By TONY BELLISSIMO
He was right on the money with his prediction, but much to his surprise and satisfaction the Lady Jets exceeded expectations. They tallied 93.25 points to win the title by a comfortable margin. Baldwin was runner-up with 76 points and Uniondale finished third with 57.5.
"We had an incredible day," Josepher said. "It's a special championship because it's our first one with my assistant Jerry Farrell, who does a great job coaching kids in field events. I honestly didn't expect more than 80 points. To crack 90 was tremendous."
Senior Nicole Banker, juniors Sara Alpert and Alyssa Graziano and sophomore Jennifer Flores advanced to last weekend's state meet at the University of Buffalo and placed seventh in the 4 x 800 relay with a time of 9-minutes, 18.58-seconds. Earlier this season in the event, the foursome produced the fastest outdoor time in the county in 15 years. "I couldn't have asked for more from them," Josepher said. "It was a very fast race, and they were right in the thick of it."
In the county meet, Alpert and Flores joined with junior Bridget Faria and sophomore Valerie Sanders to take the 4 x 800 title in 9:46.0. Junior Nicole Battaglia teamed with Alpert, Banker and Graziano to produce a second-place finish in the 4 x 400 relay, and hooked up with junior Alex Simonoff and sophomores Kasey Lesner and Tiffany Goodwin in the 4 x 100 that placed fifth. "We scored 20 points in the relays," Josepher said.
The 800 and discus events is where East Meadow separated itself from the rest of the pack. Banker (2:17.7), Graziano (2:20.1) and Alpert (2:24.0) ran second, third and fourth, respectively, in the 800. The discus saw senior Yordanka Aleksieva win the county championship with a throw of more than 104 feet, and sophomore Michelle Beganskas and freshman Sarah Elliot place second and fourth, respectively. "The discus is coach Farrell's favorite event, and I feel he's the best at teaching it," Josepher said. "Yordanka started throwing three years ago and has been All-County every year. She's consistent with it."
A pair of game races by Flores also helped. She was second in the 1,500 (4:58.0) and second in the 3,000 (10:45.6). "Jen battled through injuries this spring and came up huge," Josepher said. "She's tough, and she's a racer. I knew she'd give it her best."
Other clutch performances were turned in by Banker (second in 400), Graziano (fifth in 400), Simonoff (sixth in high jump), Goodwin (third in shot put) and Elliot (sixth in shot put).
"We're losing a couple of great athletes," Josepher said, "but we have a strong junior class and a bunch of underclassmen with a lot of upside."
Comments about this story? tbellissimo@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000, ext. 204.
