Boys Track: State Preview

CICERO—We’re just about 12 hours away from the official start of the 2012 state meet at Cicero-North Syracuse HS. We took a look at the girls meet yesterday, so let’s continue our 2012 state track previews with the boys meet.

Just as before, I break down each event by division (if applicable), let you know which Long Islanders are competing in what event, and give you a quick thought about each event. (Note that the seeds are still open to change, but if anything does change I’ll update accordingly.)

100

Division I: Mark Jackson (Longwood), Chris Belcher (Sayville), Will Stanback (Uniondale), Derrick Ingram (Uniondale)

Division II: Aaron Ormon (St. Dominic), Raymond Jones (Roosevelt), Carlton Fielding Jr. (St. Mary’s), Erin Parker (Roosevelt)

THOUGHTS: Jackson is the second-fastest seed (10.70 seconds), and Belcher is fourth-best (10.73). Look for those two to make it through the finals. Stanback and Ingram are seeded fairly low despite their speed and could sneak into the finals. Ormon is the top seed in Division II (10.91), but all three Long Islanders behind him pose serious threats.

200

Division I: Chris Belcher (Sayville), Derrick Ingram (Uniondale), Diamonte Corley (Floyd)

Division II: Taylor Colucci (Stony Brook), Carlton Fielding Jr. (St. Mary’s), Erin Parker (Roosevelt)

THOUGHTS: Belcher is the fourth-fastest seed at 21.72 seconds, while Ingram is seventh at 21.76. Both should  advance to the finals, and Corley (22.14) could sneak in as well. Colucci is the top Division II seed at 21.93 and should not only win his class but also advance to the championship finals.

400

Division I: Tresean Goodwin (Uniondale), Vincenzo Battaglia (Ward Melville), Vincent Jackson (Amityville), Kirk Staine (Baldwin)

Division II: Adrian Simioni (Southampton), Rob Sweeney (Roosevelt)

THOUGHTS: Goodwin is the fastest-seeded Long Islander at 48.17 seconds. He’ll have to contend with some of the nation’s fastest 400 runners in Izaiah Brown (Amsterdam), Steven Gayle (Mount Vernon), Taariq Jones (Kingston), and Strymar Livingston (Columbus)—all of whom are seeded below 48 seconds.

100 Hurdles

Division I: Cameron Black (St. Anthony’s), Nyder Chardonnette (Uniondale), Kadesh Roberts (Bay Shore), Ryan Billian (Division), Michael Benson (Copiague)

Division II: Ben Neiman (Port Jefferson), Raymond Jones (Roosevelt), Kyle Cartwright (Oyster Bay)

THOUGHTS: Hoo-boy. Black, Chardonnette, Roberts, and Billian are the top four seeds in this race and are all favorites to make the championship finals. It’s even difficult to predict who could win, since all four are seeded within .18 seconds of each other. This event should be a really good one—definitely keep an eye on it.

400 Hurdles

Division I: Kadesh Roberts (Bay Shore), Colin O’Connor (West Islip), Nyder Chardonnette (Uniondale)

Division II: Ben Neiman (Port Jefferson), Rob Sweeney (Roosevelt)

THOUGHTS: Roberts holds the second-fastest time in the nation in the 400 hurdles, so it’s pretty much his event to lose. He won it last year, and is looking to break 52 seconds.

Championship 800: Andrew Keresztes (Port Jefferson), Jonathan Greenwood (Freeport), Travis Correa (Bellport), Derek Palafox (Bellport), Dylan Murphy (Kellenberg), Harry Martin (Bayport-Blue Point), Kevin Kreider (St. Anthony’s), Fredric Lang (Mineola)

THOUGHTS: Keresztes is the fifth-best seed at 1:52.66, with Greenwood (1:53.59) and Correa (1:53.60) right behind him. All three will have to be at their best, though, if they want to unseat Liverpool’s Zavon Watkins and Boys & Girls’ Robert Rhodes at the top.

Championship 1,600: Thomas Awad (Chaminade), Kris Moran (North Babylon), James Burke (Port Jefferson), Sean Kelly (Chaminade), Sean Grady (East Meadow)

THOUGHTS: They haven’t been calling it the Dream Mile for nothing. With five runners going sub-4:14 (and a few other big names not far behind), this one could be historic. Awad—the indoor 1,600 champion—and Moran are two of those sub-4:14 runners and are going to be right in the thick of it. Look for this one to be decided on the final lap.

Championship 3,200: Thomas Awad (Chaminade), James Dickinson (Northport), James Burke (Port Jefferson), Sidharth Kakkar (Port Washington), Evan Sayre (Friends Academy)

THOUGHTS:  Just like in the 1,600, Awad is one of the favorites to win (remember, he took third overall in the 3,200 at the indoor state meet). Don’t count out Dickinson, though—he ran a heckuva race at the state qualifier to get here, and could turn that into something special.

Championship 3,000 Steeplechase: James Sommer (Plainedge), Rob Calamia (Smithtown East), Tom Diliberto (St. Anthony’s), Robert Vetri (Bayport-Blue Point), Fredric Lang (Mineola)

THOUGHTS: Sommer is the third-fastest seed in this one at 9:30.45. He’ll have his hands full, though, with CBA-Syracuse’s Brendan Smith (9:20.23) and Warwick Valley’s Patrizio Grandinali (9:27.14).

