Thursday, March 27, 2025
On heels of winning a conference title three weeks earlier, the Hewlett girls’ track & field team exceeded expectations on the county stage.
The Bulldogs raced to a fourth-place finish at the Nassau Class B championships held at St. Anthony’s High School in Huntington on Feb. 5. Longtime coach Stephen Honerkamp said the finish was a solid one considering it was a younger team that went into the event short-handed due a conflict with school band trip to Disney World that same day. .
“We ended up with a pretty young team so it has been a a lot of learning and teaching during the year and we have been trying to keep it fun and have a good time and then they really started competing well,” Honerkamp said. “We had a lot of good performances at counties.”
Hewlett totalled 56 points to finish just seven behind third-place Manhasset. The team was missing a portion of the roster due to the Disney trip, but some opted to still take part and head to Orlando later on, according to Honerkamp
Sophomore Valeria Paez shined in the counties with a first-place showing in the the 1000 meters. She edged out Manhasset’s Madeleine Quinlan by 1.3 seconds in acome-from-behind triumph
“She was boxed in a little bit and was patient and and then she ran these two girls down on the last straightaway, which with indoors there isn’t a lot of room,” Honerkamp said. “This girl is all heart and guts and she does everything right.”
Junior Maree Drayling also won a county title in the pole vault after finishing second in the event last two years.
Senior Maeve Williams was another star performer in the field events with a second place performance in the weight throw. Sophomore Janee Llanos places third in the triple jump with a personal best leap to also key the ream’s strong county performance.
Hewlett’s solid finish in the counties came after conquering the Conference IV championship on Jan. 13 at St. Anthony’s by edging out Manhasset and South Side. Paez played an instrumental role in the title by winning the 600 meters event. Drayling also won the pole vault with teammate Jayden Yochai placiing second.
The conference crown marked Hewlett;’s 50th total championship in program history for both the indoor and outdoor track seasons. Honerkamp, who is in his 29th year as head coach, said the success underscores the deep commitment his runners and field event athlketes have displayed over the decades.
“We've probably won more championships than almost every other program put together so I think it says a lot about our program and our dedication,” Honerkamp said. “We've had a lot of this great kids that came through our program and a lot of kids that competed in college.”
Honerkamp has high hopes for the upcoming outdoor season where he will likely have a bigger roster to work with. The team will have added motivation for success with Hewlett set to host the county championships for the first time on May 19.
