Generals take first place in girls’ relay
More than two dozen varsity track teams from across Long Island, including each of the three Levittown-based squads, participated in the third annual MacArthur Generals Track and Field Invitational on March 31 at MacArthur High School.
Despite a rain-soaked track, and frigid, winter-like conditions, MacArthur, Island Trees and Division Ave. athletes competed in various field events that included the long jump, triple jump, pole vault, high jump, shot put, discus, and various running competitions.
MacArthur had plenty of top five finishers, including Heather VanPatten (third place) and Amanda Seda (fourth) leading the way in girls’ shot put with marks of 26’8.5 and 26’8, respectively. MacArthur senior Kristina Coiro took first place in the girls’ 400m event with a time of 59.3, while Island Trees’ Alexa Dolgos finished third with a mark of 60.6. Seda also finished second (88”110’) in girls’ discus, while All-County phenom Kelly Clifford earned first place in the high jump with a 5’2” tally.
MacArthur senior Jordan Kohlman tied a long-standing school record and took second place with a 12’ mark in boys’ pole vault, and multi-sport standout Jess Hirsch earned a tie for third place in the girls’ 200m with a time of 28.8.
In the team categories, MacArthur took first place in the 4 x 400m girls’ relay with a time of 41.48, and finished second in the 4 x 400 boys’ race with a 3:48.1. In the girls’ 4 x 100m, MacArthur finished third with a mark of 55.6, and the boys’ squad took third place with a time of 47.0.
Natalie Sopchak, an All-Conference ace for MacArthur’s Track and Field team, earned top 10 finishes in several events. MacArthur All-Conference talent Nicole Natland earned a first place finish in the long jump with a 14’11.5” mark, and she was followed close behind by Clifford (14’11”). Natland also took second place in the pole vault category with an 8’6” showing, and a second place finish in the 100m hurdles with a mark of 16.8.
MacArthur’s Patrick Ducey earned first place in the boys’ 800m event with a mark of 2:00.3, followed close behind by MacArthur’s All-County standout Erik Chevez, who took third place with a time of 2:00.3. MacArthur’s All-County talent Andrei Dinoro finished first in the 110m hurdles event with a showing of 15.7, while Sean Aquilino finished in the top five in the boys’ 3200m event with a time of 10:42.99. MacArthur’s Olivia Howard also finished in fourth place in the girls’ 800m event with a time of 2:45.5.
Division Ave. also had a strong showing, as the team finished fifth in the 4 x 800m girls’ race with a time of 12:04.7. Division’s Tim Schweitzer took third place in the long-jump event with a 17’4” showing, and he also earned a top ten finish in the triple jump with a 36/8 1/4” performance.
