HHS Girls' Track Leaves Mark
Huntington High School girls' winter track and field team left its mark last weekend at the Molloy-Stanner Invitational at the Armory in New York City.
In the 55m dash, J. Taylor Finley Middle School eighth grader Latoya Shand placed fourth. "Latoya's performance was just the start of an amazing meet," said Debra Chekes, the Blue Devils' head coach.
Suzie Petryk followed Shand's performance with a great effort in the one mile run. "Suzie has been improving in every meet and this race wasn't any different," Cheskes said. Petryk's time of 5:27.84 in the race places her among Suffolk's top distance runners.
Not to be outdone by Huntington's underclassmen, senior Dania Merilan broke her own school record in the 300m dash with a time of 43.34. Junior Adelia Witt also ran a personal best in the 300m, crossing the finishing line in 46.14.
Senior Jacquelin Gomez-Campos' hard work and boundless determination helped her establish a new personal best in the 55m high hurdles, blazing the distance in 9.78. "Jacqui is the perfect example of what every coach wants in an athlete," Cheskes said.
"She works hard at every practice and helps others in her events to achieve their goals."
The Blue Devils also put together a great showing in the relay events. "Going into this meet, the team knew that greatness was possible and within their grasp," Cheskes said. "All three relays were steadfast and can now proudly add their names to the record books."
In the 4x800m relay, Megan Healy, Alex Koumas, Hayley Drace and Petryk smashed the Huntington record in the event set in 2007 by over 14 seconds. In setting a new school mark of 10:35.49, Cheskes said that "each leg of the relay knew what they needed to run."
The 4x400m relay of Katie Healy, Adelia Witt, Morgan Mars and Kerri-Ann Giambruno broke Huntington's oldest standing indoor track record, which dates to 2004, by circling the track four times in 4:22.66. "All season the girls knew the time was possible, so it was just a matter of when," Cheskes said.
In the meet's last event, the 4x200m relay, Huntington shined once again. Merilan took off from the starting gun and handed the baton to Shand who grew the lead. Samantha Glicker and Catherine Koumas ran amazing third and fourth legs, respectively, to break the Huntington's 2011 school record with a time of 1:50.68.
"This meet really showcased our teams' depth and talent," Cheskes said. "With two meets left before the league championships, the team is peaking at just the right time and looking forward to improving their times."