Loucks: Arlington's Pettigrew, Fordham Prep's Santiago win 200s, SV's Dessalines 2nd in jump
WHITE PLAINS — After Arlington's Riley Pettigrew finished with the top time in the girls 200-meter prelim at Friday's 56th annual Loucks Games, track and field meet, she told a friend she was going to win the championship.
It was a bold statement.
A statement made bolder by the fact Ashley Fulton, last year's girls state outdoor 100- and 200-meter champion was also in the final.
Pettigrew, who'd medaled in both events last spring at states, had, as far as she could remember, never beaten Fulton head-to-head, not even in a prelim.
And, frankly, she wished the Elmont Memorial senior, who'll compete for Division I Clemson University next year, wasn't at the 56th running of one of the country's most prestigious high school rack and field meets.
"I pretended I had confidence," Pettigrew would later say. ... "I was terrified."
Well, maybe the junior, who's committed to play Division I soccer for Sacred Heart University, should run scared more often.
Pettigrew clocked 24.66, the fourth best time this season by a girl in the 200 in New York, to narrowly hold off a leaning, charging Fulton (24.69) for the win.
Somers' Haylie Donovan (25.32) was fourth and another runner from the Hudson Valley, Catherine Primavera of Section 9's Valley Central (26.49), was eighth.
"I'm happy with this," Pettigrew said with a smile, noting last year at Loucks she hadn't even made the 200 final.
Santiago also picks up gold in 200
Considering he won the state Federation (all-size schools, public and private) 300-meter crown, Mount Vernon resident Jaylin Santiago, last year's Loucks bronze medalist at 200 meters,, might have been considered one of the favorites entering this year's boys 200.
Might have, except the Fordham Prep senior had competed only once before this spring and that was back on April 1.
A hip injury had shelved him from meets and, for that matter, largely from training.
But that didn't seem to matter when the starting gun sounded.
After posting the top time in the 75-runner, 200-meter prelim, Santiago won the final in 21.81, the third fastest time run by a high school athlete in the state this spring.
Horace Greeley's Niko Wright medaled in fifth in 22.29 and Somers' Andrew Fasone was seventh (22.53).
Santiago, who took his last several strides pointing down at the finish line in celebration, won by .15 over runner-up Perrion Williams of the Benjamin Franklin Media Arts School in Rochester.
"It was a competitive race. I'm just happy to have it done. ... I'm excited to be back on the track," said Santiago, who'll run for the D-I University of Houston next year.
Hitt runs PB, gets bronze from slower heat
Any time there are multiple heats in a race final, chances are the medalists will come from the top-seeded heat -- at Loucks, the final heat.
But Connor Hitt had other ideas.
The Ketcham senior, running in the boys 800 heat immediately before the top seeds, finished in a personal-best 1:54.31 to overtake everyone in the top heat except two, to secure bronze.
The win went to Ridgefield, Connecticut's Steven Hergenrother in dramatic fashion with Hergenrother falling at the finish after he and runner-up Cameron Miles of Weston, Ct. made contact.
Hergenrother's win came by just .01 of a second, 1:53:83-1:53.84.
Hitt's time was under the state superstandard, meaning he'll only have to compete in, not win or even place, in the 800 during the Section 1 state qualifier to qualify for the state championship in the event.
"I knew I had to go out hard and stay close (to the leaders) and then close hard," the SUNY-Genessep commit said of his race.
The fifth and last girls 800 medal spot came down to a battle between two locals in Scarsdale's Shannon Kelly and Eastchester's Ava Pennachio. Kelly won it by a hair, edging Pennachio 2:11.943 to 2:11.949.
Hunter College (Prep's) Dylan McIlhinney won in 2:08.51.
Spring Valley gets two jumping medals
Kevin Dessalines is only in his second year of competing in long jump, but he has made such strides he'd like to compete in college.
After Friday, there seems little doubt he's capable of doing just that.
The Spring Valley senior jumped right into the state's top 10 for best high school long jumps of the spring, finishing second in the event at 22-5.5.
That was his third personal-best jump of the day.
