Class B Indoor Track Sectionals

Tri-Valley three-peat!

Lady Bears capture third straight indoor track title; Ellenville boys win; Sullivan West girls and Liberty boys runners-up

By RICHARD A. ROSS

WEST POINT, NY — It had been a rough season for the Tri-Valley girls as vastly improved Sullivan West raised the ante and bested them for the Division IV title, an honor that has always been a Bears’ mainstay.

But in the end, the Lady Bears had the last word as they captured their third straight Section Nine Class B indoor championship on February 16 by beating the feisty Westies 109.50 to 87.

With no entries in the 1500 race walk, Sullivan West couldn’t neutralize Tri-Valley’s 19 point payday as Ashley Weintraub (8:49.45) took first, and teammates Michelle McNutt and Samantha Martin took second and sixth.

Tri-Valley returned to the top of the Class B heap, a position of prominence they have owned since Cornwall moved up to Class A three years ago. The win over Sullivan West mitigated the sting of their regular season second-place finish.

The Lady Bears also took it to Sullivan West in the shot put with a 20-4 margin in points. Laura Elberth (29-9) and Tehnyet Kahn locked up first and second. Fellow Lady Bear Danielle Darby took fifth. Sullivan West’s Brittany Reddish finished fourth.

Another 20-0 sweep over Sullivan West occurred in the 1500, won by defending champion Courtney Roosa of Tri-Valley (5:11.74) who beat Eldred’s Grace Babula. Tri-Valley’s Rachel Sanborn and Caroline Bertholf locked up third and fourth place in the race.

Roosa retained her title in the 3000 as well (11:22.71) by beating Sullivan West’s Rianne Erlwein and Chelsie Schadt. She also took second in the 600. Roosa, who has spearheaded Tri-Valley’s success over recent years, ended up garnering 28 of a possible 30 points on the day as athletes are limited to three events.

Sullivan West coach Joe Seidl fully understood the advantage Tri-Valley would have in sectionals but he was immensely proud of his team’s accomplishments. “If we can finish within 20 to 25 points of them, we’ll have made a great step,” he said early on in the meet. A year ago, Tri-Valley dominated Marlboro 142-53. Sullivan West came in fifth in 2007 and Eldred finished fourth.

Both teams made immense progress this season.

Seidl’s enthusiastic kids never gave up as Sullivan West picked up 12 points on their foes in the 600. Katie Manzi took second behind Watts, while teammate Liz Peters took fourth. Sara Alsdorf took second in the 55 hurdles behind Pine Plains speedster Avery Evans. Alsdorf, Peters, Manzi and Morgan Hawkins paced Sullivan West to take third place in the 800 relay. Hawkins took third in the pole vault.

The Westies won the 1600 relay in a personal best time of 4:35.46 as Erlwein, Manzi, Kendra Barker and Kasi Pilny combined. Tri-Valley took third in the event.

The Lady Bears captured the 3200 relay in 10:59.18 as Bertholf, Sanborn, Hornbeck and Naomi Weise combined their efforts.

Eldred’s Lindsay Warden and Kaley Donnelly took fourth and fifth in the racewalk, helping Eldred to finish third in the meet. By day’s end, Eldred had piled up 87 points, beating out Pine Plains (62), Millbrook (47) and Liberty (30). Other finishers included Ellenville (28), O’Neill and Marlboro (25), Chester (6) followed by Spackenkill and Chester (2).

Eldred’s Paulina Renggli and Shannon Hanson helped Eldred with their respective third and sixth place finishes, as did sprinter Christina Watts, who captured the 300 (45.85) and took second in the 55 to Millbrook speedster Rachel Pierantozzi. Babula (3:14.49) took second in the 1000 and ran five seconds faster than her former best time. Babula added a second-place finish in the 1500 and ran a stellar leg in Eldred’s fourth-place finish in the 1600 relay. Lauren Alves (28-05) took second in the triple jump for the Lady Yellowjackets.

Liberty’s Kim McKay retained her title in the pole vault (8-0). Sabrina Mastrogiovanni (15-04.75) took first in the long jump and Jasmine Walizadeh took fourth in the triple jump, while teammate Kirsten Sauer took sixth. Liberty took fifth in the 1600 relay.

Liberty boys finish

second to Ellenville

A year ago, Sullivan West boys successfully defended its title with a victory over Tri-Valley in the 800 relay to hold on for the win. At this year’s championship, each team had its signature moments but both took a back seat to the enormous accomplishments of Liberty. Last year, the Indians took fifth with 40 points. But this year, their tally burgeoned to 79 points as they catapulted themselves into second place behind victorious Ellenville (95). The Blue Devils followed up their recent win in the Sullivan County championships.

O’Neill was third with 77 points, which was made most noticeable by the incredible pole vaulting of Robb Quiller (14-6), who had the entire fieldhouse clapping and cheering as he attempted to break his brother Rory’s record of 15-1. He passed on a jump at 14-9, his personal best, and just missed on his first attempt at 15-1, his best chance. He’ll get a few more cracks at it before the season ends.

Ellenville won the 55 and 55 hurdles and garnered points throughout the day in the high jump, long jump and the 1600 and 3200 relays.

Liberty’s Matt Arielly swept the high jump (5-8), the long jump (20-00.5) and the triple jump (40-07), while Saeed Robinson won in the 300 (38.01). The Indians took fourth place in the 800, 1600 and 3200 relays.

Malcolm Strother was third in the high jump and fourth in the long jump. Tim Burgio got fourth in the long jump, while Brent Kaplan and Gregory Castro nailed down third and fifth in the pole vault. Trevor Tate added his help in the relays with a sixth-place finish in the 1000. Kaplan took fourth in the 600.

In team standings, Marlboro (51) took fourth; Tri-Valley (47) and Sullivan West (45) followed suit in fifth and sixth places.

Sullivan West’s Colin Seidl took advantage of the graduation of O’Neill’s Cory Reed to capture the 1500 (4:49.72) and the 3200 (10:17.46). He joined forces with Dallas Ripley, Mitch Ellmauer and Russell Bryan to take second in the 3200 relay. Will Schlott took fifth in the triple jump. Bryan was fourth in the 3200 run.

Tri-Valley’s Nick Denman (2:50.58) set a personal record as he won the 1000. Mike Freeman took fifth in the event. Teammate Garrett Grey (48-02.25) won the shot put and the non-scoring weight throw (58-06). Tanzeel Khan took second in the shot put and Bob Fiedler took fourth. Fiedler and Kahn came in right behind Grey in the weight throw. The Bears took fifth in the 3200 and sixth in the 1600 relays. Nate Coelho took third in the 600.

Monticello’s Jessica Fingers takes third in the 1000

and 1500; 3200 relay team takes third

Monticello’s Jessica Fingers (2:59.71) registered a personal best in the 1000 as she finished behind Warwick’s Lillian Greibesland and Tori Pennings. Fingers came back to take third in the 1500 (4:51.12) and ran a leg in the Lady Panthers’ third-place finish in the 3200 with a team best time of 9:57.10. Marisela Acevedo, Emma Cohen and Rebecca Concors ran the other legs in the Panthers’ speedy finish. Monticello finished ninth overall in the meet.

Next up is the state qualifier, which will take place at West Point on February 23.

Visit riverreportersports.com for complete results and an album of photos from the Class B meet.