Jets soar in track and field

Spring is just around the corner, but the winter indoor track season hasn’t ended for several members of the East Meadow varsity teams.

On the boys side, junior Chris Garzia is headed to Cornell this weekend to compete in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Championships in the long jump.

Junior Sean Grady finished third (4:33.59) at the state qualifier meet at St. Anthony’s Feb. 17, and will join both Garzia and freshman Amanda Ashe, representing the Lady Jets. Ashe, also a County Champion at 1,500 meters, will run a leg of a relay team featuring the third-place finishers from the 300, 600, 1,000 and 1,500, after her finish at the state qualifier.

On top of being a freshman, Ashe is also a first-year indoor track athlete, and as a soccer player her speed translates well on the track. “I’ve coached 15 years and been to 33 of the last 34 state meets and this is the first time a freshman has qualified for me in an individual event,” Lady Jets coach Steve Josepher said of Ashe.

Garzia, who also stars in the 55 high hurdles and triple jump, focused solely on the long jump for the state qualifier, and it paid off, as his leap of 22 feet, 2 3/4 inches was good for second place. He’s also part of East Meadow’s shuttle relay team that currently owns the fastest time in the entire nation (30.57) and will compete at the Armory on Mar. 12-13. The shuttle relay team also consists of senior returnees Tom Milian and Tom Ford and sophomore newcomer Kyle Bettex. Like Garzia, Milian and Ford are among the County’s most versatile athletes. “They do everything except juggle on the track and they could probably do that if you ask them,” coach Jim McGlynn said.

Grady, the distance captain, was an integral part of East Meadow’s 10-3 cross-country team and followed up his finish at the Class A indoor championships with a fifth-place finish at last Saturday’s St. Anthony’s Invitational. Eighth-grader Michael Grady took fifth at the same meet in the freshman/sophomore mile with a time of 4:53.