4×200 meter relay team of Marc Richer, James Novak, Conner Urban and Kevin Larson.
For Sachem East, their big second place finishers anchored the team points total. Joe Battaglia finished second in the 1,000-meter run with a time of 2:41.40. Trevor Guerrera finished second in the 600-meter run with a time of 1:27.50.
Sachem East’s 4×400 meter relay team finished second in 3:41.95 and Joseph Pavlik finished in second in the high jump with a 5-06.00.
On Saturday, Feb. 2 both Sachem teams return to the track as they compete in the Suffolk County Large Schools County Championship.
Event winners from Sachem East and North
- 1,000-meter run: Alex Lazarich (North), 2:38.31
- 1,600-meter run: Anthony Coccia (North), 4:43.90
- 4×800 relay: Anthony Coccia, Alex Lazarich, Ryan Beierle and Jason Karpinski (North), 8:29.03
- High jump: Robert Yannotta (North), 6-00.00
Breakdown of team points
- Longwood, 89
- William Floyd, 75
- Sachem North, 71
- Sachem East, 55
- Commack, 43
- Ward Melville, 41
- Brentwood, 26
- Middle Country, 21
- Patchogue-Medford, 13