By TONY BELLISSIMO
The Lady Jets compiled 86 points and tied for second with Hempstead, six points behind Massapequa. Senior Alex Simonoff (long jump) and juniors Michelle Beganskas (discus) and Tiffany Goodwin (shot put) all brought home county titles for coach Steve Josepher, who was pleased with the outcome.
"Our whole team really performed at counties," said Josepher, who is assisted by Jerry Farrell. "We scored in just about every event. We just have to tip our hat to Massapequa."
Beganskas qualified for the state meet last weekend at Cicero-North Syracuse High School and came close to picking up a medal. She finished eighth in the discus with a school-record throw of 120-feet, 3-inches. The effort was almost two feet longer than her throw at the county meet. "Michelle constantly reset her PR this spring," Josepher said. "She took a big leap."
Simonoff had a breakout year in more ways than one according to Josepher. Her county winning long jump was 15-feet, 11.5-inches, and she was also a key part of the 4 x 100 relay during the regular season. She's headed to New York University.
Goodwin's accomplishments at the county meet were rare. She took the shot put crown with a heave of 35-feet, 3-inches, and also came through with a third-place finish in the 100 meter dash in 13.43 seconds. "It's an unusual double," Josepher said of Goodwin being All-County in field and sprint events. "Tiffany's not a big kid, but she's strong. She gets every ounce of herself into the shot throw. She has good speed, balance and technique." Goodwin just missed a third All-County award when the 4 x 100 she anchored finished fourth.
East Meadow's 4 x 400 and 4 x 800 relays ran second. The 4 x 400, minus Arizona-bound Alyssa Graziano due to a toe injury, came up big with a time of 4:08.11 with seniors Sara Alpert and Nicole Battaglia, junior Jennifer Flores and sophomore Luisa Echeverry. The 4 x 800 (9:52.41) was comprised of Alpert, Flores, Hofstra-bound Cara Mattson and Bridget Faria, who is headed to New Haven.
"We had a tremendous senior class to lead us," Josepher said. "It was a tough thing for Alyssa to sit out. She was a part of three All-State relays for us during her career."
Echeverry (third in steeplechase) and fellow sophomore Sarah Elliott (second in discus) earned All-County honors in their respective events, and the latter was also fourth in the shot put. Mattson was fourth in the 3,000, senior Megan Hallquest was fourth in the discus, Battaglia was fifth in the 400 Intermediate Hurdles, and Alpert was fifth in the 800.
Comments about this story? TBellissimo@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 204.
Track title a first for East Meadow boys
East Meadow scored points in all 17 events, including five first-place finishes, to capture the first boys' track and field championship in program history.
The Jets ran away with the Division I-B crown, scoring 147 points to dethrone Baldwin. The Bruins were second (110), followed by MacArthur (97) and Port Washington (93).
"It was an outstanding effort," East Meadow coach Jim McGlynn said. "The kids wanted it bad. We lost a meet to Port Washington by a point during the regular season and I kept reminding them we could reverse the outcome in the division meet."
Junior Baffour Obiem paced the Jets with victories in the 110 High Hurdles and 400 Intermediate Hurdles. He went on to finish third in the Nassau Class AAA meet in the 110 HH and qualified for the state championships where he advanced to the final heat. "He can be No. 1 in the county in both events next year," McGlynn said.
Senior Harlan Abeshouse (shot put), junior Paolo Acuna (pole vault) and freshman Chris Garzia (triple jump) won their respective events at the division meet. Abeshouse, who was undefeated during the regular season in the shot put, placed third in Class AAA.
Acuna edged out sophomore teammate Tom Milian in the pole vault, and Garzia accounted for 24 points with a runner-up finish in the long jump and third place in the 110 HH to go with his triple jump title.
In sprinting events, East Meadow scored with juniors Robert Bright and Dan Chang in the 100, junior Eddie Velazquez in the 200, and Velazquez and sophomore Andrew Jean in the 400. Junior Dan Gomez picked up sixth place in the 800, 1,600 and 110 HH, while freshman Sean Grady and junior Joe Hatzelman were fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 3,200. Bright also scored in the shot put and Chang in the long jump. Junior Herbert Flores scored in two events as well, placing third in the shot put and sixth in the high jump.
"The kids had a goal and pushed each other every day," McGlynn said.
