County title for Oceanside girls' track
Oceanside’s girls’ track and field team knew its late lead was anything but safe.
With one chance left to add to its cushion against determined rival Syosset – steadily closing from second place with a known advantage in later events – Oceanside, seeking to cinch its first county outdoor title at the Nassau Class AAA Championships, needed an expectation-defying showing from its fourth-seeded 4x100-meter relay.
It got it.
As one program precedent cascaded into another, Oceanside edged Syosset by less than a second to place third in the 4x100, setting a school girls’ record in 50.73 seconds as the Sailors – who'd post no points in later races – outlasted the Braves 85-83.33 in team scoring to take the girls' county title May 22 at Westbury High School.
“[The relay team] overperformed and got us the points we needed to win,” said Oceanside coach Michael Howley of the crew manned by Cassie Lucero, Samantha Friedman, Juliana Targowski and Sydney Rose. "The girls on our relay are all good individually. But they love the team aspect of the relay and get excited for it. And we needed that. If they’d come in fourth, we wouldn’t have secured the win.”
A double All-County honoree (top-three finisher), Friedman was Oceanside’s lone individual titlist in races, winning the 100 dash in 12.86, while Riley Moylan and Erin Murray were champions in the field – Murray’s throw of 33 feet, 4.75 inches earning the sophomore her first county outdoor title in the shot put, while Moylan’s leap of 17-10.25 was good for first place in the long jump.
Moylan, Oceanside’s record holder in the long jump (18-0) and triple jump (38-2.5), also placed second in the triple jump as the junior led her team at county with a haul of 18 points individually.
"Riley's really important to us," Howley said. "She’s ultra-competitive and never accepts less than her best. Luckily for us, her best is usually good for getting us points.”
Versatile Sailors sophomore Alexa Kosakowski placed third in both the 100 hurdles and the high jump, her mark of 4-10 in the latter a fair bit shy of her school-record 5-2 set last month at the Westbury Green and Gold Invitational.
"Alexa getting All-County in both a track and a field event was fantastic,” Howley said. “She’s so strong, and only a sophomore. She’s improved to become one of the best athletes in the county.”
In a season-best effort, Addison Vice clocked 1 minute, 6.85 seconds to place second in the 400 hurdles, while fellow Sailors junior Brianna Cinamon took third in the shot put, giving Oceanside a total of nine All-County honorees.
“These girls did everything asked of them,” Howley said. “We put this goal of winning a title in front of them, knowing they could accomplish it. We knew we’d have to work, going up against fierce competition. I’m very proud of how this team responded.”
Moylan’s season will continue this week at the state outdoor track and field championships in Cicero. She finished first in the long jump and second in the triple at the Nassau State Qualifier May 30.
