State track championships: C. South's Rime, Cornwall's Baloga, Bronxville relays golden

MIDDLETOWN — Julian Rime was feeling the pressure.

The Clarkstown South senior, who’s committed to run for the University of New Hampshire, was ranked No. 1 in the state in the boys 800.

And so, he carried the weight of expectation with him as he stepped to the starting line Friday at Middletown High School during the first day of the two-day state track and field championships.

“I was pretty nervous,” he said. “I wasn’t feeling my best coming in.”

But Rime did a pretty good job masking that.

Following his pre-race plan, he ran right off the lead until about 300 meters remained.

Then he kicked and made the race his.

Rime clocked a personal-best 1:52.68 to edge runner-up Dylan Beggins of Bay Shore, Long Island by 12.

“I was just trusting my training at 300. I was pretty dead the last 200. I was trusting, ‘You can hang on and make it,’ “ said Rimes, who, clearly spent, was greeted moments after the finish by his smiling dad.

James O'Neil's Jackson Smith (1:04.86) was seventh in the race but took gold among D2 runners.

Briarcliff's Kornel Smith won silver at 1:55.07, O'Neill's Jeremy Stoll (1:57.24) took bronze and Pearl River's Ryan Paradine (1:57.41) was fifth in D2.

Paradine, who'll run next year for New Jersey's Stevens Institute of Technology, described himself as a "little beaten up" from the race but said, "It got the podium, so I'm very satisfied."

Baloga's dominance continues

While Rime’s race could have been won by any one of several runners, since even the fourth-place finisher was little more than a second behind, the girls 3,000 was essentially determined as soon as Cornwall’s Karrie Baloga stepped to the starting line.

Baloga, who’ll run next year for the University of Colorado, entered the race as the top girls 3,000 runner in the country this season.

She finished the race showing everyone she has that ranking for a reason.

Running in late-meet rain, which dampened the boys 3,200 races and girls 3,000s, as well as some lingering field events, Baloga jumped out to a big lead and simply built on it.

She finished in 9:24.86, nearly 11 seconds ahead of runner-up Zarriel Macchia of William Floyd.

The race was a championship race, meaning Federation placements were also determined without a Saturday return.

Ketcham sophomore Abigail Kowalczyk ran a personal-best 9:56.42. With the top six finishers in Division 1 and in Division 2 medaling and the top eight times between the two races nabbing Federation medals, Kowalczyk received two medals, one for fifth in D1 and one for seventh in the Federation.

And the area picked up another medal at the distance with Rye Neck’s Ainara Schube Barriola recording a huge, 20-plus-second personal best, clocking 10:00.57, in finishing fifth among D2 runners.

Kowalczyk called running the race a “really cool experience” and said she’d achieved her goal in medaling through hard work and training.

She indicated she wasn’t tempted to try to either go out with Baloga or to try to make a run late to try to cut her lead.

“You just know how to pace. At the end of the day, it’s you against the clock,” Kowalczyk said, noting she considers everyone else just other people running in the same place.

Baloga, whose win marked her eighth state championship between cross-country and track, didn’t seem bothered by not being pushed.

Nor did she seem at all bothered by the rain. She noted her season-best 9:20.75 3,000 came in rain during the Penn Relays.

“I honestly embrace it,” Baloga said of running in the rain.

And, of course, with the clock ticking on her high school career, she’s just generally embracing her final moments in a Cornwall uniform.

“I had a lot of fun today – the whole environment,” she said. “I love being around my parents, my coaches and I heard my teammates out there.”

Section 9 runner Collin Gilstrap also had no problem with the weather.

The Monroe-Woodbury senior, a Stony Brook commit, won the boys 3,200 Division 1 state public and overall state Federation titles in the boys 3,200, running in pretty much the same conditions as Baloga minutes before.

“Personally, I like running in the rain,” said Gilstrap, who clocked 9:04.72. ,

Arlington’s Ethan Green ran 9:08.93 for third.

Two other Section 9 runners also medaled.

Tri-Valley’s Adam Furman (9:11.15) was second in D2 and seventh in the Fed and Gilstrap’s teammate, Collin Catherwood (9:12.24), claimed the last D1 medal, finishing sixth in that division, and got the last Fed medal, finishing eighth overall.

Gilstrap, who noted he’ll run in Saturday's 4x800 relay and will finish his high school career soon at New Balance Outdoor Nationals in Philadelphia in the distance medley relay and 4xmile, succinctly summed up his last individual state race.

“Beautiful,” he said.

Green was a little less enthused.

"I would have been more happy (had it not rained)," he said.

But the junior Green, who's slated to run Saturday on Arlington's boys 4x800 relay team and in the two-mile at New Balance Outdoor Nationals later this month, added the rain had no impact on his performance, which, he said, should have been around a 9-flat run.

Similarly, Nyack's Matt Schutzbank, who finished 10th out of 39 (two-heat) runners in 9:15.17, refused to use a gash he suffered on one shin during the race from another runner's spikes, as an excuse.

Bandaged, he said he'd run the boys 1,600 as planned on Saturday.

Bronxville wins two relays, qualifies for Fed in both

Many will be running Saturday, including members of Bronxville's girls 4x100 and 4x400 teams, which have identical rosters.

