State Champion 4x400 Relay Six Trojan runners and their coaches left Garden City on Thursday morning for the 5 hour bus trip to North Syracuse for the 2009 State meet to run against the top competition across NY state. The girls competed for NY State Public School Championships, as well as NY State Federation Championships (these include schools from the PSAL and CHSAA), representing GC as well as Section VIII, Nassau County. And as they have done all season, the girls produced fantastic results and came home with All State honors in all events they competed in! Congratulations to juniors Catherine Cafaro and Emily Menges, sophomores Taryn Schmelzinger and Michelle Rotondo, and freshmen Jenna DeAngelo and Taylor Hennig.

On Friday afternoon at 3:30 it was the Class Final of the 800 meters for Emily Menges as she lined up against a familiar foe and number 1 seed Charlene Lipsey of Hempstead. The two fierce competitors have been 1-2 in almost every race they've run against one another and today was no different. Emily ran a 2:10.84, pressing Charlene on the backstretch of the last lap but just couldn't get by her off the final turn. With the stellar performance Emily took home the silver medal for her second place finish.

Taylor Hennig's lead leg of winning 4x400 Then at 4:10, Michelle Rotondo took to the track for her first appearance at States in the 400m hurdles of the Public School Final. Running in the top heat based on her seed time, Michelle broke out of the blocks quickly and was clear of the first two hurdles in good position. Facing a bit of a headwind on the backstretch, the field was bunched together, but coming out of the last turn and heading into the final hurdles Michelle began to accelerate and sprinted to a second place finish lowering her personal best and school record time to 1:02.44.

Continuing with their tight schedule, at 5:10 it was the running of the Public School Final of the 4x400 - giving Michelle and Emily just enough time to mentally prepare to bounce back for the race with teammates Catherine Cafaro and Taylor Hennig. The quartet was looking to at least better their school record time and take home a medal from States. Well, they sure took a medal home - the Gold, representing a State Championship! Taylor got out fast and ran with the main pack while running a solid opening leg. With Catherine battling some terrific runners on the second leg she was able to stay in striking distance of the lead and our girls were in good position to hit the medal stand. But with a strong third leg in which she jumped out ahead of their biggest competition Hempstead, Michelle got the baton to Emily with only one person to pass and enough of a lead on the rest of the field. And Emily didn't disappoint, although the girl in front of her tried to swing her out to lane 5 on the first turn. With her tremendous closing speed, Emily quickly got to the front and broke the tape with a new school record and State Championship in 3:49.09. Winning by more than 2 seconds over Nassau rival Hempstead. WOW!

Taryn Schmelzinger working hard in the 4x400 On Day two, it was Emily once again leading off the day at 10:40 with the Federation round of the 800 meters against very familiar faces from the previous day. And Menges ran another solid race with a time of 2:11.15 to take third place in the State Federation to go along with the silver medal in the Public Schools section.

Jenna DeAngelo battles in the 4x800 At 2:25 Michelle was up for the Federation round of the 400 hurdles with a rematch against several of her opponents from the day before. And staying true to form, Rotondo ran a 1:02.45 to take the silver medal of the State Federation. Two 400 hurdle race's in two days and two silver medals for the GC sophomore.

Then it was an even quicker turnover than Day 1 for Michelle as she had to remain at the track for the running of the 4x800 relay at 2:45 with teammates Emily, Jenna DeAngelo and Taylor Hennig. Facing off against some very talented teams targeting this race at the State meet, the girls were looking to better their fifth best time in the state. The girls ran a strong race but fell a little short of their goal with a time of 9:14.98 for an eighth place finish and All State honors in the Federation. Although a little disappointed with the result the girls still ran their second fastest time of the year to get a spot on the medal stand.

Catherine Cafaro runs smooth in the 4x400 And the last event at 3:55 for the Trojan runners at the State meet and this time a fast turnaround for Emily and Taylor, was the Federation running of the 4x400 relay. Teaming up with Emily and Taylor for this race were Taryn Schmelzinger and Catherine Cafaro. With a couple of pairs of tiring legs from the 4x8 in Taylor and Emily, Taryn and Catherine helped the foursome to a terrific 3:53.28 for a fourth place finish in the Federation. A great result after two days of intense competition for the Trojan runners.

Congratulations to all of the girls for making it to States and coming through with extraordinary performances. Coaches Charlie Cuzzo, Erica Fregosi and Tom Skrivanek were very proud of their accomplishments this season. Mr. Cuzzo commented that he couldn't be happier with the results of these girls and the efforts that they put forth over a packed 2-day schedule.

With only one week left to their fine season the girls can look forward to a well deserved summer break. Although this last weekend will be an additional test of their strength and fortitude as they headed to the Nike Nationals in North Carolina on Thursday for a run at All American status. Representing Garden City will be the same group from States: Emily Menges (800, 4x400 and 4x800), Michelle Rotondo (400 IH and 4x800), Taylor Hennig (4x400 and 4x800), Catherine Cafaro and Taryn Schmelzinger (4x400). Good Luck!

Emily Menges anchors the State Champs

Michelle Rotondo picks up speed for the State Champion 4x4