Massapequa girls’ indoor track and field took home the Nassau Class A championship Feb. 3, defeating East Meadow with a gritty all-around performance in which a pair of athletes recorded individual county titles
For head coach Mike Dellicurti, preparing the Chiefs to take on the Jets was a matter of perspective.
“The more we contribute, and the more girls that we have involved in this meet, the better we're going to do,” Dellicurti said. “And they bought into it. They scrapped up all those back-end points, and everyone just stepped up the way they should have.”
At the 2025 championship meet, Massapequa fell 86-77 to East Meadow, which appeared similarly imposing in 2026. Jets standout Zaria Hall was a favorite in three events and lived up to her billing, sweeping the 1000-, 1500- and 3000-meter runs in dominant fashion. Dellicurti, along with assistants Mike Lisa and Chris Drury, knew Massapequa would be in a 30-point hole from the jump.
“They knew going in, we could overcome 30 points from their best runner as long as we all worked together as a team,” Dellicurti said.
Instead of prioritizing victories, the coaches told the girls to do what they could. In the end, small contributions won the day, as Massapequa grinded its way to a 92-88 championship victory at St. Anthony’s High School. Freeport finished third with 59 points.
All three of Massapequa’s relay teams scored points in their events, with the 4x200 and 4x800 teams each finishing second. The 4x200 team of Kailyn Duffy, Keira Stealey, Karlye Irving and Emma Villalta was the first in Massapequa history to qualify for All-County honors.
Villalta, who was also in the 4x800 relay with Sophia Vukelic, Shannon Carter and Kyra Florio-Marinello, contributed to a team-high 26 points for the Chiefs. Villalta also won the 600-meter run with a commanding time of 1:37.18.
Keira McLaughlin, another senior leader, set a school record to win the pole vault title by clearing 10 feet and a half-inch, more than a foot higher than the runner-up. She also finished fourth in the 55-meter hurdles and sixth in the triple jump, becoming yet another senior to secure points in three events.
Vukelic, the Chiefs’ long-distance specialist, had the unenviable task of going head-to-head with Hall in the 1500- and 3000-meter runs. Lionhearted in defeat, she managed to finish second and third in the two events, scoring 14 crucial points in Massapequa’s championship victory. Florio-Marinello also took on Hall in the 1000- and 1500 meter runs and earned two points finishes.
In a similarly determined meet, Duffy did her part in the 4x200 relay and secured two runner-up finishes: 55-meter hurdles and high jump. Alessandra Razzano rounded out Massapequa’s stellar cast of seniors, finishing fourth in the triple jump and sixth in the long jump.
“We knew when they were all freshmen,” Dellicurti said. “We said we will win a championship one day. I still remember that conversation, and most of them have done three seasons for us every year since. We made a promise to each other that we would try to fight for a county championship. I'm just very, very happy for them.”
