Track

Pride and joy

Tri-Valley girls have last word as they defeat SW girls for Section Nine track title; Bulldog boys hold sway over Millbrook for crown

By RICHARD A. ROSS

KINGSTON NY — Great stories demand sequels and in the interest of providing the most compelling series of ongoing dramatic interludes, the girls track teams of Sullivan West and Tri-Valley keep coming up with new chapters in their never-ending epic.

This year has been marked by the fiercest of battles, all of which had been won by Sullivan West.

Besting Tri-Valley this past winter for both the division and Section Nine titles was sheer euphoria for the Lady Bulldogs and bitter medicine for the proud Lady Bears. But, in the end, Tri-Valley, a school with a track and field pedigree second only perhaps to Warwick in this region, rode its legion of runners, jumpers and throwers on May 28 and capitalized on the loss of Sullivan West’s diminutive dynamo Rianne Erlwein to once again have the last word as it did last spring by winning the Section Nine Class C track title.

Piling up an uncanny 204 points to Sullivan West’s 153, the Lady Bears actually outscored Class B champion Rondout Valley, which was busy hammering second-place New Paltz 153-116 in the larger schools’ meet. The engorged Tri-Valley squad, surcharged by new members who joined forces with the core of veterans, surpassed last year’s winning-point tally of 171 when they bested second-place Pine Plains.

With scoring going to eight places this year, the Bears’ depth was devastatingly effective.

Even with Erlwein consigned to moving hurdles on and off the track and with the closeness of the meet no longer in question, Sullivan West’s girls gave every ounce of energy and came away with some impressive victories.

You’d expect nothing less.

Led by senior captains Sara Alsdorf and Kasi Pilny, along with veterans Katie Manzi, Kendra Barker, Brittany Reddish, Lindsey Murphy, Morgan Hawkins and others, the Dawgs scratched and clawed to the bitter end.

For Westie seniors like Alsdorf, Pilny, Murphy and Reddish, the outcome of their final quest was hard to reckon.

Always competitive, Sullivan West and Tri-Valley have amped up their competitive fervor over the past two years in what has amounted to a punch-counterpunch slugfest in round after round of divisional and sectional title bouts.

Sullivan West has won four straight division track titles, going back to the winter of 2008, but Tri-Valley won the big prize at the end of 2008: the Section Nine Class C track title.

It’s been a historic year for Sullivan West, but to close it out in storybook fashion they would have to beat Tri-Valley for the Section Nine spring title. Given the disparity of Tri-Valley’s inordinately large team as compared to the talented but thinner Lady Bulldog ranks, such a win would have been a long shot at best. In their most optimistic moments, the ladies in Carolina Blue hoped to get help from Millbrook, Pine Plains and Rhinebeck to break up what they worried could be Tri-Valley avalanche of points.

Sullivan West would probably have come up short, but losing Erlwein to a foot injury that has plagued her since the winter was the death knell indeed. The added loss of sprinter Liz Peters was the final nail in the coffin.

And so one would have expected relatively little drama as the Class C and B meets got underway under intermittent drizzle and chilly temperatures.

But when it comes to track and field, drama is always part of the equation.

As expected, Tri-Valley swept the throwing events with a one-two-three finish in the shot put behind Tehnyat Kahn, Kelly McNamara and Dominique Darby. Khan and Darby were one-two in the discus, with teammate Kaitlyn Torres taking fourth. Reddish took fourth in the shot put and fifth in the discus. She’s had a great year and a herculean task in trying to counter the Lady Bears’ throwing offense.

Manzi and Pilny went one-two in the 400.

Tri-Valley coach Joe Iatauro knew his team was no match for the Lady Bulldogs speedsters, thus he emphasized building depth in order to prevail in overall points. The Lady Bears got a win from Sara Heikennin in the 3000. Shannon Hornbeck and Caroline Bertholf pitched in to give Tri-Valley a sweep in the event. Sullivan West’s Katrina Graby took second in the pentathlon, winning every event except the 800.

At night’s end, the Lady Bears took to the infield to pose with their plaque, smiles and their orange shirts. Sullivan West’s girls posed with their division plaque and Section Nine runner-up plaque. Both teams took victory laps around the track.

