The first Saturday meet of the year was held at Monsignor Farrell High School, a private school in Staten Island, NY. The weather was perfect for great competition...and sunburns. Despite the 5:30 bus departure and four hour plus ride, the trip was a not only successful but also fun for the Shen track and field team.
After taking a wrong turn, the bus nearly missed the first event, the shuttle hurdle relay. Although they had little time to warm up, the team managed to finish fourth with a combined time of 52.66.
The freshman DMR team blew away the rest of the field by over 8 seconds en route to a first place finish in 8:32.01. Senior John Lynch took second in a 3200m race that he led for most of the way. His new steeple chase shoes brought him a personal best time of 9:57.44. In the freshman 1600m, Scott Mindell and John Hagstrand went finished second and third with times of 5:01.32 and 5:02.92 respectively. The sophomore 4x800 team finished fourth with a time of 9:03.10. The varsity 4x800 team of Ela, Andruski, Horan, and Slater finished fifth (8:43.98).
In the field events, the high jump team of seniors John McClure and Ammon Nelson won with combined jumps of 11-10. The pole vaulters dominated as junior Dave Vickers took first with a team best vault of 13-0. Chris Cooper was second (13-0) and Chris Horlacher was fourth (12-0). The long jump team of sophomores Sean Ranagan and Andre Vives finished fourth with combined jumps of 38-2.5. McClure and Vives finished second in the triple jump relay with combined jumps of 80-4. The freshman shot put team of Brogna and Abramson was fourth.
The meet was a success overall and was very fun for all involved. Many athletes achieved PRs including Jeremy Relyea with his 10:44 in the 3200m.
For more on the Farrell Invitational Click Here or go to Farrelltrack.com (A great track and field site).
