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Madison Phillips of Westhampton Beach in the 55-meter hurdles on Sunday. RON ESPOSITO
After winning its third straight league title last season, the Westhampton Beach girls indoor track team seems to be on the hunt for its fourth consecutive title this season.
The Hurricanes have continued to post top placements and times in many different events at a number of different meets. Leading the way is sophomore Lily Strebel who already has a pair of school records in her pocket. She set the new school record in the 1,000-meter race in a crossover meet at Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood on December 17, crossing the finish line in 3:00.15. Most recently, Strebel competed in the invitational one mile at the Hispanic Games at the Armory Track and Field Center in New York City on Friday and Saturday. She finished the race in 4:47.21, which converted to a 1,500-meter race is a new school record, according to Westhampton Beach girls head coach John Broich. Broich said Strebel was, as of Monday, ranked eighth in the state and third in the county in the 1,000 and eighth in the state and second in the county in the 1,500. Strebel ran at the Millrose Qualifier on Wednesday to see if she could qualify for the prestigious Millrose Mile.
For most of the Westhampton Beach girls, their latest meet was on Sunday at Suffolk-Brentwood, where they continued to do well. Halle Geller won the 55-meter dash in 7.80 seconds while teammate Hollie McAllister finished fifth in 8.24 seconds. Maya Cirincione won the 1,500-meter race walk in 8:07.21 with teammate Sydney Beardslee finishing right behind her in 9:27.01.
Madison Phillips placed third in the high jump (4 feet 8 inches), fourth in the 55-meter hurdles (9.54 seconds) and fifth in the shot put (25 feet 8 inches). Valeria Nazaretski placed third in the 1,500-meter race in 5:44.73 and Jamie Kelly placed third in the 1,000-meter race in 3:21.92.
The Westhampton Beach boys indoor track team was led by Max Haynia at its latest crossover meet on Saturday at Suffolk-Brentwood. He won both the 3,200 and 1,600, in 9:38.16 and 4:47.28, respectively.
Alessandro Imundi placed third in the 600-meter run in 1:55.29. The 4x400-meter relay team placed third in 4:15.09 and Jack Hendrickson placed fifth in the shot put with a throw of 38 feet 1 inch.
The Bishop Loughlin Games at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex on Staten Island on December 17 and 18 was a fun one for the Hampton Bays boys indoor track team. They set three new school records while competing.
Matthew Papajohn broke the school record in the 300-meter dash, finishing in 37.07 seconds, besting the previous record of 37.48 seconds set just last season. Joffre Proano set a new school record in the pole vault after reaching 11 feet, surpassing the 2003 record of 10 feet 6 inches. And the 4x200-meter relay team of Papajohn, Eli Amos, Charlie Garcia and Liam Sutton, set a new school record, completing the race in 1:37.11, topping the previous record of 1:40.22 set in 2019.
At the team’s most recent crossover on Saturday at Suffolk-Brentwood, Amos won the 55-meter dash in 6.90 seconds. Papajohn placed fourth in 7.08 seconds. Garcia placed second in the 600-meter run in 1:31.09. Proano tied with two others for fourth place in the long jump, leaping 17 feet 9 ¾ inches. Garcia and Proano finished fifth and sixth in the triple jump with leaps of 36 feet 7 inches, 34 feet 10 ½ inches, respectively.
Hampton Bays head coach Vincenzo Battaglia said his boys team has a lot of talent this season and has greatly improved from a year ago. He said the 4x2 will be looking to improve upon its new school record time, and to possibly get the program’s first ever spring medley relay finish in the record books as well, at the Steve Borbet Invitational at the Armory Track and Field Center this Friday.
“The big thing that we’re trying to improve drastically is on our league rankings,” Battaglia said. “We’re hoping for a top three finish, which would be a big improvement from last year. I think we’ll do well there and then maybe do well at Small Schools where we’ll see how many guys we are to go to the state qualifier.”
