Track

Windy wonders

Strong winds factor into results in OCIAA championships; Pine Bush’s Rozario breaks Iatauro’s 2004 steeplechase record

By RICHARD A. ROSS

WARWICK, NY - Mother Nature played a game of give and take with this year’s OCIAA track and field championships on May 23 and 24. She offered up the gift of glorious blue skies and pleasant temperatures on May 24, and she doled up a hefty outlay of wind gusts, particularly on May 23, which severely affected the outcome of a number of events.

While the winds abated on day two, they were still a factor for some competitors, depending on when their events were staged and in what direction and strength the prevailing winds blew, as each athlete faced his or her moments of challenge on one of the season’s biggest stages, the perennially colorful and dramatic league meet.

In short, the whims of the wind left some athletes wondering what might have been had they faced their moments of truth under a lighter breeze or, better yet, no wind at all.

Running or throwing into a strong headwind can drastically alter times and distances. For Monticello’s Brendan Devine, the top seed in the 3200, running into a forceful headwind on May 23 proved to be his undoing. Devine came into this race ranked third in the state with a seed time of 9:16.26, 40 seconds faster than his nearest competitor, but finishing third behind Warwick’s Ryan Florkiewicz (9:56.24) and Cornwall’s Colin Anderson (9:37.09). This constituted a bitter disappointment while it offered up another valuable lesson as his final high school season winds down.

Realizing that the wind would be a strong factor, Devine (9:44.58) was shooting for a 9:30. Settling into a pace he felt would yield that result, he held back and ran into the wind as his two competitors drafted behind him, allowing the leader to take the brunt of the wind. Lap after lap, they hung back before coming on with a strong kick for the stunning finish. Sprinting the final 800 has never been Devine’s strong suit.

Devine still has the Class A sectionals and the state qualifier to solidify his position for a final chance at states.

The wind strongly impacted the non-scoring javelin throw on day one, as well as the discus on day two. But Tri-Valley’s Garrett Grey prevailed in both with a heave of 162-2 in the javelin and 148-1 in the discus. Grey was denied a sweep in the throwing events, as Cornwall giant Andrew Barton won the shot put with a heave of 50-7.5 to Grey’s second place throw of 49-8.

Tri-Valley’s Tanzeel Khan took fourth in the shot put with a throw of 48-10.75. He was third in the javelin with a mark of 151-2 and second in the discus with a mark of 142-0. Later in the day, his sister, Tehnyet, won the discus with a throw of 107-2. She was Sullivan County’s only female gold medalist, though some stellar performances and personal bests abounded among the county’s entrants. She also took fifth in the shot put with a throw of 31-10.50.

The OCIAA championship meet pits athletes and teams against each other without regard to school size. Larger schools clearly have the advantage, as was evinced with Warwick’s wins in both the boys and girls meets. Warwick’s girls, led by four-gold medallist Lillian Greibesland, easily bested fellow Class AA powerhouse Newburgh Free Academy (NFA). It was Warwick’s third consecutive league championships. Greibesland won the 800 (2:13.58), 1500 (4:42.78) and 3000 (9:56.65) and ran a leg in the winning 3200 relay for the Purple Wave.

Greibesland, a sophomore, continues to be a daunting challenge for Monticello junior Jessica Fingers, who finished second to her in the 3000 (10:03.27) with a strong final kick that allowed her to overtake Warwick’s Tori Pennings on May 23. On day two, the Warwick duo bested Fingers in the 1500 (4:44.56) as Pennings held off a late surge by the Monticello standout to finish in second place. Pennings graduates this June, as does Pine Bush’s Nicole Rozario, leaving Fingers the task of concentrating mainly on Greibesland for next year’s triad of running seasons.

Rozario, who knows all too well what it’s like to see the backs of those Warwick runners, finally emerged with a historic run in the 2000 steeplechase. Getting off to a stunning start that separated her from Tri-Valley’s Courtney Roosa (7:20.38), who’d take second, Rozario went on to break the four-year-old record of Tri-Valley graduate and soon-to-be Princeton graduate Heather Iatauro. Rozario’s time of 6:50.40 broke Iatauro’s mark of 6:52.45, set in 2004.

While much attention is given top finishers, performances like Emma Cohen’s fifth place finish in the steeplechase often fly under the radar. Cohen, who is only a sophomore, ran a 7:48.88, besting her personal best time by an impressive 19 seconds. Jacqueline Kasal of Warwick, a freshman, finished in fourth. The top three were all seniors.

Other impressive performances by Sullivan County girls included a third-place finish in the pentathlon by Monticello’s Pollyanna Palhano (2288 points) and a fifth place by Liberty’s Kim McKay (2174 points), a sixth-place finish in the 100 by Eldred’s Christina Watts (13.01) and a sixth place in the pole vault by Sullivan West’s Morgan Hawkins (8-6).

Hawkins, who has already made the state qualifier in the 400 intermediate hurdles with a time of 67 seconds, was trying to automatically qualify for the state meet by shooting for a 66. The wind and the wiles of a far turn temporarily dashed that hope as she finished 10th with a 68.09.

Sullivan County track and field coaches understand that scoring points at the league meet is a daunting task. They’ll turn to that agenda as this week’s sectional meets get underway. Liberty will head to Dietz Stadium in Kingston on May 28 for the Class B meet. Sullivan West and Tri-Valley will go at each other in the Class C meet in Grahamsville on May 29 as they wrangle with the other tough bidders, such as Pine Plains and Millbrook, the same day and locale for Eldred, which will mix it up with John A. Coleman Catholic in the Class D meet.

Monticello will head to Monroe-Woodbury on May 30 for the Class A tussle. The steeplechase will be held in Cornwall.

In the league meet, Tri-Valley girls were the top Sullivan County team. The Lady Bears finished ninth with 20 points. Liberty was 15th with four points, Eldred was 16th with two, and Hawkins’ one point was Sullivan West’s only scoring for a 17th place finish.

Warwick’s boys held sway over second place NFA. Tri-Valley took sixth with 37 points. Nate Coelho, along with Grey and Khan, helped the cause. Coelho took third in the pentathlon (2,719 points). Liberty finished ninth with 23 points as Malcolm Strother took second in the 100 (11.12), third in the 200 (22.98) and fourth in the high jump (6-0).

Saeed Robinson added a third place in the 400 (51:04) after being disqualified in the 100 earlier in the day for jumping the gun.

Sullivan West and Monticello each scored six points to tie for 15th place. Devine’s third in the 3200 and Colin Seidl’s third place in the 3000 steeplechase accounted for each team’s points.

Seidl, who ran a stunning 9:42 at Cornwall, is a candidate for nationals, which will be held in Greensboro, NC. Grey and Khan will be heading there, for Tri-Valley and Sullivan West coach Ron Bauer feels that Seidl will benefit from the opportunity to run in the nationals. Seidl still has another year to establish himself.

But in this meet, Seidl’s early lead in the steeplechase was soon supplanted by Warwick’s Dan Prial (9:54.64) and Florkiewicz (10:05.04), who passed the tiring number-one seed who seemed to let the mental aspect of the race get the better of him.

Seidl hopes to work on his psyche to restore himself to the top of the Section Nine heap at the state qualifier.

Sportsmanship awards were accorded to Rozario, James I. O’Neill pole vaulter Robb Quiller and Port Jervis pole-vault winner Stacie Leroy.

Visit riverreportersports.com for complete Sullivan County results on the track page, along with a photo album from the league championship meet.