How fitting. They’re both winners in their own right.

Sullivan West boys crowned

Section Nine champions

It may have been a bigger blow for the Sullivan West girls to come up as second fiddle to their own school’s boys team than to their nemesis. After all, when it comes to team temperament, they consider themselves to be far more serious than their male counterparts. That may apply to some team members but not to all, and when push came to shove, the boys got serious when it mattered, and came away with the big win.

Led by Colin Seidl’s five and half miles of winning runs in the 3200, the steeplechase and the 1600, the Bulldogs piled it on with points every which way but loose. Chris Murphy and Mike Sheldon went two-three in the 400 hurdles. Murphy got second in the 110 hurdles and Tyler Groh got fifth.

Antony Nicoletti and Austin Erlwein went one-two in the high jump. Gabe Lagrutta won the non-scoring javelin and the Dawgs took second in the 400 relays.

Tri-Valley’s Bob Fielder won the discus, with teammates Ross Bonnell and Kirk Daroci completing the event sweep of the top three spots. Despite such heroics, the Bears finished fourth overall. Fiedler won the shot put with teammate Alan Moss taking second. Sullivan West’s Vaughn Schlott took third. Bonnell got fourth and Westie John Whitaker was fifth. Teammate Eric Leewe got fourth in the pentathlon. Tri-Valley’s Brendan Moore took second in the 200 and third in the 100. Fallsburg had few entrants in the meet, and Rodrick Cash took second in the 100 and Dyhu Anthony got third in the 200. Both races were won by Millbrook speedster Darnell Cummings. Anthony took second in the 400.

Liberty’s thinned ranks bar a challenge to Ellenville boys in Class B

At the outset of the season, Liberty’s boys team looked like a standing army. But attrition through academic issues and flagging enthusiasm left the Indians shorthanded in the end. After winning their division, the tribe’s smaller numbers were no match for deeper than deep Ellenville.

Liberty’s only first-place finish came from Greg Castro in the pole vault (12-6). Ethan Meadow took second in the event (12-0). Speedster/high jumper Malcolm Strother had to settle for second in the 100, 200 and third in the high jump. Liberty came in fifth in the meet. But given its diminished numbers, the drop off from last year was not surprising.

In the girls meet, Jessica Dunnigan took second in the 100 and third in the 200. Jasmine Walizadeh took fifth in the 400 hurdles and Amanda Bertholf nailed down second place in the pole vault.

Results

Class C Boys

Team standings and key: 1. Sullivan West (SW), 154.5 points; 2. Millbrook (Mill), 138; 3. Pine Plains (PP), 134; 4. Tri-Valley (TV), 112; 5. Rhinebeck (Rhb), 89.5; 6. Fallsburg (Fall), 43; 7. Chester (Ches), 4.

