Season Comes to a Close at State Qualifier Meet for Bonackers; Girls 4x4 Breaks 27-Year-Old School Record

The East Hampton/Pierson/Bridgehampton girls track team closed out what was a historic season at the state qualifier at Comsewogue High School on June 5 and 6.

A week after its best performances at counties in decades, the Bonackers went to state quals with the largest number of competitors since Yani Cuesta has been head coach, and while no one qualified for the New York State Outdoor Track and Field Championships, there were still some notable performances.

Speaking of history, the 4x400-meter relay team of East Hampton senior Alex Kolhoff, Pierson freshman Josie Mott, East Hampton sophomore Laura Martinez and Pierson junior Sara O’Brien finished in 4:09.19, breaking the previous school record of 4:10.66 (handheld) set by Crystal Winter, Taneesha Harris, Erin Ingraham and Erin Becker in 1998. Their time also placed them sixth, which qualified them for the finals the very next day, where they finished eighth in 4:14.35.

Pierson senior Greylynn Guyer finished fourth in the 2,000-meter steeplechase in 7:25, which improves her own school record, which she eclipsed three different times this season. Her finish earned her All-Sectional honors.

East Hampton junior K.K. Moore, coming off her county-title performance at the county meet a week prior, finished sixth overall in the discus with a personal best throw of 99 feet 11 inches. According to Cuesta, it’s the first time a Bonac girl reached the finals of the discus at the state qualifier. Leah McCarron, also a junior, finished 12th with a throw of 90 feet 2 inches. McCarron and Moore also competed in the shot put where McCarron finished 12th (32 feet 3 ½ inches) and Moore 16th (30 feet 8 ¾ inches).

O’Brien qualified for the finals in the 400-meter intermediate hurdles after finishing eighth in the preliminaries in 68.21 seconds. She wound up finishing seventh overall in the finals in 67.84 seconds. East Hampton junior Sophia Figueroa (73.42 seconds) and Pierson freshman Maggie Greenwald (74.42 seconds) also competed in the same race.

East Hampton freshman C.J. Echavarria competed in the 100-meter high hurdles where she crossed the finish line in 16.90 seconds. Martinez also competed in the 400-meter dash which she finished in 62.62 seconds. And East Hampton junior Vicky Chen reached 8 feet 6 inches in the pole vault.

The Bonac boys were represented at state quals by four different athletes. East Hampton junior Liam Knight (52.24 seconds) and Bridgehampton sophomore Xavier Johnson (54.30 seconds) both competed in the 400-meter dash. Johnson was dealing with a leg injury going into the race but opted to run it.

Pierson senior Edmar Gonzalez-Nateras finished out his high school running career. He finished 21st in the 800-meter run in 2:05.23. And East Hampton senior Abe Stillman did as well reaching 12 feet in the pole vault.

“We are continuing to build the program,” boys head coach Sean Knight said. “This year we brought more athletes to the county meet and state qualifier than in years past and had some great results.”

Knight said he’s looking forward to see what rising seniors Liam Knight, his son, Sean Perez, Franco Palombino, Eduardo Calle and Charlie Stern can do next year.

“We want to congratulate Edmar Gonzalez-Nateras and Abe Stillman for a fantastic finish to their seasons at the state qualifier,” Knight said. “Abe finished second in his division in the pole vault at 12 feet, the highest vault jump in many years! Edmar will be continuing his running career at Manhattan University, while Abe heads to Columbia University and will also continue his vaulting career.”