Southampton Girls Track Fares Well At County Meet, Highlighted by 4x100-Meter Relay Champions

The Southampton girls track team had a number of top performances at the Suffolk County Class C Championships at Mount Sinai High School on Monday.

The girls were headlined by a trio of Livia Lombardi, their 4x100-meter relay team and Jeorgiana Gavalas. Lombardi, coming off a strong performance at the Loucks Games, cleared a personal best 5 feet 3 inches to place second and be All-County in the high jump behind Southold junior Olivia Misiukiewicz, who only cleared one inch higher. What’s more important for Lombardi is that she cleared what her head coach Eddie Arnold called a “super standard,” so all the junior has to do is show up at the state qualifier, which is June 1 and 2 at Comsewogue High School, and she’ll punch her ticket to the New York State Track and Field Championships, which are the following weekend at Middletown High School.

Sophia Oliveri, Diamond Brown, Emily Zukosky and Kyla Cerullo made up the 4x1 team for the Mariners that won the ‘C’ title, crossing the finish line in 51.83 seconds, which is just .46 of a second off their personal best set at the Loucks Games. The quartet was the top seed going into the race Monday evening but everything went right they all said to come through with the county title.

“This is a really special moment for me because I’m a senior and this was the last chance for me to get on the board,” she said. “Just to be recognized,” she reassured, “because I’ve been in this sport for five years and I felt like nothing I’ve done has paid off enough, but now that I have this, this is my team, us four. If it was a solo picture I don’t think I would have liked it. I’d rather it be all of us. That was really my goal for this season and I’m really glad we accomplished that this season and I wouldn’t have wanted to do it without anyone else.”

The squad had a really good shot at qualifying for states, but due to a conflict between Southampton’s Junior/Senior Prom and the state meet, the girls’ final race together was actually Monday. The discrepancy between the prom and the state meet actually lies in transportation. The bus to go up to Middletown leaves Thursday morning, June 8, and prom is later on that night. Both Southampton coaches and school officials tried to get involved to provide private transportation to states for the girls who it affected, but as per Section XI rules, the athletes must be on that bus that leaves the morning prior to the actual competition, no exceptions.

It was a little disheartening for Arnold, known countywide for his successful relay teams and who has been trying mightily to get back upstate with one. He understood the logistics of it all, though, and faulted no one for the issue. He did get assurances from school officials, though, and prom advisors that the situation, which has occurred a few times over the past several years now, will not happen again.

All of that being said, the girls were looking forward to competing at next week’s state qualifier for what would have been their final race together, but as Arnold noted, that would be unethical and unsportsmanlike, to possibly take a qualifying spot away from team, knowing they weren’t going to go to states, and his runners agreed.

“Ethically, out of respect of the coaches association and all of the coaches who are all of my friends, I really couldn’t look at them face to face, knowing we’re not going to go to states,” he explained. “It’s not ethically right to do that to some of these coaches who have been coaching with me for 20-plus years. It’s not respectful to the association or the sport.

“I know if the roles were reversed, and I knew I got, let’s say, second place, and I didn’t know that the first-place team couldn’t go to states, do those kids really want to go now?” Arnold added. “So now all of the spots are up for grabs.”

Jeorgiana Gavalas placed second in the 2,000-meter steeplechase in 7:56.66 to complete the trifecta for the girls of All-County athletes. Cerullo and Brown, both juniors, just missed in the 100-meter dash, finishing third and fourth, respectively, in 13.03 seconds and 13.56 seconds. Sophomore Xanthi Lazarakis finished seventh in the 1,500-meter race walk in 9:58.85. Sophomore Sloan Edson placed sixth in the triple jump with a leap of 33 feet 9 inches. The girls finished sixth out of 12 teams with 38 points. Host Mount Sinai won the county title with 115 points, seven ahead of Bayport-Blue Point.

As for the Southampton boys, they were missing a few key athletes due to injuries, namely Hudson Fox, who runs the anchor leg on the 4x1 team, the top-seeded team in the county, which gave it a go on Monday with a different set of runners but a botched hand off at the final turn put the race out of reach. Coaches said Fox could be ready by the state qualifier where the team can still make a go for states.

Devon Palmore, one of the top-seeded high jumpers in the county, nursing a slight knee injury, opted not to compete in the event on Monday to save all of his strength to run in the 4x1. He is also expected to compete at the state qualifier.

Southampton did run a 4x400-meter relay team that placed third in 3:42.31, which was the top result for the boys. Jackson Garcia placed fourth in the shot put with a throw of 41 feet 8 inches. Throwing coach Lester Ware said that was pretty good for someone who just picked up the event a few weeks ago.