VSN runners-up in Class B

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Fresh off their regular-season conference championships, the Valley Stream North boys’ and girls’ winter track teams both placed second at the Nassau Class B Championships at Hofstra on Feb. 7. But neither side felt satisfied afterwards.

Kevin Beltran set school records in the 1,000 and 1,600 meters, senior Joshua Lopez won the shot put and Sedgeley Duperval had a team-best 18 points as the boys fell seven points short of seven-time defending indoor champion Roslyn with 79. 

Junior Nattaly Lindo won the shot put and weight throw, and senior runner Melissa Innocent collected 22 points with a pair of runner-up finishes and a third-place showing to help the girls finish with 90 points. 

“Our kids have high standards,” coach Mike Frazer said. “The boys were a little disappointed coming up a little bit short to Roslyn, and the girls just pushed as hard as they could get, and they came up short behind Calhoun. You look into their eyes after the meet and they’re resetting their goals for next year.”

Beltran set his records despite placing second both times. He had a time of 2 minutes, 33.98 seconds in the 1,000 and 4:30.33 in the 1,600.

“When you’ve got a guy out there setting two school records in a meet, you know he’s doing it well,” Frazer said. 

Lopez set a personal record with tosses of 44 feet, 4.25 inches on his fourth and sixth attempts. Duperval was third in the 200-meter dash, second in the long jump and fifth in the 55-meter dash, missing fourth by just .01 seconds.

Three of Lindo’s attempts cleared 36 feet, culminating with a personal-best toss of 36 feet, 3.25 inches to claim the title. She also had a personal-record hurl of 41-1.25 in the weight throw, with junior Moanna Thelusca right behind her in second after a personal-record throw of 36-8.

“She shines in big moments like this on the big stage,” Frazer said of Lindo.

A busy Innocent had season-best runs while placing third in the 1,000-meter (10.65 seconds) and second in the 3,000-meter (10:50.83) events and was just under two seconds shy of winning the 1,500. 

“We had a big order for her,” Frazer said. “We asked her to do the distance triple where she runs the 3,000 and then she only has about 20 minutes to come back for the 1,000 meters. It was actually her idea [and] she went out and did it.”

Gabriela Mensah finished third in the triple jump and fourth in the long jump and junior Brooke Fessler and senior Charis Hackman placed third and fourth, respectively, in the high jump. Sahar Ali (second), Hailey Quinlan (third) and Emma Barbosa (sixth) combined for 15 points in the 1,500-meter race walk, an event the Spartans rarely compete in.

Senior Ethan Smalls was third in the weight throw and fourth in the shot put and the 4x200 relay team of Derricks Thraysbule, Zaiden Jackson, Aaron Sibblies and Terry Medor placed third.