Southampton's Duggal Is All-County, Cerullo, Gavalas Represent Girls at State Qualifier

As Southampton girls indoor track head coach Eddie Arnold points out, just getting to the Section XI Championships, also known as the state qualifier, as a small school athlete in and of itself is an accomplishment, largely because it signals that they were among the top athletes in the county.

Unlike the outdoor spring track season, where athletes compete against athletes from schools similar in size to their own, the state qualifier, and the proceeding New York State Indoor Track Championships, rounds up all athletes from both large and small schools. A lot of the times athletes from schools such as Southampton, Southold or Hampton Bays, for example, will be in the same race or event as those from Ward Melville, Commack or William Floyd.

On top of that, again as Arnold points out, the athletes have to earn their way to the state qualifier through their times or measurements from throughout the season, so just getting there is no small feat. Three Mariners were able to reach the meet and competed at Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood on Monday night, and while none qualified for states, they each had their own accomplishments.

Southampton sophomore Christian Duggal competed in the boys 600-meter run, in which he placed fourth among the county’s best in 1:26.98 to earn All-County honors. Only Amityville junior Abednego Compere was faster among small school athletes, as the top two runners, seniors Kender Edouazin and GianCarlo DiFava, hailed from large schools Huntington and Commack, respectively.

Southampton junior Kyla Cerullo ran in the highly competitive 55-meter dash and finished eighth in the county in 7.56 seconds, just a tenth of a second off her personal best. Another junior, Jeorgiana Gavalas, finished 10th in the county in the 3,000-meter race in 5:05.08.

Arnold said that after a great start off of her blocks, Cerullo had a minor stumble that may have cost her some time and possibly getting to the finals — the top six of the preliminary race advance to the finals.

“She was right where she was supposed to be,” Arnold said of Cerullo. “She had a great race strategy, ran really well, ran right through the tape, looked really good. I believe she gave it her all.

“If you look at from when she first started at 7.9 [seconds] way back in December, she’s gotten better and better and better and better each week,” he added. “I can’t ask for anything more. Looking forward to her getting on the podium in the spring, 100 percent.”

While Gavalas may have finished 10th overall in her race, she finished second in her heat, which was three placements ahead of where she was seeded. Arnold also noted that she finished ahead of Elwood-John Glenn senior Emily LaMena and Center Moriches freshman Emma Gold for the first time this season.

“I told the girls, I felt like a rock star as a coach,” he said. “When you come to his event, the state qualifier, as a small school athlete, it’s an honor to be here and a privilege. Very happy to be there. There is so much going on, both athletes felt the vibe. They’ve visited the experience, now they know for next year.”