By STEVE SINISKI
Nicole Banker, Alissa Graziano, Krissy Majkowski and Sara Alpert competed in the 4 x 800-meter relay run at the Nike Indoor Nationals in Landover, Md., on March 11, placing 13th overall. Banker previously earned 13th place in the 600-meter run at the New York State Indoor Track and Field Championships at Cornell University on March 3. Graziano, meanwhile, was part of a Section VIII 4 x 800-meter relay team for Nassau County that finished fourth at Cornell.
³It¹s a stepping stone for next year when she¹ll be a senior,² coach Steve Josepher said of Banker, who posted a time of 1 minute, 38.8 seconds ‹ one second off her personal best. ³It was the perfect experience as a junior. She came into her own athletically and was one of our main leaders.²
The relay team qualified for the Nike Indoor Nationals by running the fastest time in Nassau County this season, a blistering 9:32 in the Pepsi Hall of Fame Classic at the Armory on Feb. 17. That was 14 seconds better than the 9:46 teams needed to gain entry into the national competition.
The late-season races were merely an exclamation mark on yet another banner year for the Lady Jets on the indoor track, as they captured their eighth consecutive Nassau County conference crown and finished second in the Nassau County championships to Uniondale. The East Meadow team showed extreme depth, with nine of its athletes earning All-County honors and 21 taking home All-Conference nominations.
³East Meadow is one of the best school districts to coach in,² Josepher said. ³It¹s a group of hardworking families and the kids are often the same way.²
Banker and Graziano were named All-County in the 600, while Majkowski earned the same honors in the 1000. Lama Awad was All-County in the high jump, and Kim Slagus earned the same nomination in the 1,500 - meter racewalk. Saraya Hyder finished the year as an All-County runner in the 3,000, and the 4x800 relay team of Adrianna Arguelles, Jen Flores, Bridget Faria and Majkowski rounded out the All-County performers.
³It¹s been a snowball effect,² Josepher said of the team¹s continued success. ³When I started in 1996, we had five athletes. Now it¹s 70. They know they¹ll have fun, and they know they¹ll have to work hard.²
In addition to the nine All-County performers, 12 additional Lady Jets finished in the top three in their events at the Nassau County championships on Jan. 17, giving the team 21 All-Conference honorees. In the 1000, East Meadow swept the top three places with Alpert leading the convoy in a time of 3:15.9. Flores was second (3:16.5) and Majkowski (3:17.2) crossed the line third. Roxanne Smith (5:18.8) and Melissa Wagner (5:27.6) finished second and third, respectively, in the 1,500, while Kim Slagus (8:29.5) took second in the 1,500-meter racewalk. Hyder (11:12.2) and Kara Mattson (11:12.2) were second and third, respectively, in the 3,000, and Tracy Rivas finished second in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 9.9 seconds. She was just two-thousandths of a second behind the lead runner in the event. Graziano (1:51.4) edged out Banker (1:51.6) in the 600.
The 4x400 relay team of Brittany Walsh, Marissa Calabrese, Shannon McGuinness and Alpert ran away with first place, finishing more than six seconds better than the second-place squad from Port Washington. The 4x800 relay team of Elsa Echeverri, Christina Mustakis, Faria and Arguelles fought off competition from Long Beach to also win first.
³It¹s nice as a coach because you don¹t have to be nervous,² Josepher said of bringing such a deep team to the conference and county championship meets.²
The success wasn¹t limited to the track, however, as Awad set the bar in the high jump, taking first with a top jump of 4-feet, 10-inches, and Alex Simonoff was second with a jump of 4-6. In the shot put, Alexa Borresen was third with a top throw of 26-02
