Smithtown West sends eight to states
File photo of Smithtown West's Matt Morganell. Credit: Joseph D. Sullivan
Smithtown West had a Suffolk-best eight athletes qualify for the state indoor track meet Sunday in the Section XI State Qualifiers at Suffolk CC-Brentwood.
The team of Peter Tiranno, Frank Ida, Brennan Schneider, and Anthony Aprile clocked 1:36.51 to win the 4 x 200 meters and highlight a strong day for the Bulls.
Smithtown West junior Matt Morganelli won the shot put with a personal-best of 50 feet, 11 1/4 inches. Michael McCann qualified in the high jump with a jump of 6-4, and Saturday, Karl Nilsen took first in the pole vault with a school-record 13-3.
Michael Emerson also qualified for the intersectional relay with a time of 2:36.42 in the 1,000.
The top two finishers from each event automatically qualified for the state meet, which is March 3 at Cornell University. "Coming into the meet, we just told our guys to stay focused and that they've been here before," Bulls coach Peter Schieck said. "They really responded today."
Longwood will send three people to Ithaca. Mark Jackson qualified for two events with a victory in the high jump (6-6) and a second-place finish in the 55 (6.61). Dennis Russell took second in the shot put with a throw of 50-2, and Mike Engesser won the 600 in 1:25.90.
Small-school champion Port Jefferson won the 4 x 800 in 8:19.39 with the team of Cole Conte, James Burke, Andrew Keresztes and Fred Agostino. Keresztes also won the 1,000 in 2:33.68, and Burke also qualified in the mile with a time of 4:33.39.
Bay Shore, which won the girls large-school championship earlier in the month, had seven athletes qualify for the state meet. The Marauders were led by Jessica Gelibert, who qualified in the 600 (1:37.78) and was a part of the winning 4 x 400 team (4:04.51).
Kelsey Palomino (36-31/2) and Anisa Toppin (36-13/4) qualified in the triple jump for Bay Shore, and Erica Silhan cleared 5-4 in the high jump to qualify. "We went with what we thought were sure shots, and fortunately it worked out," Bay Shore coach Steve Borbet said.
Other highlights from the girls meet include Rachel Paul's win in the 1,000 (2:59.19) for Sachem East, Sara Ronde's victories in the 55 (7.32) and the long jump (18-0) for Northport, and the North Babylon team of Alena Gannon, Shiloe Gardner, Ashley Mandat, and Tori Thompson winning the 4 x 200 in 1:48.71.
Sarra Sounds Off Ep. 35: EI baseball, girls lacrosse and plays of the week On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," we look at East Islip baseball's inspirational comeback story, Jared Valluzzi has the plays of the week and Tess Ferguson breaks down the top defensive players in girls lacrosse.
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