LI track teams hold mega meet at St. Anthony's prior to states

The names will be familiar, but not the event.

St. Anthony's will host the first Long Island track and field championships Saturday beginning at noon.

The event will feature most of Long Island's top athletes in indoor track and field.

Athletes from all over Long Island - Section XI, Section VIII and the CHSAA - will compete to see who is the best.

St. Anthony's Patrick Farmer, who this season set Suffolk County records in the 300- and 400-meter dashes, will be looking to prove his superiority at those distances.

Bellport's Jaquan Holland, one of Long Island's top sprinters, will be contesting Farmer in what should be an exciting 300-meter race.

Garden City's vaunted 4 x 400-relay team of Emily Menges, Michelle Rotondo, Catherine Cafara and Taylor Hennig will also be in the building.

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Long Island's top two shot putters - Wheatley's Josh Haghighi and North Babylon's Vanessa Stewart - will be there to throw their weight around.

The North Shore, Northport and Bay Shore girls teams will battle for supremacy in the 4 x 800, while Half Hollow Hills West's boys 4 x 200 relay team will also be on hand to excite the crowd.

St. Anthony's coach Jim Dearie, who put the meet together with Hills West coach Jim Christian, said it was a long time coming.

"I had been thinking about trying to do this for some time and so was [Christian]," said Dearie. "Earlier this [season] after talking with my wife about it, Jim came up to me and said 'We should do a Long Island championship in your building.' "

Dearie said the response from track coaches was positive. "As soon as we put the word out, there was immediate interest," Dearie said. "We filled out the entire field."

Medals will be awarded to the top six finishers in each event. A special award will be given to the top finishers in each event. Awards will also be given to the top three teams.

"It could be the perfect meet," Chaminade coach Pat Slevin said.

The meet will serve several purposes, Dearie said. In addition to answering the question of which team or athlete is the best, it's also another opportunity to get ready for the state and national championship meets.

"Instead of bragging about who's the best, now they get to go out there and prove it," Dearie said. "There will definitely be some pride in this."