Dominance from SEGVTF continues as always
Over the course of two hot and humid days at Comsewogue High School this past weekend, the Sachem East girls track team was able to qualify six athletes to the New York State Championships to be held at Cicero-North Syracuse during the weekend of June 8-9.
The athletes secured their tickets to the “Big Dance” upstate, where they will go head-to-head with best in New Yorkby finishing at the top of the Section XI State Qualifier Meet held at Comsewogue.
The first to book her ticket was senior Kaitlyn Famiglietti, who won the title of county champion in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 63.33, less than one second off of the Sachem East school record, edging out the rest of Suffolk County’s best. Heading in to the state meet, Famiglietti is primed for a podium finish, All-State honors, and a new East school record in the hurdles.
Less than an hour later, the quartet of Bridget Abraldes, Shayna Arrigo, Melissa Merone, and Lauren Trejo punched their tickets to the State Championships by winning the County Title in the 4 x 800 meter relay in the fourth fastest time run in school history, and their fastest time of the season, 9:19.23. Lindsey Dodenhoff will join her four teammates upstate, lending support to a group that seeks a podium finish, All-State honors, and a possible new East School record which could see them breaking the coveted 9:10 barrier in the event.
Other State Qualifier Meet highlights include the county championship performance from Margaret Atwood in the racewalk, where she walked a new lifetime best of 6:41.49 for the 1500 meter distance, the sixth and seventh place finishes in the 1,500-meter run by Dodenhoff and Rachel Ruggiero, the fifth place finish in the 400 meter Hurdles by Skylar Papele, the 8th place finish in the 100-meter hurdles by Julianna Mercado, and the new Season Best performance of 50.66 by the 4 x 100 meter relay by Gianna Pepitone, Arya Deshpande, Brooke Papele, and Angela Consalazio. Other notable performances were turned in by Christina Artusa, Anna Arrigo, Samantha Piezzo, Marissa Sciotto , Anna Murphy, Sabrinna Mena, and Julianna Grillo.
The strong State Qualifier performance by the East Arrows came only days after a spirited second-place team finish at the County Championship Meet held at Connetquot in the last week of May. The Arrows beat out over 20 other Section XI teams to finish second in Suffolk County, losing by only a slim margin (100 points to 89 points) to Longwood, the first team to defeat Sachem East in the last 4 seasons. In total, the East Arrows have finished no lower than second place in the last 12 County Championship Meets! Integral to the strong team performance at Connetquot was a wide range of athletes for the Arrows including critical team points scored by Jasmine Ahmed, Julianna Mercado, Bridget Abraldes, Kaitlyn Famiglietti, Lauren Trejo, Skylar Papele, Lindsey Dodenhoff, Melissa Merone, Rachel Ruggiero, Shayna Arrigo, Brooke Papele, Angela Consalazio, Arya Deshpande, Gianna Pepitone, Michaela Parker, and Chelsea Benedict.
After the state championships at Cicero-North Syracuse HS, the East Arrows will send a strong contingent to the final meet of the year: the New Balance National Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina. Margaret Atwood, Chelsea Benedict, Anna Arrigo, and Hayley DiCarlo will compete in the 3,000 meter Racewalk; Bridget Abraldes, Shayna Arrigo, Kaitlyn Famiglietti, and Lauren Trejo will compete in the Championship 4 x 800 meter Relay; then Abraldes and Trejo will join Lindsey Dodenhoff and Melissa Merone for the Distance Medley Relay. Booking their tickets by hitting ridged qualifying standards throughout the Spring season, the 10 Arrows will head to North Carolina A&T University for their final shot at School Records, personal bests, and the coveted All-American status.