Seniors with their flowers - Abby, Deanna, Liz, Laura and Sarah On a beautiful afternoon Monday, the varsity track team celebrated their annual rite of passage for the graduating seniors - Deanna Ceriano, Abby Hepworth, Sarah Leone, Laura Martens and Liz Slattery. Coach Cuzzo addressed the girls and proudly spoke of the accomplishments of each as they stood before friends, family and teammates. Along the fence hung posters for each that Coach Fregosi prepared for teammates to sign with well wishes for them. And to top it off, the girls were presented roses from their teammates. All of the fanfare was to honor 5 girls who have put in a tremendous amount of effort throughout their track careers.

Oh, then the girls had to run. Stepping up to the starting blocks against Valley Stream Central, Carey and Division the girls kept their undefeated season going with a solid 109 to 79 - 39 - 20, respectively. The GC girls always look forward to this meet as the rally around the seniors and look to send them off in a winning fashion. The highlight of the meet was the 4x400, which the coaches filled with the seniors - Abby, Sarah, Liz and Laura (Deanna is out with an injury but is hard a work to get back to competition before season's end). The girls ran to an easy first place finish as their teammates, parents and friends cheered loudly for them with each lap.

The winning 4x400 relay of Liz, Abby, Sarah and Laura Other highlights for the girls was Laura Martens winning the 400 hurdles and 100 hurdles in season best times, Liz Slattery doing likewise in the 1500m, Sarah Leone taking third in the 1500m also with a season best time.

Congratulations to all of the girls on the team, but especially to the graduating seniors who between them have put in a tremendous amount of work throughout their more than 44 total seasons, helping Garden City establish themselves as one of the premier girls track teams not only on Long Island but in the State. And congratulations to coaches Cuzzo, Fregosi and Skrivanek for helping the girls grow and sticking with it during their four years on the team.

Lastly, just to give you an idea of the type of student athletes we have running for GC, although these girls have not formally decided they are considering schools like Elon, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Lehigh, Tufts, Fordham and Colgate to continue their scholastic careers. Good luck with wherever you go because success is sure to follow!

The Girls Varsity team centered by the seniors in the front row.

Abby pushes forward on the opening leg of the 4x400. Liz and Sarah are comfortably in the lead of the 1500. Laura on the way to winning the 400 hurdles.