East Meadow girls’ track and field team captured the Nassau Class AAA Championship May 29, winning a hard-fought meet that came down to the final event. The Jets did not lead at any point during the meet until it counted.
“In the days leading up to the meet, we really talked about needing to execute or over-perform to get it done, and the girls really stepped up,” coach Michael Ringhauser said.
At the very end of the day, East Meadow trailed Oceanside by one point with only the 4x800-meter relay remaining. Kaitlynn Slobodin, Marcheline Simbulan, Maritsa Paul and Anaya Hall entered the final event with plenty of relay experience. The quartet had scored points together to win the indoor championship several months ago.
In this case, they did not need to win the event, but simply had to finish ahead of Oceanside. With a time of 9:53.90, they did so easily, finishing second behind Syosset as the only other relay team to break the 10-minute barrier. Oceanside finished 10th in the event.
East Meadow won the title with 90.33 points, just ahead of the Sailors’ 83.33. Baldwin finished third with 78, five points clear of Massapequa.
East Meadow senior Anaya Hall was one of the relay members who clinched the victory for the Jets and also finished second in two individual events, the 800-meter and 1500-meter runs. Her sister, junior Zaria Hall, finished ahead of her in both events and also won the 3000-meters. She has qualified to compete at the state championship in the 800- and 1500-meters as well.
Zaria, who inarguably led East Meadow to a title victory scoring 30 points by herself, entered a friendly rivalry with her older sister long before they joined the high school track team. Ringhauser said that their competition with one another, along with natural leadership abilities, has shaped the East Meadow team into a local powerhouse.
“Both of them really believe in their training, always asking the right questions, and they push each other,” Ringhauser said. “They love going 1-2, but there’s a little bit of a competitiveness between them as well, and I think that trickles down to the rest of the team.”
Running alongside the Hall sisters in the 800-meters, sophomore Emily Zaradich finished fourth and also scored points in 400-meter hurdles and long jump. Her seven points contributed directly to East Meadow’s victory by the same margin over Oceanside.
Zaria Hall ranks as one of the best overall athletes in New York, but Zaradich ranks as one of the state’s best sophomores and has a bright future for the Jets going forward. The younger athlete will compete in state competition as a member of the 4x800 relay team, along with the Hall sisters and Slobodin.
East Meadow could not have won the title without key performances in field events as well. Senior Arianna Montealagre, arguably facing the biggest shot put event of her career after several near-miss defeats in the past, broke the school record last week with a towering throw of 35-11.5. Her teammate, Katelyn Coffey, also scored points for fourth with a throw of 31-11.25.