Finishers in the top six

100: 2nd, Rodrick Cash (Fall), 11.95; 3rd, Brendan Moore (TV), 11.97; 4th, Latti Rabbii (SW), 12.25; 6th, Kyle Flynn (SW), 12.65. 200: 2nd, Brendan Moore (TV), 24.26; 3rd, Dyhu Anthony (Fall), 24.28; 4th, Latti Rabbii (SW), 6th, Rodrick Cash (Fall), 24.71. 400: 2nd, Anthony (Fall), 52.44. 800: 4th, Tim Martin (TV), 2:05.04.1,600: 1st, Colin Seidl (SW), 4:42.94. 3,200: 1st, Colin Seidl (SW), 10:11.45; 5th, Jeremy Kinney (TV), 10:46.20; 6th, Chris Whipple (TV), 11:15.12. 110 hurdles: 2nd, Chris Murphy (SW), 18.96; 5th, Groh Tyler (SW), 20.75. 400 hurdles: 2nd, Chris Murphy (SW), 1:06.97; 3rd, Mike Sheldon (SW), 1:07.14. 3,000 steeplechase: 1st, Colin Seidl (SW), 10:26.75; 2nd, Jeremy Kinney (TV), 10:58.62; 5th, Chris Whipple (TV), 11:57.84. 400 relay: 2nd, Sullivan West (Flynn, Anthony Nicoletti, Sheldon, Rabbii), 47.83; 3rd, Fallsburg (Ethan Herrera, Victor Pacheco, Cash, Anthony), 47.91; 5th, Tri-Valley 48.62. 1,600 relay; 3rd, Tri-Valley (Brendan Moore, Martin, Mike Freeman, Kinney), 3:44.62; 4th, Sullivan West 3:56.85. 3,200 relay: 2nd, Tri-Valley (Martin, Freeman, Kinney, Whipple), 8:47.96; 3rd, Sullivan West (Seidl, Russell Bryan, Dallas Ripley, Austin Erlwein), 9:01.5. High jump: 1. Anthony Nicoletti (SW), 5-6; 2nd, Austin Erlwein (SW), 5-4. Long jump: 4th, Cash (Fall), 17-9; 6th, Jesse Boncek (TV), 16-9. Triple jump: 4th, Ripley (SW), 36-2. Shot put: 1st, Bob Fiedler (TV), 45-4; 2nd, Alan Moss (TV), 39-7.5; 3rd, Vaughn Schlott (SW), 39-6; 4th, Ross Bonnell (TV), 39-3; 5th, John Whittaker (SW), 38-0.5. Discus: 1st, Bob Fiedler (TV), 137-0; 2nd, Ross Bonnell (TV), 122-0; 3rd, Kirk Daroci (TV), 114-11; 4th, Brandon Wagner (SW), 114-5; 6th, Gabe Lagrutta (SW), 107-2. Javelin (non-scoring): 1st, Gabe Lagrutta (SW), 121-6.25; 2nd, Burgos Cruz (SW), 115-11; 4th, Brandon Wagner (SW), 104-7.5.Pole vault: 6th, Austin Erlwein (SW), 10-0. Pentathlon; 4th, Eric Leewe (SW), 1,807; 5th, Anthony Beale (TV), 1,634.

Class C Girls

100: 3rd, Katie Manzi (SW), 13.88; 4th, Sara Alsdorf (SW), 14.03; 6th, Mareena DiMilia (TV), 14.03.100: 2nd, Manzi (SW), 27.99; 4th, Alsdorf (SW), 29.20; 5th, Pilny (SW), 29.29. 400: 1st, Manzi (SW), 60.81; 2nd, Pilny (SW), 62.87; 6th, Agnes Pompeii (TV), 67.43. 800; 3rd, Rachel Sanborn (TV), 2:27.93; 5th, Morgan Hawkins (SW), 2:37.45. 1,500: 4th, Sanborn (TV), 5:16.80; 5th, Sarah Heikkennin (TV), 5:26.76; 6th, Shannon Hornbeck (TV), 5:28.18. 3,000: 1st, Heikkenin (TV), 11:31.52; 2nd, Hornbeck (TV), 11:34.87; 3rd, Caroline Bertholf (TV), 11:36.77; 5th, Dani Meyers (SW), 12:07.25; 6th, Rachel Deppa (SW), 12:19.14. 100 hurdles: 2nd, Alsdorf (SW), 16.68; 3rd, Lindsey Murphy (SW), 17.64; 5th, Emma Tingley (TV), 18.58; 6th, Hannah Feinman (SW), 19.02. 400 hurdles: 3rd, Hawkins (SW), 1:10.93; 4th, Murphy (SW), 1:12.51; 5th, Amanda Martin (TV), 1:14.80. 2,000 steeplechase: 2nd, Bertholf (TV), 8:10.19; 4th, Olivia Rehm (TV), 8:31.00; 6th, Stephany Robison (SW), 8:57.19. 400 relay: 2nd, Tri-Valley (Kaitlyn Torres, Martin, Heather Knox, Tingley), 56.15. 1,600 relay: 2nd, Sullivan West (Pilny, Hawkins, Murphy, Manzi), 4:15.78; 3rd, Tri-Valley (Agnes Pompeii, Skylar Musa, Sanborn, Bertholf), 4:36.93. 3,200 relay; 3rd, Tri-Valley (Sanborn, Heikkenin, Bertholf, Hornbeck), 10:39.63; 5th, Sullivan West 11:58.10. High jump: 2nd, Kendra Barker (SW), 4-8; 4th, Danielle Conlon (TV), 4-6; 5th, Karyn Sheeley (TV), and Agnes Pompeii (TV), 4-6. Long jump: 3rd, Barker (SW), 15-2; 4th, Kaitlyn Torres (TV), 14-8.25; 6th, Hannah Feinman (SW), 14-7. Triple jump: 3rd, Barker (SW), 30-10.5; 5th, Torres (TV), 29-7.75; 6th, Feinman (SW), 28-10.5. Shot put: 1st, Tehnyat Khan (TV), 33-11; 2nd,. Kelly McNamara (TV), 31-11; 3rd, Dominique Darby (TV), 31-1.25; 4th, Brittany Reddish (SW), 29-4.75. Discus: 1st, Khan (TV), 114-2; 2nd, Darby (TV), 104-8; 4th, Torres (TV), 99-6; 5th, Reddish (SW), 77-9. Javelin (non-scoring): 1st, Darby (TV), 86-6.25; 2nd, Heidi Furman (TV), 84-4.5; 4th, Brittany Reddish (SW), 51-3.5; 6th, Becky Deppa (SW), 38-9. Pole vault: 2nd, Hawkins (SW), 8-6; 4th, DiMilia (TV), 8-0; 5th, Heather Knox (TV), 7-6; 6th, Kathryn Schneyer (TV), 6-6. Pentathlon: 2nd, Katrina Graby (SW), 1,810; 3rd, Kristin Offringa (TV), 1,511; 5th, Bekah Polonsky (TV), 1,420.

