THIELLS —Claudel Chery of North Rockland had a good amount of distance to make up, even after teammate Ryan Tuohy had cut Clarkstown South’s lead.
Chery was in the anchor leg of the boys 4×800 relay Thursday night, running on his home track in the Rockland County championships.
After one lap, he was still a good ways behind. But not for long.
Chery did what Chery often does — what he did earlier that night to win the boys 1,600 by just .25 over Pearl River standout JD Lloyd McKenna.
He employed the Claudel Killer Kick.
With that, North Rockland had another win.
Not that it desperately needed it.
This was North Rockland’s night — as it has been so many times.
The boys took the team title with 155 points. Suffern was second (117), Pearl River third (58), Nanuet fourth (46) and Nyack fifth (44). That was the Red Raiders’ fourth straight outdoor county track title.
The girls reached three straight county outdoor team titles with 151 points. Suffern was second (121), Tappan Zee third (91), Nyack fourth (64) and Pearl River fifth (58).
Between the boys and girls teams, North Rockland won nine events.
Tuohy took the 3,200 in a season-best time.
Sprinters Amari Occena and Thelma Efuetenjok, putting on jets in the last 20 meters, won the boys and girls 100 dash.
Hope Italiano, showing her versatility, won the girls 400 and girls high jump.
There were many other North Rockland winners and then athletes who, while not capturing gold, captured major points for the Red Raiders.
Among them was Gaby Castro, who had to have been frustrated but was — as she has been for years — such a big part of North Rockland winning.
During the first day of the meet on Wednesday she’d finished a close second in the girls steeplechase.
Thursday, she was a close second to Nyack rising star Hannah Delaney in the girls 3,000, then was third behind winner Danielle List of Albertus Magnus and Delaney in the 1,500 , all finishing well below five minutes.
For Castro, Tuohy, Chery, Italiano, Occena and Efuetenjok, as well as others, there was joy in winning but maybe also a little sense of loss since it was the final county meet for all of them and final time running competitively on their home track, since all are seniors and the rest of the season will be competed elsewhere.
“I think it’s a good way to end it,” Efuetenjok said of the boys and girls teams winning.
“Here, on this track, too, it feels good,” Italiano said.
Chery, who, like Tuohy, has run varsity for the Red Raiders for five years and will compete for Georgetown next year, pointed to North Rockland only recently regaining use off its track after a major, years-long athletic complex rebuild.
“It’s really exciting and it’s a nice way to end off those five years,” he said of winning and winning at home.
Reflecting on his time with his longtime friend, Chery, and numerous track teammates throughout the years, Tuohy, who’ll run next year for North Carolina State, said, “This is a great atmosphere.”
Highlights and comments
Occena, who wants to play college football and will spend a year a East Coast Prep in Massachusetts to pursue that goal, has only done track for two years. He noted he was happy coach Orlando Rivera had talked him into doing it.
He ran a personal-best 10.91 to just edge Ramapo’s Joshua Joseph (10.92). He said his goal is to qualify for the state championships and lower his time to 10.7.
Albertus Magnus senior Heath Miller will also look to lower his time and to compete at states. His goal there is a double win in Class C — 400 hurdles and 110 hurdles.
After winning the boys 110 hurdles in 14.69, he pulled away from the field in the boys 400-meter hurdles to win in a personal-best 56.5.
The 400 hurdles is recognized as one of track’s toughest events but that’s part of its appeal to Miller, who’ll run hurdles next year for Stonehill College.
“I always wanted to do the hardest event. Ever since like my freshman year, I always wanted to do the 400 hurdles. I really don’t know why. I just always did. I just always wanted a challenge. … It’s really exhausting,” Miller said.
Suffern boys coach Steve Pashley was pleased with both his team’s overall effort and the performance of senior Micheal Cromwell, who was on two Suffern winning relays, won the boys 400 and was runner-up to teammate Jake Tarrant in the 200.
“He had a great meet and really showed up,” Pashley said. “I’m extremely proud of him and all of the team’s effort. They learned that they can do mentally and physically hard things that they once thought were impossible.”