Championship Pentathlon: Devin Mirenda (Smithtown West), Justin Marcianno (Patchogue-Medford), Andrei Dinoro (MacArthur), Chris Stelling (Bayport-Blue Point) David Natale (Oyster Bay)

THOUGHTS: Mirenda was one of Suffolk’s best high jumpers/long jumpers/hurdlers this season, which bodes well for him. Marcianno is very well-rounded across each event of the pentathlon, and should do well too.

Long Jump

Division I: Tyriek Johnson (Huntington), Joe Caraciolo (Massapequa), Adam DeVito (Miller Place), Ryan Billian (Division)

Division II: Alex Williams (Wyandanch), D’Dante Freeman (Wyandanch), Garren Angacian (Cold Spring Harbor)

THOUGHTS: Johnson is the top seed at 23-11.25, while Caraciolo—who won the indoor state long jump title—is right behind him at 23-4. It’ll be a good battle between those two for long jump supremacy. Fun fact: Johnson and Caraciolo went at it at the St. Anthony’s Invitational, with Caraciolo winning it on the last jump of the event—right after Johnson had taken the lead from Caraciolo one jump prior.

Triple Jump

Division I: Corey Carter (Amityville), David Henry (Long Beach), Omari Buckmire (Bay Shore), Israel Cody (Chaminade)

Division II: Erin Parker (Roosevelt), D’Dante Freeman (Wyandanch)

THOUGHTS: Carter is the fifth seed at 46-7.75. He has the best shot at winning this one, but he’ll need to outjump his seed by nearly a foot to match the top seed, Fillan Lee of Herbert Lehman (47-7).

Shot Put

Division I: Matt Morganelli (Smithtown West), Stanley Constant (Bay Shore), Noah White (Jericho)

Division II:David Grier (Port Jefferson), Rob Hansen (Roosevelt)

THOUGHTS: Morganelli took second in the state in the shot put in the indoor season, and could finally ascend to the top spot this weekend. To do that, he’ll have to out-throw Will Pope of Iona Prep and Dominik Kosar of St. Joseph’s Buffalo.

Discus

Division I: Noah White (Jericho), Angel Alers-Rosario (Bay Shore), Mathias Burner (Ward Melville), Liam O’Connor (New Hyde Park)

Division II: Andrew Morris (Hampton Bays), Ricardo Salinas (Carle Place)

THOUGHTS: White comes into this with the second-best throw in the state. He’ll go up against  Ithaca’s Sam Cherney in the class finals—and if he advances to the finals, he’ll face A.J. Wolf of Hackley, who owns the top throw in the state.

Championship High Jump: Mark Jackson (Longwood), Michael  Rufrano (Chaminade), Michael McCann (Smithtown West), Nuquan Mathis (Center Moriches), Damon Daniels (Wyandanch), Detrick Cuascut (Mineola), Ben Kapuscinski (North Shore), Antonio Soares (Malverne)

THOUGHTS: Jackson jumped a 6-9 last week at the state qualifier to earn the top seed in this one. He can consistently jump around the 6-6 to 6-9 area, so watch out for him later in the event. McCann and Rufrano are also strong jumper and should be competitive.

Championship Pole Vault: Mike Brunoforte (St. Anthony’s), Joe Miceli (Miller Place), Jonah Spaeth (Riverhead), Jonathan LaGuardia (Cold Spring Harbor), Michael Wilkens (Syosset), Josiah Hoshya (Hampton Bays), Conor Crovello (Port Jefferson), Garren Angacian (Cold Spring Harbor)

THOUGHTS: Brunoforte holds the Long Island record in the pole vault at 16-1 and will be going for the CHSAA state record this weekend. He’ll get some competition from Greg Gallagher of Iona Prep, but Brunoforte has won the last three matches between the two (Loucks Games, CHSAA Intersectionals, Eastern States).

4x100

Division I: Longwood, Uniondale, Floyd,

Division II:Stony Brook, Wyandanch, Roosevelt

THOUGHTS: Longwood (42.47), Uniondale (42.58), and Floyd (42.86) are separated by a mere .39 seconds, but each will need to run a strong, flawless race to challenge top-seeded Mount Vernon (42.05). Stony Brook is the top seed in Division II—they should win their division and make noise in the championship final.

4x400

Division I: West Islip, Uniondale, Longwood, Chaminade, St. Anthony’s, Freeport

Division II: Bayport-Blue Point, Port Jefferson, Roosevelt

THOUGHTS: This one should also be a good one. All of the Division I teams are so close in terms of time that any one of them could emerge from this one. Bayport-Blue Point is more than two seconds ahead of their closest competition in Division and should roll to the class title.

Championship 4x800: Kellenberg, St. John the Baptist, Bellport, Syosset, Bayport-Blue Point, Port Jefferson, Mineola

THOUGHTS: Kellenberg holds the CHSAA indoor state record in the 4x800 and has to be considered a favorite to win it all here. St. John the Baptist gave them a run for their at the CHSAA Intersectionals, though, so it’ll be interesting to see if they can put even more pressure on them this weekend.