North Rockland senior Jackie Gamboli looked poised and confident in the 1500m. She was leading the field with Shelby Greany, the four-time Foot Locker qualifier on her shoulder, and she stayed right there past the finish - at the front.
Gamboli beat Greany 4:34.8 to 4:35.2 to break the Section 1 record in the event. This all happened only a short time after Greany ran 9:51.0 to win the 3000m, which was also a Section 1 record. That race was a little different as it was more or less a time trial for Greany, as she dropped the field early and never looked back.
Greany, who has raced less this winter than previous years, appears very fit and clearly running the best she has. While in previous years she has run a lot of big races down here at The Armory, this year she has run exactly one "big" race, the Boston Indoor Games junior mile, where she ran 5:00.60 to place sixth.
Gamboli's best time before last week in the 1500m was 4:54. On February 7th at the NJ Armory she ran 4:47 before lopping off an unheard of 13 seconds from her personal best.
The team battle came down to Suffern and New Rochelle after an injury to Mt. Vernon star Breanda Crump took the Knights out of the running. Suffern and New Rochelle have gotten used to this battle as all of the recent Section 1 Class A titles has gone to one of these two schools.
New Rochelle hung in there for most of the meet but once the long jump points came in, with Suffern scoring 16 to New Rochelle's 2, it became clear that the Mounties had just too many points.
Suffern's Jen Clayton won the long jump and 300m dash after not competing for over a month while she underwent test for an irregular heartbeat. She was cleared last week.
The boys meet came down to Arlington and New Rochelle as the relays were being contested. Arlington won the meet with a balanced attack, scoring in distance, throws, jumps, and the pole vault.
Arlington's Adam Doherty and John Muller went 1-2 in the 3200m run after taking the field out in 4:33. Teammate Jared Leslie took the 1600m in 4:26.
Sean Reilly had a great day for the Admirals as he won the high jump and the pole vaulters were big contributors as well.
The Arlington coaches (pictured right) were happy with how they won the meet, meaning that they didn't triple any of their distance runners. After a long cross country season and still with a few weeks to go to the state meet and nationals, that could really make a difrerence come mid March.
Overall it was a superb meet and demonstrated Section 1's strength on a state and national level. The Section 1 State Qualifier is being held on Sunday at West Point's Gills Field House. Teams like Bronxville, Pearl River, Woodlands, Pawling, Harrison, and Somers will join the very deep Class A teams from Section 1 to compete for the covetted qualifying spots.
PEARL RIVER SWEEPS THE CLASS B TEAM TITLES
The Pearl River girls and boys won the Section 1 Class B crowns Sunday at The Armory. The girls beat Harrison 110.5 to 82 while the boys beat Somers 95-60. It was the boys first title since 1997 while the girls have won every year since 1985 except 3 (2004-2006).
Pearl River's Mike Hickey won the 3200-1600 double before bringing his 4x800m relay team from way back to win. Pearl River's pole vault duo of Patrick Scognamiglio and Chris Spadaccini both cleared 12-06 to place 1-2 and seal the title for the Pirates.
Somers was led by Robert Gorecki's 2nd and 4th place finishes in the 3200-1600 and strong field event performances from Anthony's Boniello.
The boys 1000m was a very fast event as 5th place was 2:39.0. Nyack's Lyle Haywood won in 2:32.7.
The girls 1000m was also the deepest event on the day as Chelsea Kushner of Pearl River outkicked Jessica Kendzor of JFK and Caile Kohlbrenner of Tappan Zee to win in 3:05.4, with 3:05.7, 3:06.3, 3:07.0, and 3:07.5 the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th place times.
The girls 1500m race walk was won by Catie Davis in 7:19.7 with Somers Crosby Tillman 2nd in 7:24.6. Both times meet the NYS qualifying standard.
Harrison was led by freshman Nina Sarmiento's 300-600 double in 42.50 and 1:40.3. She also ran on the winning 4x200m relay team that ran 1:48.16.
Peekskill's Nicole Cummings leapt 17-11 in the long jump while Our Lady of Lourdes junior Olivia Stevens won the triple jump in 36-09.75.
The girls meet was easily the deepest this meet has ever been in many events as the depth of the section appears to be improving.