Three School Records Set by Bonac Girls at Ocean Breeze Holiday Festival

The East Hampton/Pierson/Bridgehampton girls indoor track team made the long trip to the Ocean Breeze Athletic Center on Staten Island for the Ocean Breeze Holiday Festival on December 27. And while it was an all day affair, the athletes certainly made it worthwhile.

The Bonackers set a new school record and broke two others throughout the day. Ryleigh O’Donnell ran the first-ever indoor 800-meter run for the girls team and finished in 2:22.85, placing 12th out of 23 runners.

“Ryleigh ran the 400 at Ocean Breeze last year, so she was familiar with the mayhem that is the Holiday Festival meet,” head coach Yani Cuesta said. “Last year, she was quite nervous. But she arrived at this meet with much more calm and a goal of setting a good time to put up on the record board.”

O’Donnell also ran the anchor leg of the 4x800-meter relay team that set a new school record and placed third in 10:03.12. Fellow East Hampton senior Dylan Cashin, Pierson sophomore Sara O’Brien and Pierson junior Greylynn Guyer made up the rest of the team. Their time blew away the previous record of 10:48.15 set on January 9, 2014, by Hannah Jungck, Alyssa Bahel, Devon Brown and Dana Cebulski.

According to Cuesta, assistant coach Nick DeLuca came into the season quite sure there would be a group of girls that would break the 4x8 school record, it just came down to finding the right girls to do it.

“Clearly, Nick was right and these girls ran so well,” Cuesta said. “There is definitely more that each girl can give that can improve that time even more. I mean, if you’ll note, Ryleigh O’Donnell was part of this squad and she had previously run the 800-meter about an hour earlier, so she was not on fresh legs. Super proud of them.”

Cashin, Guyer and O’Brien all came back to run the distance medley relay with Melina Sarlo. The girls set a new record in the race that runs a 1,200-, 400-, 800- and 1,600-meters consecutively in 13:29.03. The previous school record was 13:41.92, set just two years ago on January 15, 2022, by Cashin, Sarlo, O’Donnell and Riley Miles.

“Another great performance from girls not on fresh legs,” Cuesta said. “Although this time there was more recovery time from their last run.”

Sarlo also competed in the shot put and threw a season’s best 29 feet 7 inches, which placed her 16th out of 124 throwers. Cuesta said it was Sarlo’s first time at Ocean Breeze, but having competed at the Armory last season, she was familiar with the high level of competition and mayhem that goes along with these kind of meets. There is a difference between competing in a relay with a group of girls that you know and competing in an individual event all by yourself.

Eric Malecki, the team’s usual throwing coach, is out this season for health issues, so Cuesta has stepped in to help Sarlo continue to improve.

“She’s stuck with my little knowledge of throwing,” Cuesta joked. “She slowly keeps improving her throws. Still, I hope to be able to help her reach her goal of breaking one of the older school records of 31 feet 9 ½ inches set back in 2000 by Sarah Van Asco. I always say, ‘We’ll keep chipping away.’ Melina is one of those old school overall athletes that can do just about anything. Meredith Spolarich was like that. They’re rare these days.”

The Bonackers also had a handful of girls compete in the triple jump and sprint medley relay for the first time. For many of the girls, it was their first time at Ocean Breeze, which can be an intimidating atmosphere and experience. Again, it was a long day — the bus left East Hampton High School just before 10 a.m. and didn’t return until 11 p.m. — but it was worth it.

“It’s always worth it when the girls get a chance to compete at a high level and excel,” Cuesta said.

The indoor track season starts to pick up this month, with the final crossovers and invitationals taking place leading up to the large school championships in early February. East Hampton is considered a large school and is competing in League III, both new positions for them.

​Jim Howard Invitational

Prior to competing at Ocean Breeze, the Bonackers competed at the Jim Howard Invitational at Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood on December 21, where many of them set personal bests.

O’Donnell placed second in the 600-meter run in 1:41.07, a season’s best. Cashin placed third in the 1,500-meter race in 5:08.54 and Guyer finished right behind her in fourth place in 5:14.40.

Angie Castillo competed in the 1,500-meter race walk for the first time this winter, after having tried it last spring, and she did well, crossing the finish line in 12:16.49. Cuesta said Castillo told her she was worried about competing at that distance, but Cuesta reassured her.

“Her form is good and she starts slow and steady, but soon after she finds her rhythm and picks up her pace. She has a good groove,” she said. “I was happy to see her go for it. DeLuca was very excited to see her consistency each lap. She’s strong, now we just need to get her even faster to push into the leaderboard.”