Duggal Finishes Third in 1,000 at Small Schools Championship; Southampton Girls 4x2 Still On Track for State Qualifier

In a season that the Southampton boys indoor track team has lacked consistency, Christian Duggal has been just that.

The senior has routinely shown up to practice this season, and even when he’s not at practice, he’s still running. That led to Duggal finishing third in the 1,000-meter race in a personal best 2:37.83 at the Small Schools Championship at Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood on Saturday.

“This is my first year as head coach, but I’ve had Christian the last three years when I was an assistant, and this is the first kid for me who is as focused as he is,” boys head coach Eddie West said. “He knows what he wants to do. There’s no nonsense with him, just goes out and works. He doesn’t skip practices, he just goes out there and performs.”

The plan going forward, West said, is that Duggal will compete in the 1,600-meter race at the Section XI Championships, otherwise known as the state qualifier, which is Tuesday, February 11, back at Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood. At this time of year, a lot of teams and athletes do some posturing to see who will compete in each race and where their best path to the state championships can be. As of Monday, West, and Duggal for that matter, felt the 1,600 was the better route, although things can change between now and then.

Whether he runs in the 1,000 or the 1,600, Duggal will have to place in the top two of either race, which will include runners from both large and small schools, to qualify outright for states. Duggal can also go to states if he places third and finishes with the state qualifying standard time. If he places fourth, he’ll have a shot at possibly running on a Section XI intersectional relay team at states. A top-four finish would also nab All-County honors.

Duggal was the only boy to represent Southampton on Saturday, which is a bit of a turnaround from the excitement that was building around the program going into the season. There were a few dual-sport athletes who were not only expected to reach states in their primary sports, but in track as well.

For one reason or another, West said, those dual athletes didn’t pan out, and many of the other athletes on the team didn’t meet the requisite number of meets (six) to be able to qualify in the postseason.

“I wish it could have been better than what it was,” West said. “We had a great chance of winning the 4x2 in our league, but things happen. It is what it is. We just have to move on to next season, and I do think the spring season will be a whole lot different than the winter. They’re going to be in one sport, they won’t be dual athletes. And I have no problem with the dual athletes, it’s just they have to be committed.”

Girls 4x2
Will Regroup

The Southampton girls 4x200-meter relay team did not have its best performance at the Small Schools Championship at Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood on Sunday, but as head coach Eddie Arnold noted, all is not lost. The girls will run at the state qualifier, where, due to new rules implemented this season, they will have a good shot at advancing to states, which are accepting small schools relays for the first time. In previous years, small schools had to compete with the large schools.

Katie Terry, Zoey Sulph, Reese Switochia and Emma Suhr finished their 4x2 race on Sunday in 1:56.01, which placed them eighth out of 17 teams and is about a full second off their season’s best. Arnold said that his team is currently seeded second among similarly sized schools, with Elwood-John Glenn, which is currently the top seed, running a 1:54.82 on Sunday. Babylon (1:57.02), Port Jefferson (1:59.46), Bayport-Blue Point (2:01.97) and Hampton Bays (2:05) all follow.

One winner from that group, Arnold said, will represent Suffolk’s Small Schools at states.

“And it’s going to be the one team take that doesn’t make the mistake,” he said. “It’s a crap shoot, it’s a roll of the dice. We have a legitimate shot, and again, I have to give it up for the girls who have been dealing with so much between the play, schoolwork. There’s a lot on the line. It’s not just about track, it’s about wellness. But the girls have been outstanding in the way they’ve been able to shift gears. They’ve all worked so hard.”

Lili Telvi finished the 1,000-meter race on Sunday in a personal best 3:33.39. Suhr also started that race, but pulled herself out due to an injury. Arnold said she should be good to go for the state qualifier.