Ward Melville's Anthony Anatol a double sectional track champion after winning 3,200 and 1,600

Had Ward Melville senior Anthony Anatol stayed within the family tradition, the Suffolk running scene would look way different.

Anatol is the son of Stony Brook University men’s soccer coach Ryan Anatol, and is also a former soccer player himself. He has run for the Patriots’ track and field team since the spring of his freshman year, but soccer came first back then. After all, he thought that was what he was supposed to do.

Anatol’s training was not that of a long-distance runner, but of a soccer player. However, after two years of not living up to his own expectations as a soccer player, Anatol began to have a change of heart. His love for running grew, as did his success on the track. Come the late summer of 2024 — his junior year — Anatol was tasked with a hard decision: leave the family’s sport for cross country, or try to compete for playing time on Ward Melville’s varsity soccer team.

Anatol knew which option he wanted to choose, and his father was perfectly OK with it. And now, thanks to his dad’s support, Anatol is a double sectional champion. He won the 3,200 meters on Day 1 of the Suffolk outdoor track and field state qualifier at Comsewogue High School in Port Jefferson Station on Thursday, and then doubled up with a win in the 1,600 in Day 2 on Friday.

“Originally, when I was in between the two sports, I would stay up late, wondering if this was all for nothing,” Anatol said. “My dad was taking me to indoor facilities to train for soccer, watching games, going to soccer practices. I was hesitant at first. What if I chose track and it didn’t work out? With a Division I coach for a dad, it’s big shoes to fill, but he was so supportive of me switching. He really emphasized that as long as I put in the work, he was going to be proud of me no matter what.”

Anatol won the 3,200 in 9 minutes, 20.64 seconds and the 1,600 in 4:17.86. He was also the top finisher in Class A.

“To go all-in on track and quit soccer for cross country, do that summer training, get that higher mileage and hill workouts in, it was such a great decision,” Anatol said. “Even though it was hard at the time, I think it paid off. Back in the soccer days, I remember just trying to get a starting spot on the junior varsity squad, so to be where I am now is almost an anomaly, but I’m fortunate to have such great coaches and teammates.”

Commack's Pisciotta a double winner

Commack senior Anthony Pisciotta also won two sectional championships, winning the discus on Day 1 with a throw of 178 feet, 10 inches and then the shot put on Day 2 with a mark of 53-7 ¾. He also swept the sectional throwing championships during the indoor season, as he won both the shot put and the weight throw then.

However, doom followed his winter performance. Pisciotta played pickup basketball and dislocated his shoulder just three days before the indoor state meet. He missed out on a big opportunity — one that he is excited to get another shot at.

“I’m never playing that ever again,” Pisciotta said with a laugh. “I feel like now at states, I have to make up for the winter. My arm is all good now. It definitely feels great, especially off the injury, that I caught back up. Hopefully I can medal in the shot and win the disc.”

Connetquot's Molter, Lindenhurst's Albert star

Connetquot senior Alex Molter broke his own Suffolk all-time record of 16-1 by another inch in the pole vault, set last week in the Suffolk Class B championships, as he cleared 16-2 on Day 2.

Lindenhurst junior Luke Albert also had a big Friday, placing first overall in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 9:47.69.

He had never won a county or sectional title before. Even more impressively, Lindenhurst does not have a water pit or barriers for him to accurately practice the steeplechase. Instead, he jumps over high hurdles and splashes into sand pits, to try and simulate the real deal.

Apparently, Albert himself is the real deal.

“I don’t have the luxury to practice this everyday, but my work ethic compensates for it,” Albert said. “I feel confident in myself to get it done with just hurdles. I know what I need to do and if I do that, I’ll get there. I just have to keep pushing and use that mentality.”