Emily Menges anchors the 4x400 to victory. The girls State Qualifier meet for Section VIII was held at Westbury HS last week and the Trojan runners were again very successful. Having worked extremely hard for coaches Cuzzo, Fregosi and Skrivanek all season, but even more focused as they come down the stretch, the girls and coaches are continually rewarded with top performances. Getting tickets to represent Nassau County at this weekend's State meet in Syracuse are individuals Emily Menges in the 800 meter and Michelle Rotondo in the 400 meter hurdles. Taking first in their events and heading to Syracuse as well are the 4x400 relay with Emily, Michelle, Taylor Hennig, Taryn Schmelzinger and Catherine Cafaro, and the 4x800 relay with Michelle, Emily, Taylor and Jenna DeAngelo.

The two-day qualifiers bring the top talent in Nassau together for the right to take on the rest of NY State starting on Friday. In order to qualify the entrant must finish first in their event or take second and meet the NY State qualifying time.

Taryn Schmelzinger's strong leg in the 4x400 win. On Day 1 the Trojans ran in three events and turned in good results in all three - the 800 meter race and the 100 meter sprint and the 4x400 preliminaries. In the 800 it was Emily Menges breaking out with the lead group for the first 600m and then battling her County rival Charlene Lipsey of Hempstead down to the wire to finish second with a time of 2:11.38, qualifying her for the State meet. This friendly rivalry should provide an exciting State final.

In the 100 meter sprint, Taryn Schmelzinger ran second in her heat with a time of 13.13, good enough for the finals on Wednesday as one of the top eight sprinters. Taryn came back on day 2 to run a solid time of 12.75 and finish in fifth place.

The 4x400 relay team of Jenna DeAngelo, Michelle Rotondo, Catherine Cafaro and Taryn ran their preliminary heat on day 1 and the foursome took first with a time of 3:55.9 to advance to the finals on Wednesday. With a couple of changes to the lineup because of the timing of events, the foursome of Catherine, Taryn, Taylor Hennig and Emily Menges came back for the finals and with a time of 3:52.38 took first place over Hempstead and qualified for the State meet. The highlight of the race was Emily's anchor leg, as she closed a gap of more than 50 meters and overtook the Hempstead anchor down the stretch to secure the win. What made it more interesting was the fact that both Emily and Taylor had less than 30 minutes rest between the 4x800 and the 4x400.

Taylor Hennig's opening leg of the winning 4x800. Day 2 proved to be another day of strong performances that started with Michelle Rotondo getting out of the blocks in the 400 meter hurdles quickly and running side by side with rival Regine Lazard of Baldwin for much of the race. That is until the final hurdle when Michelle proved to have the better finish by taking first place by .5 seconds with a time of 1:03.9.

Then with about a 20 minute rest, Michelle took to the track joined by Jenna DeAngelo, Taylor Hennig and anchor Emily Menges for the 4x800 relay. And this group stayed true to their number 1 ranking on Long Island and easily finished first with a time of 9:19.37. The time was off their seasons best but considering the quick turnover and double duty for Michelle, Emily and Taylor it was a terrific run nonetheless.

Michelle Rotondo on her way to victory in 400 hurdles So with outstanding performances over the course of the two day qualifier, Garden City sent 6 girls to the State meet in Syracuse yesterday with both Emily and Michelle qualifying to run in three events. And starting today the girls are looking to bring back some good news to GC. Good Luck!

Catherine Cafaro on the winning 4x400. Jenna DeAngelo on the turn of the winning 4x800.