Track

Keeping track

Sullivan County athletes and teams to watch as the indoor track heats up

By RICHARD A. ROSS

WEST POINT, NY — Although each season has its banner sport that dominates the headlines, other sports are equally compelling, despite marginal media coverage. Indoor track fits that description to a tee.

While the major meets gain their requisite pages of coverage, the weekly indoor track sojourns to Sullivan County Community College and to West Point, which are developmental non-scoring meets, fly under the radar, thereby denying some of the hardest working athletes in the region their share of attention.

As is the case in the fall and spring with cross-country and track and field respectively, winter sports coverage of indoor track is an integral part of the seasonal coverage. So while this week’s compelling league basketball match ups will surely draw their well-deserved coverage, this week’s stories shed light on other winter wonders, including indoor track and skiing, as heated competitions enliven the pulse during the frosty months of January through mid March. Next week will feature wrestling as the Eastern States get underway this weekend and Port Jervis looks to defend its title. Monticello wrestling comes into focus this week, too, as does Eldred, as grapplers went at it in a dual meet on January 7. Monticello will feature several of its wrestlers at Eastern States as well.

Indoor track: the lay of the land

Who? Eldred, Liberty, Livingston Manor, Monticello, Sullivan West and Tri-Valley field teams. Unlike many other sports that feature five size classes, indoor track has only an ‘A’ and ‘B’ classification. Monticello normally competes against the Class A schools, those with 600 students or more in grades 9-11, while the other Sullivan County schools vie against Class B schools, with fewer than 600.

There are exceptions to that format, such as the OCIAA league meet and the Sullivan County Indoor Championship Meet. At those meets, athletes compete against others from all participating schools regardless of size. Last year, Sullivan West’s girls captured the Sullivan County Championship title as well as winning their division. Tri-Valley’s girls won the Class B Sectional title with the Lady Westies coming in as the runner-up. Ellenville’s boys captured the Sullivan County Championship crown and the Class B crown. Liberty’s boys were Section Nine Class B runners-up. Monticello took second place at the Sullivan County Championships.

What? Indoor track meets feature races in the following distances: 55 meters, 55 meter hurdles, 300m, 600m, 1000m, 15000m (girls), 1600m (boys), 3000m (girls), 3200m (boys), and 4x100, 4x200, 4x400relays. Field events include high jump, long jump, triple jump, pole vault, shot put and weight throw.

When? Each week, county athletes run through events at SCCC but many events such as pole vault, long jump, triple jump and weight throwing are not staged there due to the lack of equipment or designated safe areas. Weekly ‘C’ format developmental non-scoring meets are also held at West Point’s Gillis Field House. Due to the burgeoning number of track athletes and the four-hour time limit imposed by the facility, the number of athletes is now being limited.

In the coming elite meet scheduled for January 11, only two athletes from each school can enter all individual events and only one team from each school can compete in any of the relay races. Key meet dates are: Elite varsity meet at West Point, January 11; OCIAA League meet at West Point, February 14; Sullivan County Championships, February 18; Class B Sectionals, February 20; and Class A Sectionals, February 21.

Here are some (but by no means all) indoor track athletes to keep an eye on:

Girls

(times are from sectionals unless otherwise noted)

Christina Watts of Eldred took second in the 55m (7.78). She took first in the 300. (45:85). She was county champ in both events. In the 800, Monticello’s Emma Cohen finished 11th in the 600 (1:47.66) and helped the Lady Monties to third in the 800 relay. She won the 600 at the county championships. At sectionals, Monticello’s Jessica Fingers took third in the 1000 (2:59.71), third in the 1500 (4:51.12) and third in the 800 relay with Marisela Acevedo, Rebecca Concors and Cohen. Concors was the 1500 county champ. The Lady Monties won the 1600 relay at the county championships. Eldred’s Kristina Brown recorded a PR in the 1000 at the league meet with a time of 3:41.19, knocking off more than five seconds from her previous best. Katie Manzi (SW) took second in the 300. She helped her team to a first-place finish in the 1600 relay as she and Rianne Erlwein, Kendra Barker and Kasi Pilney turned in a blistering 4:53.46. Christine Donnelly (Eld) took fifth in the 600. Rianne Erlwein (SW) was third in the 1000 (3:16.07) and second in the 3000 (11:27.46). She won the county championship in the event. Rachel Sanborn (T-V) was fourth in the 1000 and third in the 1500. Ashley Weintraub (T-V) took first in the 1500 racewalk (8:49.45). Sara Alsdorf (SW) was second in the 55 hurdles (9.73). She was the Sullivan County champ in the event. Agnes Pompeii (T-V) took fourth in the high jump (4-6). She won the county title with a leap of 4-8. Morgan Hawkins (SW) was third in the pole vault (7-6). Sabrina Mastrogiovanni (Lib) was first in the long jump (15:04.75). Lauren Alves (Eld) won the shot put (29-09). Tehnyet Khan (T-V) was second in the shot put. Caroline Bertholf (T-V) was part of the Lady Bears winning 3200 relay, along with Shannon Hornbeck, Sanborn and Naomi Weise (10:59.18). Bertholf took fifth in the 1000 and fourth in the 1500.

Boys

Colin Seidl of Sullivan West was Section Nine Class B champion in the 1600 and 3200. He helped his team take second in the 3200 relay along with Dallas Ripley, Mike Ellmauer and Russell Bryan. Bryan was fourth in the 3200. Dave Wilbur (Mont) won the 1000 at the Sullivan County Championships (2:49). Wilbur and teammates Robert Venditti, Brendan Devine and Tom Gonzalez won the 3200 relay at the county championships (8:59). Brent Kaplan (Lib) was third in the pole vault (10-06). Bob Fiedler (T-V) was second in the weight throw (52-05.75). He finished fifth in the shot put. Malcolm Strother (Lib) was third in the high jump (5-6). He took second at the county championships. He finished fourth in the triple jump at sectionals. Greg Lewis (LM) took third in the 3200 at the county meet and fourth in the 1600. Matt Campanella (Eld) won the 600 at the county meet (1:34.4). Joey Counts (Eld) took second in the 55 hurdles at the county championship. He was sixth in sectionals (9.0). Mike Freeman (T-V) took fifth in the 1000 at sectionals. Tim Burgio (Lib) was fourth in the long jump (18-11.75).