Banner spring for Lady Bulldogs

Most of the competition couldn’t keep pace with Hewlett’s girls’ track and field team this spring. The Lady Bulldogs went undefeated during the regular season and captured the Division 3A title, crowned five county champions and produced three state meet qualifiers.

“It’s one of the better seasons we’ve had over the last 10 years,” coach Stephen Honerkamp said. “Garden City had a stacked team, and second place in the county isn’t bad. We won five of the six field events and had a lot of girls meet or surpass their goals.”

Samantha Locke (pole vault), Anna Obed (shot put) and Vanessa Pierre (long jump) represented Hewlett at the New York State championships last weekend at Vestal High School after winning their respective events in the state qualifier meet on June 3.

Pierre, a junior, earned All-State honors, placing third with a leap of 17-feet, 11 1/4-inches. On May 25, she won her third straight Nassau Class A title in the long jump. “It was a big breakthrough for her,” Honerkamp said. “I knew she had it in her. She picked up the pace in the last two weeks.”

Locke's proved the top pole vaulter at the state qualifier, clearing the bar at 9-feet, and went on to finish 12th in the state. She won the division championship in the event, while sophomore teammate McKerrah Knopf captured the Nassau Class AA title. Locke was also division champ and All-County (third place) in the 100 high hurdles.

Obed, who in the Bulldog Invitational on May 15 became the first girl in school history to throw the shot more than 40 feet, topping the plateau by six inches, won the county title and was runner-up to senior teammate Funmi Akinnawonu in the discus. Akinnawonu, described by Honerkamp as "the heart and soul of the team," threw 111-9 to win the event by more than 10 feet.

Of Hewlett's county champions, senior Makisa Francis was the biggest surprise based on the fact she wasn't ranked in the top five in the high jump. But her 5-10 leap tied her with Liz Textor of South Side and Jennifer Mule of Wantagh for Class AA supremacy. It was a repeat for Francis. "A lot of things didn't go her way this spring, but Makisa rose to the occasion," Honerkamp said. "To repeat as champion is a big deal."

The Lady Bulldogs' top sprinter, senior Allie Spector, won the 100 dash at the division meet and was part of a 4 x 400 relay which finished third in Class AA. Pierre, junior Natalie Herzberg, who won the 800 in the division meet, and sophomore Jayla Therancy, the division long jump champ, were also part of the relay.