State track championships: Iona Prep, Pearl River, Fordham Prep relays, Modupe win gold,
MIDDLETOWN — If anyone watched the initial start of Marcus Nahim’s 100-meter race — watched the 100 he was supposed to have been in, anyway — they likely would have been confused.
False starts that lead to disqualification are almost always heartbreaking.
But the Iona Pre senior clearly intentionally false-started during the second and final day of the state track and field championships at Middletown High School Saturday and the extent to which he was upset was minimal.
With so many tiers of sprints scheduled for the second day of championships, and Nahim due to also compete in the individual 200 and the 4x100 relay, he and his coaches decided doing multiple 100 races wouldn’t be in his interest.
“I would have loved to have chased for the 100 but, unfortunately, not this time,” Nahim said.
Skipping the chance to perhaps medal might have seemed like an odd decision, but it proved a very wise one.
The Binghamton-bound Ossining resident ran a personal-best 21.49 seconds to finish second in the boys 200 state Federation final. The Federation events consist of schools from the New York State Public High School Athletic Association, New York City's Public Schools Athletic League, the Catholic High School Athletic Association and Association of Independent Schools.
Nahim wrapped up his day anchoring Justin Hargraves, Terron Johnson and Kyle Stewart as the four lowered their 2023 state-best pre-meet time in the 4x100 relay to win the Federation title in 41.60 seconds.
Nahim noted the group only began running the relay together this year, commenting, “We didn’t really know what to expect.”
Stewart, who’ll also run for a Division I school next year in Albany, pointed to smooth baton handoffs as being key in the win,
“For everyone, I feel like sprinting was the easy part,” Stewart said. “At the end of the day, we had clean handoffs and came out on top. I’m proud of everyone. It’s a great feeling.”
Horace Greeley's Kyle McKenney, Seamus Finn, Ben Ho and Niko Wright combined to win the boys Division 1 (large schools) public 4x100 title Friday, tied their season-best time of 42.36 for third place in the Fed final behind runner-up UPrep Rochester (42.08).
The group of all underclassmen brimmed with confidence about their chances for next year.
"We'll be back to break the state record. It's ours next year," Ho declared.
A lot of pride
Many athletes had reason to feel proud.
Among the many were Nyack’s Matt Schutzbank, Cornwall’s Karrie Baloga, Brewster’s Pat Ford and Valhalla’s Juliette Sullivan.
The junior Schutzbank ran a personal-best 4:12.09 to win the boys D1 1,600 title and second overall in the Fed.
His performance basically shocked him, coming after Friday night’s 10th-place finish in the 3,200 — a race in which he not only didn’t run the way he wanted, but also got cut by another runner’s spikes.
“After yesterday, I am shocked,” Schutzbank said of his 1,600 finish. “I did not think I had that. I felt terrible (beforehand). My legs were so sore and my back was flaring up.”
But Shutzbank’s coach,, Adam Klein, had told him on the team bus Saturday, “It’s a new day and it’s your day,” and Schutzbank found that to be true as he felt good through a quick 61-second first lap.
He subsequently set out to “put the pressure on” Tri Valley’s Adam Furman, who ended up second in D2 and 11th overall in 4:17.98, but who had led for three-quarters of the race.
Schutzbank then found a different closing gear.
“I ran the hardest 400 meters ever,” he said of his closing lap.
Of his state championship win, he added, “It hasn’t even sunk in. I’m speechless. I’ve wanted this ever since I came to the sport.”
Roy C. Ketcham junior Connor Hitt also had a strong 1,600. He ran a personal-best 4:15.47 for third place in D1 and fourth in the Fed.
He pointed to his fourth-place 4:15.98 finish in the state indoor championships this past winter and said he felt, as result, he had to also place at outdoor states.
Of being able to meet that goal Saturday, Hitt said, “It was just staying in the game mentally, trusting my training and my coaches and running my race.”
Matt Ferreri of Our Lady of Lourdes ran a two-second personal best of 4:20.69 for third in D2 in the race.
"I'm very happy. I worked hard all year," said Ferreri, who'll run for Division I Marist College in Poughkeepsie next season.
Baloga, who won the girls 3,000 Friday night, had a quick turnaround for Saturday morning's 2,000 steeplechase.
Her 3,000 win came as no surprise since the Colorado-commit is ranked No. 1 nationally at that distance this season.
But Saturday she came up against another No. 1 in Allegany-Limestone’s Angelina Napoleon, who beat her for the Federation steeple title last year,
And Napoleon, who’ll run for N.C. State next year, did so again.
But it was neither an easy nor a cheap win.
Napoleon broke her own national record of 6:19.75, clocking 6:18.41.
Baloga wasn’t far behind: She set a personal-best mark at 6:21.31 and repeated as the D1 champ, as well as Federation runner-up.
Baloga said it was “nice to have someone to kind of battle it out with during the season,” and indicated the race was a near-perfect ending to competing at the state championships.
