Kellenberg girls track and field's Maya Hadpawat wins two titles at CHSAA championships
Kellenberg's Maya Hadpawat wins the 400-meter dash during the CHSAA Intersectional Championship on Saturday at Icahn Stadium on Randalls Island in Manhattan. Credit: Anna Sergeeva
Kellenberg junior Maya Hadpawat has officially reached stardom on the high school track and field scene. She is no longer “figuring it out” or “getting there.” She is a star, and she has the hardware to prove it.
Hadpawat won both the 400-meter hurdles and the 400 at the CHSAA Intersectional outdoor championships at Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island in Manhattan on Saturday. She opened the meet by winning the 400 hurdles in 1 minute, 1.78 seconds, which is fourth in the state, per MileSplit. She later fought through cold wind and rain to win the 400 in 58.12, just .04 seconds ahead of St. John the Baptist freshman Kylah Jackson.
Hadpawat, who wasn’t on any top 10 Long Island-times lists entering the season, won the meet’s track event MVP award. She is also more than two seconds clear of any other 400 hurdler on Long Island.
“I never would’ve imagined me coming this far in one season,” Hadpawat said. “I know my freshman self would be proud. It’s a huge honor to know that all that work I put in was for something.”
The CHSAA Intersectional meet is not only the state championship for Catholic school athletes, but also doubles as a qualifier for the state public school and Federation championships, scheduled for June 13-14 at Webster-Schroeder High School in Webster.
Hadpawat is holding her head high knowing that she has more races left to run — and potentially more medals left to win.
“This gives me a big boost of confidence and determination going into that states race,” Hadpawat said. “I know I’m going into my next meets with more trust in my capabilities.”
Elsewhere on the girls side, Sacred Heart junior Natalia Taylor won the shot put with a top throw of 35 feet, 1 inch, and the discus (114-6), earning herself field event MVP honors. St. Anthony’s senior Kiera Cameron, a St. Bonaventure commit, won the 2,000-meter steeplechase in 7:31.78 and the 800 in 2:17.44.
Cameron shares a similar struggle with her junior teammate, Gianna Bowman: nervousness. Both of them — independent of one another — share the same antidote to the problem: journaling.
Cameron saves her lane stickers from each meet and sticks them onto a page in her journal where she critiques the way she raced. Where journaling has served Bowman therapeutically, it serves Cameron analytically, helping turn her into a double champion.
“It feels amazing; I couldn’t ever have thought this would happen after last year,” Cameron said. “[Journaling] helps me find where I have gaps in my running. In the steeple, I was able to get my third lap faster. In the 800, I figured out I have to kick with 500 meters left instead of 400.”
Cameron’s performance helped St. Anthony’s score 80 points and win the team championship, with Sacred Heart placing second with 44 and Kellenberg following with 39.
Fordham Prep won the boys team championship with 53 points, ahead of Archbishop Stepinac (29). Chaminade scored 25 points and placed third. Senior Jonathan Szymanski took home field MVP honors with wins in the shot put (55-9) and discus (166-2).
However, Kellenberg had arguably the best showing of any Long Island boys team. Though the Firebirds scored only 23 points and tied for fourth place, they got some quality wins and times out of junior Zach Paggi, sophomore Aidan Hopkins and their 4 x 800 relay.
Paggi won the 800 in 1:53.93, and Hopkins ran 4:13.25 — the third-fastest time in the state — to win the 1,600. Hopkins then ran the second leg of the relay and Paggi anchored to help Kellenberg win in 7:52.64. Senior Dan Meenan led off and classmate Amir Ajenishe ran the third leg.
“That’s exactly what it’s all about: just to put ourselves in the conversation,” Paggi said. “We were underdogs for a while, but this is the whole goal, and that’s exactly what we’re doing. We’re on an upward trajectory — no ups and downs, just all ups.”
Mike Anderson is a high school sports reporter who has covered 12 sports so far at Newsday. He was the sports editor of Stony Brook University's campus newspaper for two years.
