WIZARDS TAKE ON STATE QUALIFIERS

By MATTHEW BARBOOKLES

MATTHEW BARBOOKLES FOR WIZARD WEEKLY

Last Friday, the indoor track team went to West Point to compete in the Section IX State Qualifier. It was a great day for the Wizards as they sent seven athletes off to the New York State meet. The seven athletes that made states were Paul Catalano, Tom Quinn, Tom Garrison, Brianna Lawless, Kristen Boerke, Emily Gerdin and Maanasa Hanubal. 

Senior captain, Paul Catalano, opened it up for the boys placing 3rd in the 1,000 meter run with a time of 2:38.11, being the first person to make it to states. Paul Catalano did not have to win the race that night because he already hit the New York State standard in a meet in the past. The state standard for the 1,000 meter run is  2:35.24. Paul ran 2:34.12 at the Armory in New York City prior to state qualifiers. Because he had already hit the standard, he could let the two people in front of him go to states and the fourth place finisher as well.  

Senior Tom Quinn and sophomore Tom Garrison both made it to states for the 1600 meter run. Tom Quinn placed 3rd with a time of 4:32.10 and Tom Garrison came in 4th with a time of 4:33.48. Another athlete that did not have to win the race to be able to go to states was Tom Quinn. 

The state standard for the 1600 is 4:28.74; Tom Quinn had run 4:22 in the past so all he had to do was place 3rd and he was going to states. This allowed Tom Garrison who placed 4th to make it to states even though he did not hit the standard. When asking Tom Garrison how it feels going to states as a sophomore of the first time he replied with, “Well, I still can't believe I am going its quite shocking and I'm just glad to be running as good as I am as a sophomore.”

On the girls' side, senior Brianna Lawless kicked off the night with a fast 300 meter dash semifinals with a time of 43.47 making her a finalist for the event. In the finals, Brianna took over and won the race by a significant margin. She placed 1st with a time of 42.04. This impressive performance will send her to the state championship. When talking with Brianna, I asked her how it felt to be be going to states for the 6th time. She proclaimed, “It feels amazing. I'm very proud of how far I’ve come. Since the beginning of the season, my coach and I had a goal for myself to make it to states in the 300 and, I'm glad I was able to win the race and say that I'm going to the state meet yet again.” Freshman, Maanasa Hanubal, is going to states for the 600 meters. Maanasa placed 4th with a time of 1:43.57. The state standard for the event is 1:38 but because the three girls in front of her all hit the standard. She was able to make it in because she was the first one right behind the leaders. 

The other athletes that made it to states did not exactly run. Sophomore Emily Gerdin and Junior Kristen Boerke will be participating in field events. Emily made it in long jump, placing 2nd with a length of 16-00.50. This is a big improvement from last year being that she did not participate in the event and made it for high jump. Kristen placed 2nd with a height of  5-01.00. She placed 6th last year with a height of 4-10.00 which means she improved greatly and was able to make it to states.

The state championship will take place on Saturday, March 4th in Ocean Breeze Long Island. Congrats to all the athletes that made it and good luck!