Perhaps it’s not news when Bronxville wins a relay title.

Or even two.

But it is another page in the school’s history of incredible track success.

Juliet Winiecki, Mai Ly Reinking, Kara Kochansky and Danielle Dragoni combined to win not just the girls D2 4x100 relay title (clocking 48.9) but also won the girls D2 4x400 in a season-beast 3:59.15

Those times were good enough to qualify the Broncos to return in both races for the Federation relays.

In 3:20.55, Washingtonville (Jaiden Bradshaw, Malachi Taylor, Joe Napolitano, David Gerdin) won the boys D1 4x400 relay.

Silver went to Suffern (Jake Tarrant, Micheal Cromwell, Cooper Mitchell and Anthony Couch) in a season-best 3:31.62.

Both teams will run in Saturday's fed relay.

Silver for Negrete, Finn, Sullivan, O'Sullivan

Silver was a popular color among Hudson Valley athletes.

Juliet Sullivan, who qualified for Saturday's D2 girls 100- and 200-meter finals, captured second in the girls D2 long jump at 17-9.75 and will jump in Saturday's Fed.

"It went pretty well. It was a long day but I'm set up pretty well for tomorrow," Sullivan said.

Pine Bush's Madison Williams (second place, D1, 18-8) and Monroe-Woodbury's Kaylen Tenmille (bronze D1, 17-7.5) will be among her chief competition in the Fed long jump.

Horace Greeley's Seamus Finn clocked 48.35 to also win silver in the boys D1 400.

Ursuline's Prizila Negrete threw 39-0.25 for silver in the girls D1 shot put. North Rockland's Deborah Estabine grabbed fourth in 38-8.75. Both have thrown farther and will look to do so in Saturday's Fed competition.

Cornwall's Caigan Leonard also took home a silver with a 1:02.08 clocking in the girls D1 400-meter hurdles. Fellow Section 9 competitor Taina DeJesus of Monticello (1;03.67) was fourth.

Pearl River's Claire O'Sullivan was 14th overall but second in D2 in the girls 800. She ran 2:15.8.

Peekskill's Salazar wins D1 and Fed medals

If anyone could relate to how Rimes was feeling after his 800, it might have been Juliette Salazar, the Buffalo-bound Peekskill senior, who ran her own 800.

Salazar clocked a personal-best 2:09.32 in medaling in fourth place among public school Division 1 girls and fifth in the overall Federation against all 800 girl runners.

“Pain. Straight pain,” Salazar said about what it felt like to finish so well.

“(But) it feels great to finally come medal in outdoor states,” said Salazar, who was hampered by injury her junior year.

She'll try to add to her huge rebound season, running Saturday's girls 1,500.

But first she had post-race plans: "Good sleep and pasta -- maybe alfredo," she said.

Other medalists and Saturday qualifiers

Nyack's Putu Sutayasa went 22-2 in the boys D1 long jump to grab fourth place. He also qualified for Saturday's Federation long jump competition.

North Rockland (Gabby Cabrera, Esther St. Fort, Dami Modupe and Nya Thomas) clocked a season-best ?? for third place in the girls D1 4x100

Ketcham's Hailey Hrouda threw 123-2 for fourth place in the D1 girls discus. She qualified to throw Saturday in the Federation competition.

Section 9's Juliana Juris of Marlboro was the D2 winner at 132-10. Her teammate, Jose Iraola-Ceely, threw 48-8.5 for sixth place in the boys D2 shot put.

Ursuline's Sarai Sealy also qualified to compete in the Fed in girls long jump after going 38-7 for fourth place in Division 1.

Section 9's Luke Beattie of Warwick Valley (15-3) claimed the D1 boys pole vault title and finished second in the Fed behind TNeill Howard (15-6) of D2 Taconic Hills .

Hen Hud's Trey Feirman tied for 16th overall in the Fed but won a sixth-place medal in D2 with a 12-6 clear.

Pine Bush's Ella Galloway won the girls pole vault D1 and Fed titles at 12-6. Warwick Valley's Rachel Venter was third (12-3) in both and Suffern's Olivia DeBellis, John Jay-East Fishkill's Maia Perillo and Gates Chili's Matilda Spagna tied for fifth in D1 and eighth in the Fed.

Newburgh Free Academy's Burnett ran 55.45 for fifth place in the boys D1 hurdles. Stepinac's David Davitt clocked the top time at 54.24 but won't be able to compete for a medal until Saturday's Federation race.

At 43-8.25, Nanuet's Dan Nyamollo claimed a sixth-place medal in the boys D2 triple jump.

With 2,056 points, Goshen's Jaden Bisono finished Friday in first place overall in the boys pentathlon with two events remaining for Saturday.

Fordham Prep's Aden Bedford, a Yonkers resident, was in second with 1,948 points.

While ineligible to compete for a medal until Saturday's Federation race, Mount Vernon resident Jaylin Santiago broke Fordham Prep's 14-year-old school record in the 400. In finishing an unofficial second, Santiago clocked an official 47.92. That broke Yonkers resident Zach Keefer's record from 2009.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: State track: Baloga, Clarkstown South's Rime, Bronxville relays win