Track state qualifier: Ursuline, Valhalla, Ardsley, Bronxville, more long jumpers go wild
SUFFERN — They were asked for a word to describe what had just happened.
“Magical,” Ardsley’s Mioko Martin said.
“Amazing,” Bronxville’s Juliet Winiecki offered.
“Impressive,” Valhalla’s Juliette Sullivan assessed.
And who could disagree?
The three competitors, standing shoulder-to-shoulder for a photo following the completion of the girls Division 2 (small-school) long jump competition Thursday night at the Section 1 State Track and Field Qualifier at Suffern Middle School had not only just all qualified for the state championships but had done so jumping major personal bests.
How major?
In a sport in which an inch improvement sometimes elicits elation, Winiecki had jumped two feet farther than she ever had in competition to win at 18 feet, 5 inches.
Martin, who also qualified second in the D2 girls 100, had gone 11 inches farther with her 17-7.5.
And while a more normal kind of personal-best, Sullivan’s second-place 18-3.25 was still more than a four-inch improvement.
The competition had brought out their best, the three agreed or, as the freshman Martin put it, they were “hyping each other.”
And their jumps, as impressive as they were, weren’t even the best long jumps of the day.
Magical, amazing and impressive were words that applied with an exclamation point to girls Division 1 winner Sarai Sealy of Ursuline.
Sealy’s best jump during the winter season was 15-2.5.
Thursday, she took off and didn’t hit the sand until 19 feet 2.5 inches had passed under her feet.
An unheard of four-foot improvement and a New York No. 2 distance for 2023 among high school girls.
It’s not that Sealy got all four feet in one jump but she still amazed many, including herself.
Sealy had entered the meet having set a personal best of 18.2-5, a foot shorter, at Saturday’s Section 1 Class A championships at the same facility.
“New PRs (personal records) every week, it’s crazy,” said the junior, who focused on triple jump last year and didn’t long jump at all but had hit just 13-2.25 in the event as a freshman.
She boiled Thursday’s explosive jump down to one thing: “I ran faster,” she said.
Now, topping 19 feet, Sealy is thinking of perhaps applying more practice time to the long jump.
“I was kind of more focused on the triple because I enjoy it more,” Sealy said. “But maybe I’ll put a little more care and a little more love into the long jump.”
Other long jump qualifiers
Arlington’s Sierra Kraemer also came up with a big personal best to qualify in second place behind Sealy.
The senior improved from a 16-9.75 PB entering the meet to 18-2.
On the boys side, four Division 1 jumpers qualified.
Port Chester’s Colin Taylor (22-9), who won, White Plains Logan McCormick (22-7.5), Nyack’s Putu Satayasa (22-7) and Suffern’s Jake Tarrant (also 22-7 but in fourth) will make the trip to Middletown for states, which run June 9-10.
Taylor’s jump was a six-inch personal best. McCormick’s jump was a better than 14-inch PB. And the freshman Tarrant’s jump was a seven-and-a-half-inch PB.
In D2, winner Caleb Brokema (22-9.5) of Pleasantville bested his previous best by just under a foot.
Teammate Lucas Esposito (20-9.5) qualified in second, bettering his PB by half an inch.
Trey Feirman sets PB in pole vault
Hen Hud senior Trey Feirman will have to wait until he talks with coaches to know his future roles on the SUNY- Geneseo track and field team.
He could run, jump, pole vault or do all three.
Thursday, pole vaulting was looking likely as he cleared a personal-best 13-0 to win the boys D2 competition. Second-place finisher Max Dicker of Bronxville (12-6) also qualified.
Feirman, who battled injury in the winter, had a 12-6 personal best both indoors and outdoors and had set 13-0 as a goal.
“I put that on my bucket list (two to three weeks ago) and I made it. I get to check that off,” Feirman said. “I’m overwhelmed I made it.“
Maia Perillo of John Jay-East Fishkill (11-0) and Suffern’s Olivia DeBellis (10-0) finished 1-2 and qualified in girls Division I pole vault.
Some events ended in heartbreak.
Yonkers Ben Domingo hit the finish of the boys Division 1 100-meter dash in a virtual tie with Mount Vernon’s Eloha-Karmiel Yitzchak. But the automatic timing showed Yitzchak had won 15.071 to 15.074. Perhaps by an eye blink.
While first place automatically qualified, neither runner met the state qualifying standard, meaning the senior Domingo can't run the hurdles at the state championship unless he gets the qualifying standard of 14.78 at one of the area's upcoming last-chance meets.
But other races brought much happier outcomes.
Arlington’s Ethan Green is finally feeling like himself, which is not good news for those racing against him.
The historic Penn Relays in April were a mixed bag for Green. He nearly pulled off the win and finished with bronze in the boys 3,000 in a personal-best 8:35.39, moving up from fifth or sixth with a strong kick.
But that race — which he calls one of his best ever — came with a cost. He had to receive stitches to one heel post-race after being spiked from behind with multiple laps left.
Even with the stitches, the cut's lateral nature made it re-open to some extent when he ran, it took awhile for him to recover.
Thursday, Green looked sharp. He ran 9:22.35 to capture the boys 3,200, shaking fellow state qualifier Pat Ford of Brewster (9:36.35) with a couple of laps to go.
