By Jesse Serwer
³The team was in awe that this name from the record board had suddenly recognized their efforts,² said Bohman, who also coaches the boys¹ swimming team. ³It created a connection with the thousands of track and field athletes who had passed through South Side. I think we won the championship right there on the bus.²
The team did win, defeating Westbury for the county AA title and completing a season that also included the program¹s first division and conference championships. While county championships are the highest accomplishment for track and field teams, a number of South Side players will compete as part of a combined Nassau County team in the state finals at Syracuse on Friday.
As of press time, Kieran Wallis had qualified for the state championships in the 800-meter run, winning the event in a time of 1:59.0 at the county qualifier at Mitchel Field. Dante Davis and Wallis were set to compete in qualifiers for the 3,000-meter steeplechase, and the 1,600-meter run, respectively, as was the 4 x 800-meter relay team of Terence Moriarty, Dante Davis, Alan Artieda and Kieran Wallis.
Returning to the team after an appendectomy in the winter, junior Kervin Casimir, who was all-county in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes, broke the school record this year in the 100 with a time of 10.81 seconds. Dating back to 1962, it was the oldest record at the school, team members said.
Receiving all-county honors were Kieran Wallis, who ran the 1,600 in a best time of 4:24.0; Terence Moriarty, in the 1,600 and 3,200; Dante Davis, in the steeplechase; and Adam Cafarella, in the 400 meters. In addition, Wallis was county AA champion in the 800 meters with a time of 1:57.9.
Wallis, Moriarty, Davis, and Alan Artieda won the county title in the 4 x 800-meter relay. Charles Vella was county champion in the 200 meters. Overall, the team was 10-1 in head-to-head events.
³I think the hard work we put in at the beginning of the season, when the weather was bad, put us at a point where we were ready for the meets that really counted,² said co-captain Armand Vella.
Even Rockville Centre village trustees were talking about the team¹s performance at their last meeting. Trustee Greg Rinn, who officiates at high school track events in his spare time, called the team¹s performance against Westbury ³magnificent² and credited the team¹s ascent to great coaching on the part of Bohman and his assistants, Randy Dodd and Ken Pratt. ³I saw them at the beginning of the season, and I would not have given them the chance to win this championship,² Rinn said. ³The [players] put in a lot of work, and they had some coaches who knew how to get the most out of their team.²
Comments about this story? JSerwer@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 221.
