Track and Field: Riley takes three titles, Mercy relay team triumphs
Riverhead High School junior Melodee Riley followed up her New York State Public High School Athletic Association championship in the Division I long jump and triple jump with a federation title in the triple jump on Saturday.
Riley covered a distance of 39 feet 3 inches to finish first in the federation, which encompasses public and private schools, on the second and final day of the meet at Caledonia-Mumford High School. Her nearest competition was Emma Willard junior Molly Shapiro, who came in second at 39-1 1/4.
Riley also finished fifth in the federation long jump at 18-0. The winner was Holy Names senior Klarissa Ricks (19-1 3/4).
On Friday, Riley won both the Division I long jump at 18-9 3/4 inches and the Division I triple jump at 39-9.
She wasn’t the only athlete representing a Riverhead school to make a splash, though, at the NYSPHSAA boys and girls track and field championships. The Bishop McGann-Mercy 4×400-meter relay team took first place as well. McGann-Mercy’s foursome of senior Kayleigh Macchirole, senior Olivia Schumann, junior Sasa Vann and senior Lauren Woodhull clocked a winning time of 3 minutes 57.43 seconds in Division II. It is a school record, according to McGann-Mercy’s athletic director, Paula Nickerson. Details about the previous record were not immediately available.
The second-place team of the Academy of Holy Names posted a time of 3:59.93. That team consisted of seventh-grader Mikaila Ford, freshman Leah Triller, eighth-grader Kaitlin Close and senior Jennifer Stodgell.
Vann also came in 13th in the 100-meter preliminaries in 12.86, failing to qualify for the finals.
Shoreham-Wading River junior Shannon McDonnell finished 21st in the 800 final in 2:17.11.
In the boys meet, Riverhead senior Treval Hatcher tripled jumped 46-3 1/2, leaving him sixth in Division I. He also ended up sixth in the federation, going 45-6 3/4.
Shoreham-Wading River’s senior pole vaulter, Ben Canellys, was 14th among public schools and the federation at 13-6.
