Mepham blazes to new heights

In the blink of an eye, the Mepham Lady Pirates moved from also-rans to near frontrunners in Nassau Class AA track and field. After a strong winter season brought hope, the spring track team turned the potential into results, capturing second place at the Class AA county championships at Westbury High School.

“We had a lot of new girls, freshmen and sophomores that just clicked,” coach Anthony Serravite, a first-time winner of the Class AA Coach of the Year award, said of his team, which finished next-to-last in 2011 before making this spring’s huge leap forward. “It was a lot of hard work, but they took the torch and ran with it. It was a big team effort.”

A number of performers turned in personal bests, including every single leg of the 4x-800 relay team that knocked off Garden City’s powerhouse foursome by less than half a second (9:59.7-10:00.4) in the finals. Sophomores Toni Simpson and Nadine Simpson, freshman Andrea D’sa and the anchor, sophomore Kaitlyn Convey, each turned in personal best times. “[Garden City] had a [relay] team a lot of teams fear,” Serravite said. “But the girls were focused and ready and said they would not go down without a fight.”

Toni Simpson’s third-place finish in the 800m (2:25.4) was also a personal best time. Sophomore Maria Skidmore took eighth in both the 3,000m run and 2,000m steeplechase, while sophomore Emily Hagarty was a standout for the Lady Pirates in a number of events, earning All-County honors for placing among the top six in the triple jump (second), high jump (third) and pole vault (third) in Class AA. Junior Kelsey Simpson took third place in the 200 dash (27.0) and fourth at 400m (58.5), while senior Gabrielle Bernadotte was sixth in the 100m hurdles (18.2) and the 400m hurdles (1:13.7). Bernadotte was also the lead leg of the 4x400m relay team that finished third (4:16.6) with freshman Tara DeRosa, junior Anarita Lynch and Simpson, the anchor, each running a leg. Junior Francesca Ackerman was a strong performer in the pole vault and sprint events this spring.

A solid senior class provided both production and key leadership for the Lady Pirates, with Nina DiFranco, Sarah Kabak, Francesca Olivo, Lindsey Hanes and Tricia Leavy all playing key roles on a team that finished undefeated in its division and lost just two meets all season. “It was a great bunch of girls and they all worked together” Serravite said. “Everyone was there to support each other. It’s been a dream season and the girls are still on cloud nine.”