Emily LaMena and Sofia Condron run Glenn girls to big wins

Both uncertainty and hope bloom eternal in the month of April on the Long Island track and field scene. As championship season quickly approaches, questions need to be answered. Who’s going to run what events at the big meets? Are the right athletes on each team going to peak in time to run fast in mid-May?

Here’s something that isn’t a question. The Glenn girls have most distances covered, thanks to Emily LaMena and Sofia Condron.

Those two figure to be involved in many high-pressure races in Suffolk this May, with anywhere from 400 meters to 3,000 on notice. Both athletes were in spectacular form Saturday, with each winning two events at the Bob Pratt Invitational at Smithtown East High School.

Condron, who is committed to Rutgers, won the 400 in 58.43 seconds and the 800 in 2:15.31. Her 800 time is the best in the state, according to milesplit.com. LaMena opened the meet with a 10:29.98 victory in the 3,000 and notched a 4:51.07 victory in the 1,500 later in the afternoon.

“It’s really great to have Sofia to train with,” LaMena said. “We can just work off each other and push each other. We try to feed off each other [training] in shorter intervals, speed work stuff. She’s definitely pushing me to try to stay with her and get faster.”

Condron left nothing to chance in her 400 victory, sprinting away from the field on the back straight and winning by nearly two seconds.

“I definitely tried to get out early,” Condron said. “That’s what I like to do, especially when I’m in the third lane. Lanes five and six seem like they’re in front of you [because of the staggered start], so I wanted to go hard and use whatever I had.”

Wind also played a part in Condron’s decision to move early. Although it was a fairly mild day, she felt slight whipping on the back straight and didn’t want it to become an issue. I was like, ‘I need to get out of this wind,’  ” Condron said.

Elsewhere, St. Anthony’s Giavanna Ciaravino won the 100 (12.50) and the 200 (25.78).

On the boys side, St. Anthony’s Nicholas Lourenco had all eyes on him as he won the pole vault, clearing 16 feet, 4 inches and barely missing 16-8. Lourenco’s current personal best is 16-7 and he came within a hair of breaking that twice.

“It’s kind of exciting,” Lourenco said of getting so close. “When I go home and watch the video of the first and third jump [at 16-8], I’m going to be so annoyed with myself because I’m right there. But it’s exciting to know I’m at that level like I was last year.”

Lourenco missed a large part of the indoor regular season with a stress fracture in his back, but is clearly close to breaking out outdoors. “I need a little more cardio and stamina,” he said. “I was a little sluggish at the end and I think that played a part in how the rest of the jump played out, but that’s all I think I can do and everything else will come together again.”

Commack won the boys team competition with 146 points and St. Anthony’s won the girls with 112.5.