Cashin, Kolhoff Earn All-Sectional Honors at State Qualifier

Just to set the record straight — East Hampton senior Dylan Cashin tried the 1,500-meter race walk once as a freshman — as more of a joke with a friend, she said, and hadn’t really given it much thought since, until this spring.

Typically running in long distance events like the 3,000-meter race or 2,000-meter steeplechase, Cashin, looking to score the most number of points possible for her team during dual meets, decided she’d give the walk another go. One meet led to another, and it turned out she had a bit of a knack for it.

After winning the Section XI “3A” title in the event on May 20, Cashin was back at it at the state qualifier at Comsewogue High School on Friday. While she may not have qualified for states, Cashin still accomplished more than she ever would have dreamed of by placing third overall in the county after finishing in 6:57.65. That not only earned her an All-Sectional plaque, but she smashed Nina Piacentine’s school record of 7:14.82, which was set in 2016.

Cashin was seeded fourth going into the race, and cracking into Sachem East’s strong trio of junior Gianna Mauri and seniors Abbigail Callinan and Danielle Chiarello, seemed unlikely. But being able to do so put a huge smile on Cashin’s face directly following the race.

“Third in the section, that’s, like, not at all what I was expecting,” she said with a laugh. “I was seeded fourth and the last couple of weeks I was training a lot trying to get sub-seven and I actually did it today which I’m super happy about. I took down Nina Piacentine’s record, and that was there for a pretty long time. So, I’m like, over the moon. But it’s a little unexpected because in winter season if you told me I was race walking, I would be, like, no.”

Cashin has one more track meet before she graduates, the New Balance Nationals, that she qualified for with her time. That will be this week, June 13-16, in Philadelphia, where Cashin said she’ll be going to just have some fun before she leaves for boot camp as she enters the U.S. Naval Academy upon graduation.

With her family, specifically her paternal grandfather and her own mother having military backgrounds, joining one of the armed forces had always been a possibility for Cashin, she said. She also really enjoyed her visit to the Naval Academy when she made the many different tours to various colleges last year.

“When I went to the Naval Academy, that was really the only one that stood out to me,” she said. “I’m a very Type-A routine person. When I went to all the other colleges, everyone’s walking around in their pajamas at 2 in the afternoon, and then I went to the academy and you see people walking around with purpose. It was really attractive.”

Cashin also said her work in community service led her down the path of joining the military.

“As I started doing service in my community, like the May Day [5K] and stuff, I realized I wanted to do something for more than just myself,” she said. “I think that the Naval Academy is really just exciting.”

Pierson junior Alex Kolhoff also earned All-Sectional honors after tying for third place in the high jump with Islip senior Kat Villalba after both cleared 5 feet in the same amount of attempts. Kolhoff also competed in the long jump in which she finished 22nd in the county with a leap of 14 feet 1 inch.

East Hampton girls track head coach Yani Cuesta said Kolhoff only started high jumping in the final meets of the season and she thanked her assistant coach, Eric Malecki, along with boys track head coach, Sean Knight, for working closely with her and making her incredible improvement in such a short time.

Pierson junior Greylynn Guyer and Pierson sophomore Sara O’Brien took first and second place, respectively, in their heat, ninth and 11th place overall, in the 2,000-meter steeplechase. Guyer crossed the finish line in 7:49.63, O’Brien in 7:51.89.

Both Guyer and O’Brien were in control of their race, leading for almost its entirety, when, on the last lap, O’Brien took a spill near the water pit and hit her head. After finishing the race, O’Brien was checked out for a concussion. All tests run by the training staff on hand said she didn’t have a concussion, but she was urged not to run anymore. O’Brien had placed eighth in the preliminary race of the 400-meter intermediate hurdles in 1:07.78 on the first day of competition, which qualified her for the finals. But she had to scratch from that as well as one of the legs on the girls 4x800-meter relay team.

The 4x8 wound up running with Pierson eighth-grader Maggie Greenwald in O’Brien’s place and finished 16th in the county in 10:40.88. Guyer, another Pierson eighth-grader Josie Mott and East Hampton senior Ryleigh O’Donnell also ran on the team.

“Our relay squad got moved up to the faster heat, which made the young squad nervous,” Cuesta said. “We had two eighth-graders run and overall the experience of being at the meet will help them be better prepared for next year. Other than Ryleigh, the rest of the relay squad was new to spring track.

“I need to give a shout out to Maggie for stepping up and filling in for Sara O’Brien,” she added. “She was asked to stick it out for an extra week as an alternate for the relay. She thought she wasn’t going to do anything, but we told them ‘you never know.’”

East Hampton sophomore Kaili Moore placed seventh in the county with a personal best throw of 34 feet 5 inches in the shot put. She also competed in the discus in which she threw 76 feet 11 inches, which put her 21st in the county. But Cuesta said Moore could continue to see marked improvement in the future.

“K.K. knows that she needs to start using the full spin to improve upon her throws at this point,” she said. “She seemed very pumped after this throw, and the itch to learn and improve is now there. The coaching staff and I are happy to see her growth.”

O’Donnell (2:26.57) and Guyer ( 2:26.8) finished 16th and 17th, respectively, in the 800-meter race. East Hampton sophomore Vicky Chen finished 19th overall in the pole vault after reaching a personal best 8 feet 6 inches. Junior Ali Muñoz finished 20th after clearing 8 feet.

“It was an incredibly great way to finish the season,” Cuesta said. “I’m so proud of all these girls.”