Hewlett captures Class AA track title

At this time of the year in Nassau County, lacrosse usually takes center stage, with baseball, softball, prom, and graduation following behind. The track and field participants, who go through grueling workouts and mental preparation to ready themselves for competition, are often overlooked.

At Hewlett High School, the girls’ track and field team has racked up numerous titles, and it has done so in relative anonymity. It would be hard not to get excited about this year’s accomplishments.

With contributions coming from numerous competitors, the 2016 Lady Bulldogs went undefeated, and earned division, conference, and county championships. 

Hewlett secured county supremacy by narrowly defeating Garden City at the Nassau Class AA championships at Glen Cove High School on May 26. The Lady Bulldogs picked up 85 points, while the Trojans had 78. It was the first county title for Hewlett since 2004. 

Long-time head coach Steve Honerkamp couldn’t be happier with his team’s accomplishments. “Track and field doesn’t draw a lot of fans or get the attention that other sports get, but these girls have a lot of pride,” Honerkamp said. “They’re a tenacious group. They battle hard in practice and bring that tenacity to the meets. They’re very proud of all that they’ve accomplished, and they deserve a lot of credit.”

If the Lady Bulldogs needed examples of determination and perseverance to motivate them, they got one from Patsy Iannico in the 400 intermediate hurdles. 

Iannico got banged up when she fell at the first hurdle, but she didn’t let the fall keep her down. She sprung up and started to get back in the race. The relentless sophomore ran down every runner on the track and thrust herself, bloody knees and all, across the finish line in 01:09.69, just .30 ahead of Garden City’s Julia Forbes. 

Senior Cynthia DeBranche got a big win in her last county meet. DeBranche finished first in the 100 meter high hurdles in 16:53. Iannico finished in third place in the event. Iannico, senior Jackie Velasquez, and sophomores Adanaya Kay-Njemanze and Gabby Barnes later finished fourth in the 4x400 relay.

Freshman Ronnie Hillel had a day for the ages. She won the pole vault with a personal best of 8-6, finished second in the triple jump at 33-10 ¾, and surprisingly placed third in the long jump despite being unseeded. Her 16-3 ¼ was a personal record.

Hillel was pushed by one of her teammates. Fellow freshman Morgan Lee registered personal records in the triple jump, where she finished third, and the long jump, where she took fourth place. 

Another member of the Class of 2019 contributed for the Lady Bulldogs. Kaylin Forbes came into the 1500 meters unseeded, but she ran a spirited race and finished a very respectable fifth. 

Senior Sabrina Feldman served a terrific role model for the underclassmen. She finished in the top 10 in both the long jump and triple jump, and earned fourth place in the high jump with a leap of 4-10.