The boys and girls winter track teams, led by Coaches Svolos and Apfelbaum, as well as Captains Chris Castellano, Nicole Kalofonos, Keith Kieliszak, Steve Kuron, and Michelle Warburton, finished their 2006 seasons strong.  Although the girl’s team didn’t finish as well as expected and both teams had to deal with bad weather conditions to hinder what could have been more successful practices, dedicated athletes continued to work hard and standout this season.

At their first meet at the prestigious NYC Armory on December 2nd, both teams had solid performances.  Freshman high jumper Courtney Marden medaled fourth, junior Lucy DeLisa medaled second, and Kalofonos medaled first.  The girls’ Distance Medley Relay consisting of Caitlyn McDonald, Maureen Leninger, Maria Pomponio, and Katie Ciasullo placed fifth, while the boys’ DMR with Greg Weber, Keith Kieliszak, Chris Kaminski, and Chris Castellano placed second.  The next morning, the same DMR teams from the armory, a Sprint Medley and a 4 x 200 meter relay for both teams woke up early to run at Long Beach in their first and only outdoor meet of the 2006 season. The boys DMR placed second again, while the girls DMR finished in first.  The girls SMR placed third, and the 4 x 2 came in ninth.  For the boys, the SMR came in seventh and their 4 x 2 placed twelfth.

The rest of the season consisted of Friendship Games and mixed conference meets to prepare for the Conference 4 Championships on January 13th for the boys, and January 14th for the girls.

Friday the 13th turned out to be a lucky day after all, as the boys very impressively ran their Championship meet.  Chris Kaminski and Chris Lewis ran the 1000 m race, placing third and sixth, respectively.  In the 3200 m, Chris Castellano placed third and Greg Weber placed sixth.  In the 600 m, Kieliszak placed third and Kaminski placed fifth.  In the mile, Castellano came in second with Weber in fifth.  Kuron placed an impressive second in the 55 m high hurdles, and Ryan Novotny came in third in the high jump.  Brian Richman blew the competition away, winning both the 55 m dash and 300 m.  Kieliszak placed fifth in the 300 m.  The boys’ 4 x 800 m relay (Jared Koreff, Castellano, Weber, and Lewis), 4 x 400 m relay (Kuron, Kieliszak, Matt Donohue, Richman), and 4 x 200 m relays (J.P. Lupetin, Steve Simonis, Anthony DeVito, Pat Christophel) all placed second to rival and Conference Champion Lynbrook High School.  Wantagh’s boys placed second overall, the best they’ve done in four years. 

As for the girls, 1500 m runners Caitlyn McDonald and Michelle Warburton placed fourth and sixth, respectively.  In the 1500 m walk, Warburton had one lap to go but was told by an official she was done.  Since she didn’t walk enough, what would have been her first place finish, never happened, and teammate Jaime DeMartini wound up placing second.  Freshman Ashley Lantz placed sixth in the 55 m high hurdles, Marianna Smith placed fourth in the 600 m, and high jumpers Kalofonos and DeLisa placed first and fourth, respectively.  Senior Danielle D’Aquila placed sixth in shot put.  The girls 4 x 800 m relay (Ciasullo, Emily Monaco, Pomponio, and McDonald) placed sixth, with the 4 x 400 m relay (Leninger, Jackie Graff, Smith, and Brittany Robb) placing fourth.  The girls 4 x 200 m relay (Jessie Ingrilli, Jackie Iaquinta, Michelle Conway, and Monaco) placed sixth.  The girls came home with a 4th place finish, with Lynbrook finishing first again. 

Congratulations go out to all-conference athletes Kaminski, Castellano, Kieliszak, Novotny, Kuron, the boys 4 x 2, 4 x 4, and 4 x 8 relays, and Jaime DeMartini.  Congratulations to Conference Champion high jumper Nicole Kalofonos, and Conference Champion Brian Richman in the 55 m dash and 300 m.

The Class “B” County Championships were held on February 11th at Suffolk Community College.  The boys had an impressive third place finish, with Castellano medaling second in the 1600 m, Richman medaling third in the 300 m, and Kuron fourth in the 55 m high hurdles.  Kieliszak placed fifth in the 600 m, and Novotny fifth in the high jump.  The same boys 4 x 200 m relay that ran in Conferences, Lupetin, Simonis, DeVito, and Christophel, placed fourth in Counties.  The same boys’ 4 x 400 m relay of Kuron, Kieliszak, Donohue, and Richman, impressively came in first in the County!  The boys’ 4 x 800 m relay, now consisting of Castellano, Lewis, Kaminski, and Weber, placed second overall. 

Only three girls went to counties this year, and all placed in the top five of their respective events.  McDonald placed fifth in the 1500 m, Warburton placed fourth in the 1500 m walk, and Kalofonos placed fifth in the high jump.

Overall, the season was one to be proud of.  Each member gave their all, leading to some successes individually and for the whole team.  Whether or not certain goals were achieved, there’s always next year to try again.  And if that’s too far away, there’s always Spring Track for most of us, who can try and defeat our rivals there, and hopefully succeed.