Last year’s 4×800 relay team (consisting of Joe Jazwinski, Chris Poelker, Logan Kovary and Chris Murdock) won the County Championship, set a school record with a time of 8:20.5, and went on compete in the New York State Championships. In spite of losing half of that relay team, the Oyster Bay boys team was able to put together a relay team that was able to defend the Baymen’s county title. Junior Nick Gismondi and Senior Tim Collery joined Murdock (All-County 800m) and Jazwinski (county champion in the steeple chase, All-County 2 mile with a time of 9:44) and defeated their class A competition. Their next goal was to qualify for the New York State Championships in Cicero, NY.
The team knew it was competing against a very talented Valley Stream North team. Murdock, who has become a consistent sub-2:00 minute half-miler, was set to anchor a team that was hoping to build a strong lead in order to fend off Valley Stream North’s anchor Mike Rossi, one of New York State’s top division 2 half milers.
The Baymen were able to set a new school record with a time of 8:20.36, but fell less than .2 seconds behind Valley Stream North. Tim Collery (2:09.1) and Nick Gismondi (2:06.9) both improved their times dramatically, enabling Oyster Bay to set the new record, while Murdock ran his leg under 2 minutes despite battling the flu for a week. Jazwinski, who earlier qualified for the states in the 1600m race, ran a very strong leg getting an early lead for the team, which they held until the last 10 meters of the race.
Junior Brian Dillman and Senior Joe Jazwinski represented the Oyster Bay boys team at the New York State Championships. Dillman earned 2,600 points in the pentathlon, a score earned by performing in the 1500m run, high jump, long jump, shot put and 110 high hurdles. Jazwinski earned a spot by running the 1600m race in 4:39. In order to qualify, athletes had to be the top place winner in their event for the small schools division.
Joe Jazwinski saved his best race of his outstanding career for last. The University of North Carolina-bound senior had set a goal for himself to break 4:30 in the 1600m run, a goal which had eluded him throughout the season. After completing the first half of the race in 2:13, Joe knew he had to concentrate on the competition in order to fulfill his goal. He was able to pass two runners in the last 100 meters, finishing 9th out of the division 2 group, and running his last 800 meters in 2:15. His official time was 4:28.05. Although Dillman’s score was far below his performance at the state qualifier, he was able to finish 32nd out of 35 competitors.
The Track teams would like to thank alumni Vince Giambanco, Chris Poelker, Logan Kovary, Brendan Williams, Chris Tzanavaras and Lizette Umana for coming out to cheer on the teams during the post season.