“I had a lot of fun today,” Baloga said. “Since eighth grade, my goal has been to be the best at the end, so I did that.”
“I enjoyed everything about this season. I had a blast,” she added. “But I’m ready to start a new adventure and use what I learned in high school. It’s going to be very exciting.”
Ford will also soon be on to a new adventure, running for Division I Vanderbilt.
And if Saturday’s boys 3,000 steeplechase was his last high school race (whether he competes in the two-mile at next weekend’s New Balance Outdoor Nationals in Philadelphia is still to be decided), then he went out in style.
Ford ran a personal-best 9:21.43, finishing second in D1 and third in the Federation. But Baldwinsville’s Solomon Holder Betts, who had been the state leader, stayed in the top spot, winning in 9:07.53 with Mount Sinai’s Jess Joe Augustine running 9:17.42 for second.
But among other reasons for Ford to be pleased was the fact his time broke Frank Macreery’s 21-year-old Brewster school record.
“I’m definitely happy with breaking the school record and getting a (personal record),” Ford said. “(Breaking the record) wasn’t a goal coming into the season but it just kind of happened and I’m happy it did.”
Sullivan, who won silver Friday night in the girls D2 long jump, added two medals to her collection Saturday.
Sullivan, who'll compete in both track and soccer next year for Wesleyan University, ran a personal-best 25.15 to win the D2 200 and was second in 12.36 in the 100.
And she was one of many local sprinters to leave the Middletown complex with medals.
North Rockland's Dami Modupe, who'll compete next year for Division I Binghamton, ran 14.36 to capture the D1 100 hurdles title. With a very quick turnaround, she finished second in the Fed race despite a poor start.
Ketcham's Aarysa Moore, in 14.75, won a fourth-place medal in the Fed 100 hurdles, a day after she finished fifth in D1.
North Rockland's Deborah Estabine, who was fourth Friday in the D1 shot put, increased her distance Saturday in winning silver in the Federation shot at 40 feet, 8.25 inches. Ursuline's Prizila Negrete, who was second in D1 Friday, took bronze Saturday with a 39-11.25; that was also farther than she'd thrown Friday.
Modupe's teammate, Javon Lawrence, ran to fifth place in the boys D1 200.
Arlington sophomore Riley Pettigrew clocked 12.26 for second in the D1 100 with Minisink Valley freshman Kessler Hirsch (12.32) third and Monroe-Woodbury senior Kaylen Tenemille (12.35) fourth.
Later, Pettigrew, Tenemille and Hirsch would finish fifth, sixth and eighth, respectively, in the Fed 100.
Pettigrew also captured silver in the D1 200 at 24.82 with Hirsch third (25.04). The two finished fourth and sixth, respectively, in the Fed 200.
James O'Neill's Jadon Spain, who'll do a post-grad year next year at Choate Rosemary Hall, ran 10.53 seconds to win the D2 boys 100 title before lowering that to a meet-record 10.47 to win the Fed title.
Iona Prep's Hargraves ran 10.93 for fifth in the Fed.
Both second-place finisher Jaylin Santiago, a Fordham Prep junior from Mount Vernon, and bronze medalist Seamus Finn, a Horace Greeley junior, clocked personal-best time in the Fed 400.
Winner OJ Singletary of UPrep Rochester ran 47.07 with Santiago clocking 47.69 and Finn 47.78.
Santiago noted he hadn't run a 400 in a month. He'd been slated to do so two weeks ago but couldn't due to injury.
So, winning silver was special.
"I knew it was going to be a fast race," he said. "I don 't even know (how I ran that time). It was so crazy. All that adrenaline just got to me. "
Stepinac's Nate Alvarez and Edgemont's Connor Fisher both cleared 6-4 to tie for fifth in the Fed high jump.
Javan Verdile of Beacon also cleared 6-4 but in more attempts, so medaled in seventh.
Fisher was third in D2 and Verdile third in D1.
Pine Bush's Plexico Brooks, also at 6-4, was fourth in D1 public. White Plains' Logan McCormick took sixth in boys high jump in D1 public at 6-2.
Minisink Valley's Ell Michelitch, who's only a freshman, cleared 5-9 for the girls D1 and Federation high jump win. Ellenville's Amelia Benjamin was first in D2 at 5-5 and fourth in the Fed. And Suffern's Kyra Skoglund, at 5-5, was sixth in D1 and seventh in the girls Fed.
At 134-9, Marlboro's Juliana Juras finished third in the girls Fed discus
Stepinac senior David Davitt ran 53.64 for second in the Fed 400 hurdles. Newburgh's Anthony Burnett (54.59) was fifth.
Cornwall's Caigan Leonard clocked 1:02.38 for second in the girls Fed 400 hurdles with Taina DeJesus of Monticello (1:03.62) sixth and Nanuet's Samantha Dow (1:04.07) eighth.
Ketcham's Hailey Hrouda, who threw 123-2 for fourth Friday in D1 discus, didn't have a good day Saturday with a 110-8 for eighth in the Fed. But she wasn't totally down.
