Southampton's Billy Malone Wins 1,600-Meter Race At Westhampton Beach Invitational; A Number Of Girls Medal, Set Personal Bests

Billy Malone defeated Max Haynia in the varsity 1,600-meter race, the Southampton boys track team’s biggest highlight at the Westhampton Beach Invitational on Saturday.

Malone crossed the finish line in 4:27.94, beating the hometown favorite Haynia by a good three seconds.

Derek Reed placed fourth in the high jump, reaching 5 feet 8 inches. Evan Simioni placed sixth in the 200-meter dash, in 23.84 seconds, and the Mariners’ 4x400-meter relay team placed sixth. Malone, Simioni, Tyrese Reddick and 
Jacob Warden finished the 4x4 in 3:46.37.

The Southampton girls didn’t have the top finishes in the varsity races that the boys had, but they made up for that with a number of personal bests and medals by finishing in the top six of their respective events. Bridget Ferguson was the highest individual place-winner in varsity events for the girls, placing third in the high jump with a height of 5 feet.

The girls 4x100-meter relay team Sofia Oliveri, Carli Cameron, Gabriella Arnold and Kyla Cerullo placed third, in 53 seconds, and head coach Eddie Arnold said he has high hopes for the squad, going forward.

“They had very good handoffs. I was very impressed with how well they did,” he said. “They could be better — they can always improve. But it’s going to come down to which team has the cleanest handoffs, and this team that we have has a good chance at making All-County and possibly making All-State. We have a strong history of relay teams, especially in the 4x1. We went to states nine years in a row, and we’re trying to get back to that — and I think we can.”

Hallie Beeker medaled twice, winning the novice 400-meter dash, in 1:09, and placing sixth in the novice 400-meter intermediate hurdles, in 1:19.43. Elizabeth Terry threw a personal best of 21 feet 3 inches in the discus — which Arnold said she was ecstatic about — and Laine Yastrzemski finished the novice 400-meter dash in a personal-best 1:06.76, which placed fifth.

Hayden Gilmartin and Lili Telvi both finished the freshman 1,500-meter race with personal bests, in 5:46.29 and 5:52.29, respectively.

Overall, Arnold said it was a good showing in what was one of the biggest invitationals to date in the county.

“It was a perfect day for track and field. The weather was outstanding,” he said. “It had really good competition. Westhampton did a good job. It was one of the best Westhampton invites we’ve been to in years.”