More results
Girls 100 hurdles: Clarkstown South’s Sabella Suarez (15.68)
Girls 200: Nyack’s Jayda Johnson (25.04)
Boys 200: Suffern’s Jake Tarrant (21.86)
Girls 400: North Rockland’s Hope Italiano (57.98)
Boys 400: Suffern’s Micheal Cromwell (49.04)
Girls 400 hurdles: Nyack’s Jayda Johnson (1:03.8)
Girls 800: Tappan Zee’s Bridget Dunn (2:16.40)
Boys 800: Pearl River’s JD Lloyd Mckenna (1:53.45 to edge Claudel Chery, personal-best 1:53.77)
Girls 1,500: Albertus Magnus’s Danielle List (4:52.28)
Boys 1,600: North Rockland’s Claudel Chery (4:32.28)
Girls 3,000: Nyack’s Hannah Delaney (10:14.37)
Boys 3,200: North Rockland’s Ryan Tuohy (9:16.92)
Girls high jump: North Rockland’s Hope Italiano (5-0)
Boys high jump: Nanuet’s Rilan O’Neill (6-4, edging North Rockland’s Nile France, also 6-4)
Girls long jump: Suffern’s Avianhah Sanon (17-9)
Boys long jump: North Rockland’s Carlos Eliezer (23-5.5)
Boys pole vault: Pearl River’s Brendan Kiesling (12-0, edges Suffern’s Justin Diggs, also 12-0, on attempts)
Girls discus: Pearl River’s Brenda Lee (117-7)
Boys discus:: Clarkstown North’s Ethan Davius (148-7)
Boys shot put: Clarkstown South’s Connor Sullivan (58-1)
Girls pentathlon: Tappan Zee’s Emma O’Keefe (2,298 points)
Boys pentathlon: Pearl River’s Liam Lee (2,865 points)
Girls 4×100 relay: North Rockland’s Taylor Lewis, Thelma Efuetenjok, Lydia Simpson and Mitchella Louis (49.86)
Boys 4×100 relay: Suffern’s Jamarih Cantave, Will Lynch, Billy Weber and Micheal Cromwell (42.77, edging Nyack’s Abdulrasaq Durosinmi, Asa Signorile, Peyton Muldoon and Xavier Etienne, 42.84)
Girls 4×400: Suffern’s Madison Davis, Maya Jendryka, Sydney Fleming and Grace Delaney (4:06.12)
Boys 4×400: Suffern’s Immanuel Catul, Josiah Williams, Will Lynch and Micheal Cromwell (3:27.55)
Girls 4×800: Pearl River’s Lili Richards, Olivia Sirakovsky, Lyla Turner and Aine Keane (10:07.3)
Boys 4×800: North Rockland ‘s Trevor Piccone, Cooper Cataldi. Ryan Tuohy and Claudel Chery (8:13.16, edging Clarkstown South’s Dave Samala, Griffin Caprara, Sharo Karim and Joe Price, 8:13.77
Thursday’s results
NYACK — Consider Wednesday the appetizer.
And if that was the appetizer, there will be a lot of anticipation about Thursday — the main course.
Only a handful of events were held as the Rockland County outdoor track and field championships opened at Nyack High School.
But, boy, did they deliver.
Competition in most events was super close.
Three girls, for instance, went more than 37 feet in the triple jump with another just three inches shy of 37 and another eight shy.
All, in unique track fashion, cheered for and were cheered by their competition.
Tappan Zee junior Tosia Bednarz got the win at 37-10, a big season best and just 1.5 inches off her personal, all-time best from last year’s Section 1 state qualifier.
She noted jumpers were fueling other jumpers. Fourteen jumpers hit personal-best marks and five, including Bednarz, had season bests.
“It was so cool to see. …Usually, I feel like we don’t see that many girls jumping over 37 feet but today everybody was hitting such massive PBs and it was really cool to see everybody just cheering each other on and we were really all just having a good time, all just trying to jump our best … so it was really fun,” Bednarz said.
Counties is just the beginning of a long championship season in track.
But Bednarz, who said she could tell while in the air that she’d hit a good jump on her 37-10 leap, let herself look ahead. She wants to return to the state championships, where, last year, she was hampered by being badly spiked by another competitor after her first jump and finished almost two-and-a-half feet short of what she’d jumped in the state qualifier.
This year, she’s looking for better and healthier results.
“It was definitely a bit rough at states last year, since I got spiked after my first jump. But I really want to come back into states this year just feeling a lot better and not getting spiked and doing a lot better than I did last year,” she said with a smile.
She thinks she can.
Also exiting the triple jump sand happy was another junior, North Rockland’s Carlos Eliezer.
He tied his indoor personal-best distance and set a new outdoor PB in his first tiple competition of the season with his 45-7 effort.
With that, he vaulted into second place for the season in Section 1, trailing only John Jay-East Fishkill’s Purdue-bound senior Nate Johnson by just four-and-a-half inches.
“Definitely I’m really inspired …,” Eliezer said.
He noted he competed in long jump at states last year but now wants to qualify in both events. He said he believes he can hit 47 or 48 feet.
Villan and Dunn steeple champs
Nanuet’s Juaquin Villan hadn’t done a 3,000-meter steeplechase race this season But that didn’t stop him from running a big personal-best time of 9:58.32, which is No. 5 for the season in Section 1 and No. 1 in Rockland County.
Clarkstown North’s Nick Catina was right on his heels, also in a personal best, clocking 9:59.11.
The girls steeple, which is 2,000 meters long, was also a close race.
Tappan Zee senior Bridget Dunn, who’ll run for Furman University next year, recorded a season-best 7:03.68 to edge longtime rival and fellow senior Gaby Castro of North Rockland. The Florida Atlantic University commit also had a season-best time, crossing in 7:04.31.
Dunn, who conceivably could do the steeplechase, girls 1,500 and the 4×800 relay at states, noted she and Castro took turns leading and were essentially right together until the last 50 or so meters when she was able to outkick her.
“Gaby pushed me. We were side by side. I think it helps a lot (to be pushed),” said Dunn, who noted she likes steeplechase because it’s “tough” to do and it’s different from typical races.
Other results
Suffern took the first four spots in the girls pole vault. Junior Eliza Power captured the win, equaling her personal best by clearing 11-0.
North Rockland’s Dara Modupe won the girls shot put by just and inch-and-a-half, throwing 34-10.5 to edge teammate Anaiah Dorsonne.
Nancy Haggerty covers sports for The Journal News/lohud.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: North Rockland wins both team titles at Rockland track championships
Reporting by Nancy Haggerty, Rockland/Westchester Journal News / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
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