Southold/Greenport girls track duo builds each other up

When you’re a small school, such as Southold, Mattituck and Greenport, filling out a track and field team can be a challenge.

When you have a pair of talented athletes who can push each other in the same event, it is a gift.

That’s what the Southold/Greenport girls track squad has in junior Devin Stanton and sophomore Ida Reiniger. They both run the 100-meter dash, among other events.

They finished one-two in the 100 on a cool, windy Tuesday afternoon at Mattituck. The Tuckers defeated the Settlers, 62-53, in a Suffolk County meet.

Stanton won in 12.9 seconds. Reiniger was right behind her at 13.0.

Having someone on the same caliber to train on the track with is a blessing.

“We help each other out so much,” Stanton said. “We both push each other. She’s the reason why I’m good, and I’m the reason why she’s good. If I’m running faster, she’s pushing it. If I don’t have her next to me, then I’m not running my PR.

“If I don’t have that competition next to me, I will not do well,” she continued. “If I didn’t have her next to me today, I wouldn’t have run under 13 seconds.  She’s definitely one of the reasons why I do well in my sprinting events.”

Reiniger, who reached the state championship as a freshman last year, certainly has appreciated Stanton’s help.

“She definitely pushes me,” she said. “She helps me so much because she gives me drills to do or [similar] stuff to make me faster, too. She motivates me. It’s good to have someone like that.”

Stanton won all four of her events. The 12.9 in the 100 was .20 off her personal record. She won the 200 in 27.3, .50 off her PR of 26.8. She also anchored the winning 4×100 relay team.

However, Stanton wasn’t satisfied with her long jump (15 feet, 6.25 inches), although it was the best leap of the day.

“I didn’t have my best day, and that’s okay,” she said. “Some days I’ll have great days, and other days I’ll have bad days. This was an improvement in our relay. We got a couple seconds off of it, so it was pretty good.”

Reiniger won the 100 high hurdles in 16.8 and the 400 intermediate hurdles in 71.9.

“I was able to do what I wanted to do,” she said. “I messed up a tiny bit. It hurt my time a little. Overall, I’m happy with it.”

Mattituck sophomore Rachel Kubetz captured the 800 and 1500. She ran one race alone and had a teammate in another.

“I’ve had some good competitions at some of the dual meets, but with the smaller schools it’s very hard to pace because there’s not really a lot of distance runners anymore,” she said.

“I felt pretty strong. But it’s very hard to run a race in PR and do good when you don’t have someone to pace with. I didn’t really do as good as I feel like I could have.”

Mattituck coach Chris Robinson said that Kubetz was a natural and doesn’t always need someone to push her.

“She runs hard every time,” he said. “Sometimes when you have competition, it drives you a little bit. She’s a great cross-country runner. Sometimes you’re by yourself out there. She ran hard today. She’ll be great.”

Settlers freshman Maya Steindl, who took up (1500) race walking this year, sliced 40 seconds off her best time to win in 10:54.

“I just pushed the whole way and made sure I was thinking about my form and thinking about I only got a lap left,” she said. “When I get to the end, I just push until I just can’t anymore.”

Junior Le Neve Zuhoski, who qualified for the states last year, won the discus (99 feet) and shot put (24.5).

“She said she didn’t feel her best today with what she did, but she had a very good day,” Southold coach Tim McArdle said.

“We have three really talented girls who all have a chance to make it to the state championships and compete there,” he added, referring to Stanton and Reiniger.  “They’re going to have to earn it because there’s a lot of really talented girls in our class.”

Robinson was encouraged by the Tuckers’ performance.

“We’re young, so we still have some growing pains here and there, but girls are working hard,” he said. “When you go against your cross-town rivals, it’s always good to get a victory. We’re happy with that. We just got to keep working and keep getting better.”