Sachem showed team depth as it had top six finishers in several events at today’s Holiday Classic held at the Armory. RachelHeymach (8’ 0”) and Madalyn Iadanza (7’ 6”) placed third in the pole vault relay. Sachem had a pair of sixth place finishes in the horizontal jumps as Leah Blackall (15’ 10 ½”) and MelissaMichels (15’ 7 ½”) placed sixth in the long jump relay and Nikki Fog (30’ 9”) and Rachel Heymach (30’ 0”) did the same in the triple jump relay. The Soph 4×800 meter relay squad ofEmily Lin, Katherine Wagner, Kaitlin Martins and Jess Humanntook fourth place.
A meet highlight was sophomore Mackenzie Coleman’s school record performance in the mile steeplechase. The indoor steeplechase is dry unlike the outdoor version which contains a water jump. Turns are tight on an indoor (200 meter) track and Mackenzie, like the rest of the race field, had to negotiate 30 inch high steeple barriers across the track only a few strides after pushing out of turns on the banked track at the Armory. Mackenzie ran an outstanding race as she broke the record she set at last year’s Holiday Class by eight seconds in a seventh place time 6:04.16.
Mackenzie and distance teammates will return to the Armory for next weekend to run the mile at the Hispanic Games. Melissa Michels, Alyssa Leto and Nikki Fogarty will be joined by Sachem’s talented sprint and hurdles teammates at the meet. Katie Michta (#1), Natalie DeQuarto (#4) and Kaitlin Martins (#5) – three of the nation’s top five racewalkers – will competed in the mile racewalk against the nation’s top racewalk field of the season to date.
-Submitted by Sachem North Coach Alex Young