Michelle over the last hurdle to victory. The Varsity track team had another stellar week of performances and are rounding into peak form coming into the stretch run of the season. On Wednesday the girls went to Great Neck South and ran in a tri meet against GNS and Long Beach. Well, GC was only challenged in a couple of events and came away with a dominating win to stay undefeated in conference meets with only one tri meet yet to be rescheduled. Highlights of the meet were Michelle Rotondo winning the 100 and 400 hurdles as well as the high jump, Catherine Cafaro taking first in the 400m and anchoring the winning 4x400, Cathorine, Taylor Henning, Katie Reilly and Jenna DeAngelo running terrific 100 meters, Liz Slattery and Liz Weber running 2-3 in the 1500m, Abby Hepworth jumping 4'8". The only negative at the meet was the unfortunate ACL injury suffered by senior Laura Martens while running the 100m hurdles - the team will miss Laura on the track.

On Friday and Saturday, the coaches took the girls out to the St. Anthony's Invitational, a meet that attracts many of the top area runners and is considered to be the top Spring meet on Long Island. And our girls produced a number of outstanding results, led by Emily Menges and Michelle Rotondo. On Friday evening, with a constant mist over the track and an almost hour delay from lightening, it was Michelle winning the 400 meter hurdles with a personal best time of 1:05.3 and Taryn Schmelzinger running a strong 1:09.6.

Liz Weber running a strong 1500 meters. Saturday afternoon the team came back to run many good races, highlighted by two exceptional races - the invitational 800 meters and the 4x400 relay at the end of the evening. The field for the 800 was loaded with the top talent on Long Island, including Emily, Michelle and Jenna DeAngelo in the top heat. And our girls didn't disappoint. All ran personal bests - Emily with a new school record, the US #2 time and a second place finish with a time of 2:07.3. Emily proved once again that she is not only one of the elite runners on LI, but in the nation. While Michelle finished sixth with a fast time of 2:15.3 and Jenna was eleventh with a time of 2:17.8. When you add Liz Slattery to the mix for the 4x800, the girls are looking at some top relay times for the remainder of the season.

Victoria Chimento takes the baton from Lauren Diller The last race of what turned out to be a very long night for the GC girls was the 4x400 relay. With two strong teams entered, the Garden City girls scored points with a first and sixth place finish. The first place foursome of Michelle, Catherine Cafaro, Taryn Schmelzinger and Emily took it to the competition with a new school record time of 3:55.2, while the second group of Jenna, Taylor Hennig, Alexis Yebohah and Victoria Chimento ran a solid 4:08.4 to take sixth. The fact that GC has two relays that can score in a meet of this level shows the depth and strength of the team - it also helps keep a healthy competition within the team and allows the coaches some good options.

Other highlights from St. Anthony's included Katie Reilly running her second steeplechase of the season and improving on her time by more than 20 seconds with an 8:29. In the 100 meter dash, Katie, Catherine Cafaro and Taylor Henning all made it to the finals, Taylor and Taryn Schmelzinger finished in the top 10 for the 400 meter race and Liz Slattery finished sixth in the 3000 meter race with a personal best time of 10.53.4.

Emily produces a US#2 time in the 800m. This weekend the girls travel to White Plains to compete in the prestigious Loucks Games. If you should see any of these extraordinary athletes running around town please wish them luck on the remainder of what looks to be another great season.

Deanna Ceriano back on the track in the 100m. Daniela Sampram tosses the shot. Marguerite Rix and Katie Reilly in the 800m at GNS.