Local track athletes post personal bests

Michael Garret could not have been happier. After his final toss of the shot put competition, a smiling Garret walked over to Southold/ Greenport head coach Joe Corrado and shared a fist bump.
Garret had surprised himself with his performance at the Suffolk County League championships at Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood on Saturday afternoon.
Not only did he qualify for the final round, he also set a personal best with a put of 34 feet, 3.5 inches, finishing seventh in the small school division.
Not bad at all for a freshman who only started putting last spring.
“This is my first time making the finals in one of these competitions,” a smiling Garret said several minutes later. “It was a goal to reach 34 feet. I’m so excited. It was a surprise to even make it this far.”
And that can only help his confidence. “Making progress gets me even more excited to make progress the next time,” Garret said. “It’s exhilarating.”
The sky is the limit for the freshman who has 3 1/2 years to improve and refine his skills.
“I’m always trying to get better,” Garret said. “Next, I’m going to go for 35 and then hopefully just get in that high 30s range by the middle to the end of the spring, maybe something like 38.
“Just trying to push that number as high as I can get it.”
Corrado has been encouraged by Garret’s improvement since the spring.
“He just started in junior high last year,” the coach said. “He didn’t really have an idea what he was doing. Now that he’s spending time with coach [Bill] Hiney, he’s going from 26-foot throws now 34 foot in one season. He’s only a ninth-grader, 14 years old. If he keeps up with an all-season workout program and keeps working at it, I can see him going pretty far.”
So far, so good. Sophomore teammate Chris Palencia shaved off .05 seconds to register a personal record of 7.19 in the 55-meter dash.
“It’s hard doing some sprints inside hallways or just doing the weight room,” Corrado said. “He hit a PR. So proud of him for that.”
Not every Southold track athlete participated in the meet, as several had previous commitments with ROTC. Most are expected to be available for the county championships at SCCC on Saturday, Feb. 1. The state qualifiers are scheduled for the same venue on Feb. 11.
No Mattituck athlete reached the final heat in their respective events, but several improved on past performances.
Sophomore Henry Blair sliced a little more than three seconds off his personal record in the 300-meter dash, finishing at 43.47 seconds in his heat, good for 25th overall.
“That’s definitely significant,” he said. “I’m improving every time I run.”
This was Blair’s first experience competing in one of the bigger meets.
“It’s my first time competing on a higher level,” he said. “I’ve just been running at these weekly meets, but now there is something on the line. … I think it definitely added some pressure.”
Junior Anthony Soto cut two seconds off his prior best time in the 300, finishing 22nd at 42.43.
His specialty, however, is the 55-meter high hurdles. He was clocked in 9.68, equaling his personal best. He said he plans to work on improving his technique ahead of next month’s county championships.
Tuckers sophomore Logan Carr won his heat in the 1,600 meter with a time of 5:15.32, finishing 12th overall.
Still, Mattituck head coach Jordan McGinn felt topping the heat could still give Carr confidence entering future races.
“You get a taste of winning in your head a little bit,” he said. “It kind of makes you want more, and you keep striving to get better and better.”
All things considered, McGinn was satisfied with his team’s overall improvement.
“We just did what we had to do,” he said. “We went against some great kids in the count