Clarke pushes way into pack

In a conference centered around a pair of heavyweights—Valley Stream North and North Shore—Clarke has routinely had its back against the wall when it comes to the winter track and field season.

But in 2011-12, the Lady Rams may have turned some heads by capturing third place behind the Lady Spartans, who’ve won the last seven conference championships, and the Lady Vikings who were ranked nationally during the cross country season.

“The season went very well,” Clarke coach Pat Frazer said. “We’re in a very tough conference with tough competition and took third.”

On top of the strong third-place finish in the Conference V meet at St. Anthony’s Feb. 2, that included first place finishes from senior Kaitlyn Keiser in the Long Jump  (17-feet, 4.50-inches) and Triple Jump (35’, 0.25”), and junior Tristynn Mercedes in the 600-meter (1:45.80) and 3,000m (10:40.60), the Lady Rams were also boosted by junior Julie Vuotto’s second-place finish in the 600m (1:48.50).  “We were happy to see a lot of people step up in individual events,” Frazier said, noting that even though Clarke is small in terms of roster size, it still posted big numbers in terms of team scores.

Keiser’s also put herself in the mix for the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Championship Meet this weekend at Cornell University. She took second place in the long jump (17’, 6”) at the state qualifying meet at St. Anthony’s Feb. 15, with the top three finishers advancing. “The weird thing with jumping is that it only takes one monstrous jump and you can win the whole event,” Frazer said. “But she’s managed to stay a consistent jumper.”

Mercedes, meanwhile, just missed the cut for the state meet in the 1500m. The top three runners advanced, and her fourth-place time of 5:00.67 was just three seconds off the pace. “All season she’s been getting better and better and running personal bests,” Frazier said. “There was a lot of competition in her event.”