A victory lap for the Champions. The Girls Varsity Track team took home a fourth consecutive Indoor Nassau County Championship on Friday night at Suffolk Community College. Due to several snow cancellations, the girls were missing a key component, head coach Erica Fregosi, because she had other plans this weekend - like getting married! I guess some things do take a priority. So the girls started Ms. Fregosi’s memorable weekend with another championship, as coaches Tom Skrivanek and George Lucas put on their jackets and ties, took control of the stopwatches and clipboards and kept the girls focused on the task at hand - and they all delivered!

The girls dominated on the track, as they have all season, and finished first by 57 points over rival Massapequa with a 120-53 total score. The girls swept the 600m and 1000m races, as well as a 1-2-4 finish in the 300m and were winners in the 1500m race walk and 4x400 relay. They also captured points in every event they were entered in - an amazing feat.

The County Champs are all smiles with their plaque. The night started off strong for the Trojans as seventh grader Jennifer Gerland finished third in the 3000 meters after leading for much of the race. A terrific showing for this youngster who later finished seventh in the 1500 meter race.

Next up was the first of the GC sweeps - the 1000 meters, an easy 5 laps around the track. By the third lap our girls took control of the race and Emily Menges, Emma Gallagher and Michelle Rotondo came home with a 1-2-3 finish and All County honors. The race also showed that Emily is closing in on her midseason form just in time after sitting out most of the season. It was also a race that showcased another of the Trojan’s talented youngsters, 7th grader Emma Gallagher. Emma is quickly rounding into a top tier middle distance runner.

Catherine Cafaro’s excellent 400 leg in the winning relay. The 1000 meter sweep was followed up nicely by a sweep of the 600 meters. Once again the GC girls jumped out to a fast start and had the race in hand midway through the second lap and Taylor Hennig, Jenna DeAngelo (both sophomores) and Katie O’Neill an 8th grader, also captured All County honors with their own 1-2-3 finish. A key to both races was that our girls all finished within seconds of each other and well ahead of their rivals. Both races were dominating GC performances!

Then it was Michelle bouncing back from the 1000m to run in the preliminaries of the 55m hurdles. She qualified for the finals and after a 10 minute break, Michelle ran her third race of the early night and took home fourth place. Also stepping up to the start line for their second races of the night were the two youngsters on the team, Emma and Jen, in the 1500m race. Both ran terrific races with Emma scoring points with a fourth place finish and Jen just barely missing in seventh place.

Victoria Chimento stretches the lead in the 4x400. The 300 meter race had seniors Catherine Cafaro and Emily Menges, along with junior Rotondo, running in the top heat and they came through once again with strong performances as Cafaro finished first, Menges second and Rotondo fourth. And as the 300m was finishing up, so was the long jump and GC’s only field event performer, Dana Famiglietti, hit for a season best jump and a fifth place finish to add to the scoring totals. In the 1500m race walk, sophomore Molly Josephs laced up her walking shoes and brought home a County Championship with a season best performance.

Taryn Schmelzinger anchors the winning 4x400 relay. Rounding out the meet were the relays where GC took home third in the 4x200, second in the 4x800 and first in the 4x400. First up it was the 4x800 team of Tara DeAngelo, Liz Weber, Taylor Hennig and Katie O’Neill running four solid legs to close out senior Weber’s indoor career with an All County performance. Then it was the foursome of Alexis Yeboah-Kodie, Taryn Schmelzinger, Catherine Cafaro and Victoria Chimento turning in a County Championship performance by defeating runner up Uniondale by 2 seconds. And closing the meet with a third place finish was the 4x200 relay team of Taylor Hennig, Taryn Schmelzinger, Victoria Chimento and Emily Menges.

Winning a fourth consecutive indoor championship starts off the final leg of the winter season for the girls. They will be looking to qualify 8-10 runners for the State meet as they come off of winter recess. The State qualifier meet is on Wednesday Feb. 24th at St. Anthony’s. Regardless of their outcome at States, several of the girls have already secured times that assure them a shot at the winter Nike Nationals in Boston in March. Congratulations to the girls and their coaches on another job well done!