Now Green, who’d already met the state super standard for competing at states, so only needed to start the race, is expecting more of himself.
“The big thing now is there are no excuses. I’ve got to get back into it,” he said.
Peekskill’s Juliette Salazar has already exceeded her expectations, rebounding fully from an ankle injury suffered last year.
She’d run a 2:09.9 800 earlier this season, which was plenty good enough to make the state super standard in her girls D1 race. Like Green, all she needed to do to go to states was show up and start the race.
But she did more, although taking her foot off the gas pedal a little bit in winning in 2:14.97.
Salazar, who could also qualify in the 1,500 Friday, noted she got off to a slow start this season.
“I was struggling a bit in the beginning,” she said.
But the Loucks Games in May, where the Buffalo-commit ran that 2:09.9 to medal, changed her entire season.
“Amazing,” is how she described going from injured to under-performing to states.
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Day 1 state qualifiers
Note: Some athletes listed below previously qualified through the “super standard” and only needed to participate in the event to earn a spot at states. They are noted as such.
D1 girls 100 – Riley Pettigrew, Arlington (12.39), Amber McDonald, Nyack (12.47)
D2 girls 100 – Danielle Dragoni, Bronxville (12.72), Mioko Martin, Ardsley (12.85), Chrystelle Fignole, Suffern (13.96 but previously ran 12.63 for qualifying standard), Juliette Sullivan, Valhalla (19.17 but previously ran 12.23 to meet super standard)
D1 boys 100 – Andrew Sutherland, Spring Valley (11.26), Niko Wright, Horace Greeley (19.96 but previously ran 10.87 to meet super standard)
D2 boys 100 – Dario Amicucci, Byram Hills (11.42), Will McLay, Briarcliff (18.75 but previously ran 10.97 to meet super standard)
Girls D1 100 hurdles – Dami Modupe, North Rockland (14.3), Aarysa Moore, Ketcham (14.87), Elena Olson, Ursuline (15.2)
Girls D2 100 hurdles – Julianne Hickey, Pawling (16.36)
Boys D1 110 hurdles – Eloha-Karmiel Yitzchak, Mount Vernon (15.08 – officially for selection 15.07.1)
Boys D2 110 hurdles – Wyatt Gravier, Bronxville (15.69), Evan Cruz, Pearl River (15.7)
Girls D1 800 – Juliette Salazar, Peekskill (2:14.97 — previously ran better than superstandard at 2:09.9)
Girls D2 800 – Claire O’Sullivan, Pearl River (2:16.54)
Boys D1 800 – Julian Rime, Clarkstown South (1:53.56), Matt Doherty, Mamaroneck (1:54.93)
Boys D2 800 – Ryan Paradine, Pearl River (1:57.91), Kornel Smith, Briarcliff (ran 2:42.45 for last but had D2 boys superstandard after earlier running 1:56.04)
Girls D1 3,000 – Abigail Kowalczyk, Ketcham (10:13.55)
Girls D2 3,000 – Ainara Schube Barriola, Rye Neck (10:22.37), Caitlin Thomas, Hastings (10:33.84)
Boys D1 3,200 – Ethan Green, Arlington (9:32.25), Pat Ford, Brewster (9:36.35), Matt Schutzbank, Nyack (Did not finish but had run 9:38.96 to meet super standard)
Boys D2 3,200 – Shane Ethakkan, Nanuet (9:48.91)
Girls D1 high jump – Kyra Skoglund, Suffern (5-4)
Girls D2 high jump – Gabriell An, Ardsley (5-2)
Boys D1 high jump – Logan McCormick, White Plains (6-1)
Boys D2 high jump – Dan Nyamollo, Nanuet (6-1), Finn Sands, Bronxville (6-0)
Girls D1 long jump – Sarai Sealy, Ursuline (19-2.5), Sierra Kraemer, Arlington (19-2)
Girls D2 long jump – Juliet Winiecki, Bronxville (18-5.25), Juliette Sullivan, Valhalla (18-3.25), Mioko Martin, Ardsley (17-7.5)
Boys D1 long jump – Colin Taylor, Port Chester (22-9), Logan McCormick, White Plains (22-7.5), Putu Stayasa, Nyack (22-7), Jack Tarrant, Suffern (22-7)
Boys D2 long jump – Caleb Bronkema, Pleasantville (21-9.5), Lucas Esposito, Pleasantville (21-9.5)
Note: Girls D2 pole vault and boys D1 pole vault are Friday
Girls D1 pole vault – Maia Perillo, John Jay-East Fishkill (11-0), Olivia DeBellis, Suffern (10-0)
Boys D2 pole vault – Trey Feirman, Hen Hud (13-0), Max Dicker, Bronxville (12-6)
Note: Girls discus is Friday
Boys D1 discus – Caleb Kaplan, Rye (137-3)
Boys D2 discus –Shane O’Neill, Nanuet (138-1)
Note: Boys shot put is Friday
Girls D1 shot put – Deborah Estabine, North Rockland (41-3.5), Prizila Negrete, Ursuline (39-6.75)
Girls D2 shot put – Karli Martin, Hen Hud (34-8.5)
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: Track state qualifier: Long jumpers go wild, pole vaulter, runners excel