Dessalines' top jump was more than three feet farther than his best from a year ago, almost two feet better than his best from this past winter's indoor season and more than a foot more than he'd ever jumped in competition this spring.
But he still wants more, aiming for 23-0.
He believes he can get that soon, especially if he follows the routine he did at Loucks.
"I actually stretched today," he said, noting while he always stretches, this time he really pushed himself.
"I felt pain," he said.
"It felt great," he said of the impact.
The win went to Taconic Hills' Neil Howard at a state-leading 23-9.5.
Nyack's Ryan Cardichon missed a medal by one slot, finishing sixth with a 21-11.75 jump.
On the girls side, Spring Valley's Destiny Lawrence (17-5) medaled in fourth.
DeWitt Clinton's Shaina Young took the win at 18-4.
Lawrence, a junior, might have challenged Young or at least come close to doing so with two jumps that topped 18 feet, but both were waived off because she took off slightly over the launch board.
"It was my steps. I was going fast," Lawrence said, indicating if she fixes that problem, she believes she'll go over 18 and have it count.
Locals medal in shot put
Prior to entering the meet's 43-thrower girls shot put competition, White Plains' Isabella McGuire's top throw was 32-11.
That would have earned her 11th place Friday.
Instead, McGuire recorded a personal-best 34-2 for a fourth-place medal.
Also medaling was Tappan Zee's Madeline Stiefel, who was only half an inch behind McGuire in fifth.
Washington's D.C.'s Natalie Lytle of The School Without Walls won the event with a 40-7 throw.
Two area boys also medaled and another narrowly missed doing so in the boys shot put, which was won by Bethel, Connecticut's Grayson Golda at 56-9.5.
Nanuet's Shane O'Neill (51-10.25) won bronze and a fourth-place medal went to Pleasantville's Aiden Kayizzi at 50-11.
Iona Prep's Rowan Byrne (47-6) finished a couple places off the medal stand in seventh out of 44 throwers.
Thursday's results
The Loucks Games launched Thursday with a handful of events.
Somers (Mia Sandolo, Julia Duzynski, Keira Cleary, Chelsea Lewitt) ran 12:35.08 to capture third in the girls 13-team distance medley relay.
Guilderland took the event in 12:07.89.
Section 9's Minisink Valley (Samuel Anderson, Zouhair Elsibai, John Mattera and Gavin Rossi) clocked 10:27.55 for bronze in the boys DMR.
Hunter College (Prep) took the title in 10:12.59.
The fastest Section 1 team was Pearl River, which finished fifth out of 24 with Jayden McKenna, Max Prunty, Aidan Lee and Tyler Walsh clocking 10:35.8.
Iona Prep (Matt Davitt, Declan McCauley, Peter Winter and Tommy Flynn) ran 3:33.31 for third in the boys 22-team East Coast sprint medley relay.
Connecticut's Greenwich High won in 3:31.21.
In a 19-team field, Nanuet, Ursuline and Suffern went 3, 4, 5 in the girls East Coast SMR.
Nanuet (Aliyah Wilson, Olivia Santos, Leila Mendez and Samantha Dowd) clocked a school-record 4:13.91, Ursuline 4:14.65 and Suffern 4:16.99.
Guilderland took the win in 4:06.78.
And, a non-high school event saw Charlotte Rizzo, mom of former Bronxville High and collegiate standout runners Meredith, Alex and Matt (the latter the 2019 Millrose Games boys mile champion) break six minutes in the women's masters mile. The 61-year-old clocked 5:57.62 for third in a five-woman field.
The winner was New York City's Frances Bernstein, who 31 years younger than Rizzo, took gold running 20.73 seconds faster than she did.
The Loucks Games, which has drawn athletes from up and down the East Coast, as well as from several other states and Canada, will wrap up early Saturday night.
Nancy Haggerty covers cross-country, track & field, field hockey, skiing, ice hockey, basketball, girls lacrosse and other sporting events for The Journal News/lohud. Follow her on Twitter at @HaggertyNancy.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Loucks Games: Arlington, Fordham Prep, Spring Valley, get gold, silver