Class B Boys

Team standings and key: 1. Ellenville (Ell), 162 points; 2. Red Hook (RH), 111; 3. Rondout Valley (RV), 99; 3. New Paltz (NP), 75; 4. New Paltz (NP), 75; 5. Liberty (Lib), 71; 6. Onteora (Ont), 55; 7. Marlboro (Marl), 50; 8. Goshen (Gosh), 46; 9. James I. O’Neill (JIO), 27; 10. John S. Burke Catholic (JSB), 13; 11. Spackenkill (Spac), 10; 12. Highland (High), 6.

100: 2nd, Malcolm Strother (Lib), 11.35. 200: 2nd, Strother (Lib), 22.70. 110 hurdles: 4th, Nelson Gabriel (Lib), 16.82. 3,000 steeplechase: 4th, Omar Lopez (Lib), 11:19.14. 400 relay: 2nd, Liberty ( Gregory Castro, Dontrea McLaurin, Luis Hidalgo, Strother), 45.44. High jump: 3rd, Strother (Lib), 5-10. Long jump: 5th, Timothy Burgio (Lib), 20-3.5. Javelin (non-scoring): 2nd, Christopher Lockwood (Lib), 128-6.25; 3rd, Brent Kaplan (Lib), 111-3; 4th, Peter Koval (Lib), 109-10. Pole vault: 1st, Gregory Castro (Lib), 12-6; 2. Ethan Meadow (Lib), 12-0.

Class C Girls

Team standings and key: 1. Rondout Valley (RV), 157 points; 2. New Paltz (NP), 116; 3. Goshen (Gosh), 110; 4. Onteora (Ont), 106; 5. Red Hook (RH), 52; 6. Ellenville (Ell), 41; 7. Spackenkill (Spac), 40; 8. Liberty (Lib), 38; 9. Highland (High), 32; 10. James I. O’Neill (JIO), 19; 11. Marlboro (Marl), 16; 12. John S. Burke Catholic (JSB), 11.

100: 2nd, Jessica Dunnigan (Lib), 13.06, 200: 3rd, Dunnigan (Lib), 27.22. 400 hurdles: 5th, Jasmine Walizadeh (Lib), 1:14.54. High jump: 4th, Christina McCarthy (Lib), 4-6. Pole vault: 2nd, Amanda Bertholf (Lib), 8-0.

Class A Girls (Monticello finishers)

400: 6th, Nyoki Tate 1:01.45.1500: 5th, Jessica Fingers 4:50.17.3000: 1st, Fingers 10:10.62. 2000 steeplechase: 2nd, Emma Cohen 7:35.60.

Boys:

3000 steeplechase; 3rd, Dave Wilbur 10:15.48.

Visit riverreportersports.com for an album of photos from the Class B/C meet.