Hurricanes Ehlers, Haynia And Hayes All Qualify For Indoor Track State Meet

For those who think a race consists of just runners going around a track, think again.

Just like in most sports at high levels, there is strategy involved, and it was on display in the 3,200-meter race at the Section XI Indoor Track and Field Championships at Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood on Monday night.

Westhampton Beach senior Gavin Ehlers and his teammate, junior Max Haynia, had a plan in mind going in to the 3,200. With Ehlers also competing in the 1,000-meter race on Monday night, the plan was for the two — who finished first and second at the Small Schools Championships the week prior — to set a slow pace and slowly build their lead throughout the race. It worked for about half the race, but then Haynia, feeling uncomfortable with the pace, started to pull away with a sizeable lead a little too early, so Ehlers had to make alternative plans.

Ehlers blocked Commack senior Andrew Rosenblatt in any way he could, and when Rosenblatt made an assertive move to pass both Haynia and Ehlers with 200 meters left in the race, Ehlers turned on the boosters down the stretch, staving off Rosenblatt and passing Haynia in the process to cross the finish line in 9:38.69 and win the county title. Haynia held on for second, crossing in 9:38.93, with Rosenblatt finishing third in 9:39.48.

Maybe it didn’t go according to plan, but the end the result was what the pair wanted.

“I think 800 meters through, I was running [a slow place] and realized that it could kind of screw me over towards the end if I kept sitting there, so I had to go and take over a little bit and keep it there,” Haynia explained. “Gavin just started to play, like, bodyguard, kind of, and made sure Rosenblatt would not go around so it gave me more space toward the end of the race.

“Rosenblatt probably hates me,” Ehlers joked. “I took every opportunity I could — if he tucked behind me I’d slow things down, if he went outside I’d keep him there on the turns — just to make life harder for him. Obviously, I made sure not to do anything illegal. I didn’t shove him out or anything, just made life a little more difficult for him. Towards the end, I was definitely keeping an eye out behind me. He was closing hard. I knew Max and I both had enough left in the tank to get it done.”

Did it help Ehlers in the 1,000, though, as it was supposed to? Kind of.

Ehlers wasn’t expecting to have much time between the 3,200 and the 1,000, but ultimately, with the meet lagging a bit, he wound up having 45 minutes to spare, which messed with him both mentally and physically. Still, he had a competitive race with Northport senior Wyeth Semo, but it was Semo who came out on top, crossing the finish line in 2:35.44. Ehlers finished in 2:37.09, but he qualified for states in the event, along with the 3,200. Haynia also qualified for states in the 3,200, and will be joined by sophomore Trevor Hayes who placed second in the 1,600-meter race in 4:32.99.

The New York State Indoor Track and Field Championships are March 5 at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex on Staten Island.

“That was a toughy,” Ehlers said of the 1,000. “On a better day for me, it would have been in the cards. It was going to be a close race regardless. Wyeth is a great runner, has great foot speed. It took so long in between the races. They called us and then just had us standing there for about 45 minutes. Supposed to be 15 minutes after the call, so I got a little bit more than I bargained for. As soon as I took a stride beforehand, I could feel that lactic acid build up, and I was like, ‘I’m probably not going to win this. I’ll go out there and try my best,’ so I’m pretty happy with second.”

Ehlers, Haynia and Hayes, along with possibly Colbie Mason, who had his county pole vaulting meet on Wednesday, will be the only athletes representing Westhampton Beach at states, but it was a solid turnout for both boys and girls teams at the qualifier.

Will Barry finished eighth in the boys shot put with a throw of 42 feet 5 inches. Halle Geller finished her strong season in the girls 55-meter dash by finishing fifth in the county in 7.55 seconds. She was the only freshman in the county to reach the finals.

After finishing third in the preliminaries of the 300-meter dash, Valerie Finke finished fifth in the finals in 43.55 seconds. She also competed in the 55-meter hurdles, in which she finished eighth in 9.33 seconds. Lily Strebel finished seventh in the 600-meter run in 1:44.20. Keira Falvey and Rose Hayes finished eighth and ninth, respectively, in the 1,000-meter race, in 3:17.99 and 3:19.20. Both also competed in the 1,500-meter race, in which Hayes (5:12.18) finished 11th and Falvey (5:27.73) finished 16th. The girls also had a 4x400-meter relay team finish seventh in 4:21.57 and a 4x200-meter relay team that finished 10th in 1:57.53.

Timothy Kraycar was the lone Hampton Bays representative at the state qualifier. Competing in the shot put, the senior finished in fourth place with his best throw being 46 feet 1 ¼ inches.