The Utica-bound senior said of her final high school season, "It's been a challenge but it's been fun. I'm glad to see me and my girls grow together."
At 21-3.5, Nyack's Putu Sutayasa captured fifth in the boys Fed long jump. On the girls side, Pine Bush's Madison Williams went 18-8.75 for second in the Fed with Monroe-Woodbury's Kaylen Tenemille third (18-0.25).
Williams was also second in D1 triple jump (38-11) and third in the Fed. Ursuline's Sarai Sealy, whose best jump was 37-3.75, was fourth in D1 and fifth in the Fed.
Beacon's Damani DeLoatch went 45-6.25 for sixth in the Fed boys triple jump. Earlier, DeLoatch was sixth in D1.
Relay medals galore
Iona Prep's 4x100 and Greeley's 4x100, were hardly the only local relay teams to medal Saturday.
In fact, the list was long.
And prominent on it was Fordham Prep, thanks in part to Santiago's huge anchor leg in the boys Federation 4x400.
Santiago got the baton in second place, behind New York City Catholic rival Bishop Loughlin, but he closed the gap and ran away on the final straightaway.
Santiago, Keegan Doody of Eastchester, Dakota Strain of the Bronx and Lucas Chrostowski of Stamford, Connecticut clocked a collective 3:16.7 for the Fed title with Loughlin crossing in 3:17.3.
Washingtonville (Jaiden Bradshaw, Taylor Malachi, Joe Napolitano and David Gerdin) ran 3:20.09 for third, Newburgh Free Academy (Anthony Barrett, Quinston Leathers, Brady Danyluk and David Pinnock) ran 3:20.66 for fourth and Suffern (Jake Tarrant, Micheal Cromwell, Cooper Mitchell and Anthony Couch) ran 3:21.15 for a Federation fifth.
In a season-best 8:01.16, Pearl River (Max Prunty, Finn Farrell-Painter, Dylan Lee and Ryan Paradine) hit the finish in 8:01.16 to win the boys D2 4x800 title and good for seventh in the Federation.
Pearl River coach Gilby Hawkins, who noted the Pirates' last state gold in the event came in 2018, pointed to Prunty's "very gritty leadoff" leg as having been huge.
"He really, really fought. It was an excellent race," Hawkins said.
Cornwall (Kerry Murphy, Maris Potter, Sophia Semo and Olivia Cibirka) ran 3:53.91 for third in the the Fed 4x400 after placing third in D1 on Friday; that time was a nine-second season best and each athlete on the team ran a personal-best leg. Those four runners also took fourth in both the D1 and Fed in the 4x800, clocking 9:16.62.
Bronxville took fourth in D2 as Madeline Stupart, Mady Williams, Hope Hershberg, Katie O'Hare clocked 9:31.69.
And in 9:38.24,, Pearl River (Madyson Moroney, Maura Durcan, Rylee McGinnis and Claire O'Sullivan) captured a fifth-place D2 medal.
North Rockland (Gabby Cabrera, Esther St. Fort, Dami Modupe and Nya Thomas), which was third in Friday's D1 4x100, also finished third in the Fed 4x100 in 48.53.
In that same race, Bronxville (Juliet Winiecki, Mai Ly Reinking, Kara Kochansky and Danielle Dragoni), Friday's D2 champs, finished fifth, running 48.59.
State track day 1: Clarkstown South's Rime, Cornwall's Baloga, Bronxville relays golden
Day 2 qualifying results, states preview Prospects are high for multiple local medal winners at state championships
Day 1 Section 1 state qualifier: Ursuline, Valhalla, Ardsley, Bronxville, more long jumpers go wild
Other medalists
Goshen's Jaden Bisono, with 3,408 points, was second overall in the Fed out of the 21 athletes who completed the five events in the boys pentathlon, which spanned both days. And he won gold in D1.
Rye Neck's Jaden Snow accumulated 3,028 points for bronze in the D2 pent and was also fifth in the Fed.
Scarsdale's Eva Gibney, with 2,922 points, finished sixth in the D1 girls pentathlon.
Peekskill's Juliette Salazar clocked 4:33.02 for fourth in the D1 1,500, a day after taking fourth in the D1 800.
Pearl River's Mady Moroney ran 4:40.39 for third in the D2 1,500.
In a personal-best 15.84, Pawling senior Julianne Hickey captured a fifth-place medal in the D2 100 hurdles.
Hickey, who has the qualifying time to walk on to the University of New Hampshire track team, which will be home next year to boys overall 800 champion Julian Rime of Clarkstown South, said, "I felt super fast out of the blocks."
Bronxville's Wyatt Gravier ran 15.41 in the boy 110 D2 hurdles to miss sixth place by just .01. Cornwall freshman Ilunga Salerno's 15.26 was good for a sixth-place medal in the 110 hurdles in D1.
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: State track: Iona Prep, Pearl River, Fordham Prep, Modupe win gold
