Sacred Heart's Brigid Byrnes a double winner at CHSAA League Championships
Brigid Byrnes of Sacred Heart Academy races to victory in the girls 55 meter hurdles during the Nassau-Suffolk CHSAA track and field championships at St. Anthony's High School on Sunday, Jan. 23, 2023. She posted a time of 8.84 in the event. Credit: James Escher
Midterm week marked a midseason overhaul for Sacred Heart’s Brigid Byrnes. The senior needed time, of course, to prep for those tough midyear exams, but the shorter physical class time allowed her to spend a little more time on the track.
As far as the track and field tests go, Byrnes aced hers on Sunday.
She won the 55-meter hurdles in 8.84 seconds and jumped 16 feet, 4 ½ inches to win the long jump at the Nassau-Suffolk CHSAA League Championships at St. Anthony’s High School.
Byrnes was also second in the 300 in 42.26 seconds. Holy Trinity’s Logan Daley won the event in 42.02.
Byrnes dominated the hurdles, winning by nearly a full second — an eternity in the short event. Her trail leg, something that was a major focus of the week, hit the marks to perfection as she sprinted down the straightaway.
“I think it was just getting out a little slow and letting it float, instead of bringing it down really fast,” Byrnes said of her previous trail leg issues. “Something just kind of clicked today and it went really well.”
In the long jump, Byrnes said she needed more height, and she got that too.
“I was working on accelerating into the board,” she said.
Byrnes’ teammate, Maeve Going, won the 1,500 in 4:48 flat. She outlasted her opponents by 11.7 seconds, and said the quality of her fellow competitors caused her to race with more urgency early.
“I think, because of [the competition], I went out faster,” Going said.
St. Anthony’s won the team title with 96.33 points. Lindsey Yakaboski won the 1,000 in 3:03.29, thanks in part, she said, to more event-specific distance training. Yakaboski was voted Track MVP of the meet.
“I thought it went out pretty well,” Yakaboski said. “My goal was just to lead the race and win … I just wanted to run controlled, strong, and be confident.”
Yakaboski said she sees a big difference in results after a few months of the event-specific workouts, which carry her in events between 600-1,000 meters.
“When I run the 600, I feel like I now have the speed to get out and keep a pace,” she said.
Yakaboski’s St. Anthony's teammate, Camryn Daley, won the 55 in 7.28 seconds. Annalise Olsen added to the Friars' total with a 1:40.76 win in the 600.
St. Anthony’s Maria Chiariello won the shot put with a 39 foot, 4 ¼ inch throw and was named Field MVP. Chiariello’s throw is the third-farthest in the state this season, according to milesplit.com.
