Another track title for V.S. North

For the sixth time in seven years, Valley Stream North captured a Nassau County boys’ track and field championship. The Spartans took the Class A crown last week at Westbury High School, totaling 122 points to win in runaway fashion.

“We’ve been fortunate enough to reload every year, and we have a dedicated and hard-working group of kids and coaches” coach Mike Frazer said. “The kids always manage to step up for the big meets.”

Senior Kendel Levy was a double county champion, winning the Shot Put and Discus. He also won the Division IV-A title in both events and is headed to Buffalo State to play football and compete in track and field. “Kendel went undefeated this spring in every meet that had a team score,” Frazer said. “He’s thrown 52 [feet] in the shot, and 137 in discus.”

While Levy’s feats came as no big surprise, the same can’t be said of senior Trayon Smith’s victory in the Triple Jump. In just his second year competing, Smith took the Class A championship in the event in his final jump, which was two inches shy of 41 feet. “It was great and came out of nowhere,” Frazer said. “He’s a hard-working kid. When he realized what he did, he jumped over the fence to celebrate with coach [Tim] Boyens.”

Senior Sam Catalano had a tremendous county meet, Frazer noted, with a runner-up finish in the 1600m (4-minutes, 37.2-seconds) and third in the 3200m (9:57.8) distance races as well as sparking North’s 4-x-800 relay to a second-place showing. “Sam is extremely consistent and ran his best time in the mile,” Frazer said.

Senior Thomas Bardabelias, who is headed to Purdue, had a rough start in the 800m and nearly rallied to win but settled for second place behind Clarke’s Wilbur Romero with a time of 2:00.1. Senior Steve Barbuto was third in Class A in the 400 Hurdles after winning the Division IV-A title in the event, and junior Joe Cafaro won the division championship in the 110 Hurdles. Freshman Jomar Pascal was third in Class A in the 110 Hurdles, and senior Philip Paul finished third in the county in the Shot Put.

Johnson leads Lady Spartans to division title

Marshall University-bound Shanice Johnson led the Lady Spartans to the Division IV-A championship and runner-up finish in Class A by dominating sprint events. She won the Triple Crown (100, 200 and 400 meter dashes) at the division meet and nearly accomplished the incredible feat at the county meet. “She’s a once-in-a-lifetime athlete someone gets to coach,” Frazer said. “She’s immensely talented and versatile.” 

At the county meet, Johnson ran 12.2 seconds in the 100, 25.4 in the 200, and 58.6 in the 400.

Sophomore Anointing Onuoha won county and division titles in the Triple Jump, while freshman Elaina Hobbs was second in both meets in the High Jump. Senior Angelique Jean-Charles (100 Hurdles) and junior Chika Aniagba (Shot Put) won division crowns, as did the 4-x-400 relay consisting of junior Sydney Cano, sophomore Kristen Ray, and Hobbs and fellow freshman Kim Jelich.