The past 2011-2012 Indoor season has seen some great races, some great times, and some breakout stars. As usual, we're here to break down the season's best performers, ranking athletes from every inch of the state. As opposed to our XC All-State list, which was organized by grade, we chose to organize the Track All-State lists by discipline. As always, it is never an easy decision, and several great athletes had to be left off the list. The depth of talent in New York is only exceeded by the number of stand-out performances achieved this year, including numerous state and national records. Award winners are designated by W's, with honorable mentions being listed 1-2-3 by rank. Relays are ranked as a collective per team. And all opinions are that of the webmaster, Kyle Brazeil. If you think there is someone we missed, or someone was misranked, feel free to comment about it in our discussion forum, found here.
*Disclaimer: After much discussion, we chose to rank the girls sans bias, towards or against club coached or eligibility affected athletes. The rankings strictly reflect times produced by girls of high school age competing at high school level events.
Short Sprint (55, 55hh, 200)
W – Latiesha Philson - Benjamin Cardozo (55 – 7.01, 55h – 7.79)
1 - Deajah Stevens – (200 – 23.98)
2 - Kailyn Arcury – Williamsville East (55 – 7.21, 55h – 8.0)
3 – Akayla Anderson – Benjamin Cardozo (55h – 7.98)
Breakdown: Lateisha Philson of NYC has been present all season, but selected her races carefully. When she did run, it was always successful, as she placed second overall at the Millrose Games in the 55m. Even more impressive were her hurdle times, specifically the 60m hurdle distance. Choosing to pass on Indoor States, Philson ran an 8.36 in Seattle over 60m hurdles and followed that with a 3rd overall in 8.37 at Nationals. Philson's 55m hurdles split was a dominant 7.79, which puts her a full tenth of a second in front of the next fastest runner in New York, which is a lot for the short sprint. Behind Philson is the club coached Deajah Stevens, who pulled an impressive Indoor PR nationals, to grab her 2nd place overall in the 200m with a 23.89 performance.
Long Sprint (300,400,500,600)
W – Kadecia Baird – Medgar Evers (300 – 37.95, 400 – 55.60, 600 – 1:39.45)
1 – Kyle Plante – Colonie (300 – 38.23, 400 – 55.16)
2 – Sandrae Farquharson – Medgar Evers (300 – 38.82, 400 – 56.54)
3 – Emma Gallagher – Garden City (600 – 1:32.27)
Breakdown: There is no question that Kadecia Baird has been the talk of the Armory since the season began. Her impressive range as only a junior has yielded many victories over her tenure. She led the nation in the 300m until Nationals, and was in the top 5 for the 400m dash as well. Always the reliable anchor leg for Evers' relays, Baird looked to be unstoppable. However, Kyle Plante of Colonie did manage to edge Baird based on time, putting in the US #1 400 m time until Nationals to match. The pair met up once, at New Balance Collegiate, where Baird edged out Plante, but the pair had been topping the leaderboards ever since. Also in the mix was Medgar Evers' teammate, Sandrae Farquharson. Farquharson has been running on the outside, as her PSAL eligibility ran out last year, yet she remains in high school. She has been running well at the Colgate Invitationals, putting in times consistently around the 25 second mark over 200 meters. Returning to the Medgar Evers' 4x200 for nationals, Farquharson put in a killer leg which lead to their strong finish.
Mid-Distance (800-1500)
W – Mary Cain – Bronxville (800 – 2:07.26, 1000 – 2:47.29, 1500 – 4:24.45, Mile – 4:48.98)
1 – Anima Banks – Mamaroneck (800 – 2:08.77, 1000 – 2:48.68)
2 – Rachel Paul – Sachem East (800 - 2:14, 1000 – 2:50.47, Mile – 4:52.95)
3 – Molly Josephs – Garden City (1500RW - 7:04.08)
Breakdown: Sophomore Mary Cain is one of the youngest veteran of the sport. Running fast times since the 8th grade, where she debuted in the 800 at 2:20, Cain has had another strong season to add to her resume. While it wasn't without faults, Cain never finished a race further than 4th place all season. Running in the land of seniors, Cain has finished her season with the NY #1 times in the 800 through the 1500m. Cain concluded her season in the open 800m, where she ran very strongly with World Youth Champion Ajee Wilson of New Jersey. Cain finished second to an indoor PR of 2:07.26. Right behind Cain in that same race was Mamaroneck's Anima Banks. State Champion in the 1000m dash, Banks can never be counted out of a race, and looks to improve ever more during the spring.
Long-Distance (Mile – 5000)
W - Brianna Nerud - North Shore (Mile – 4:45.29, 2Mile – 10:24.86, 5000 – 16:43.56 NYS Record)
1 – Samantha Nadel – North Shore (Mile – 4:46.11, 3000 – 9:31.65)
2 – Alexis Panisse – Benjamin Cardozo (Mile – 4:48.36, 3000 – 9:52.01, 5000 – 16:58.24)
3 – Gianna Frontera – Newburgh (Mile – 5:03.84, 3000 – 9:59.34, 2Mile – 10:42.52)
Breakdown: North Shore's Samantha Nadel looked on record pace mid-season. Her victories in both the U.S. Open and Millrose Mile's looked to promise the senior great things to come, as the margin of winning was always definitive. However, Nadel cut her season early, due to a nagging tightness in her calves. However, North Shore was far from sidelined, as fellow senior Brianna Nerud picked up right where Nadel left off. Given the opportunity, Nerud kept winning "all in the family," as she took over on the leaderboards in the post season. Nerud concluded her season with an impressive time in the 5000m at Nationals, which now stands as the new State Record. Also included is the ever powerful Alexis Panisse, whose range always impresses. Panisse is the runner who has the power to anchor the 4x400, and the endurance to match the countries finest in the nationals 5000m. A runner who never gives up, Panisse has always given every race her all, which led to a State title in the 3000m.
Jumps (TJ, LJ, HJ)
W – Mikayla Pearce – Maryvale (TJ – 39’0.75”, LJ – 19’8”)
1 – Kaitlin Whitehorn – John Glenn (HJ - 5’8”)
2 – Melodee Riley – Riverhead (TJ – 39’9”, LJ – 19’0.25”)
3 – Stephanie Izard – Sweet Home (HJ – 5’7.25”)
Breakdown: Upstate's Mikayla Pearce has had an outstanding season, reigning undefeated in the Long Jump right until Nationals. Also jumping well in the Long Jump, Pearce had a huge NY #1 jump of 39-0.75 at Nationals to take 7th overall. Kaitlin Whitehorn saw similar success, reigning undefeated in the High Jump all season, until a mishap at States cost her a place on the medal stand.
Vault/Throws (SP, WT, PV)
W – Dominique Darby – Tri-Valley (WT – 48’8”)
1 – Adrienne Alexander – Bishop Loughlin ( SP – 42’8” NYS Champ)
2 – Erica Williams – Batavia (SP 42’8”)
3 – Kara Snyder – Colonie (PV – 12’1”)
Breakdown: With some close competition all year between upstate Williams, and downstate Alexander, the pair never met up until the Indoor State Championship. There, Adrienne Alexander pulled the victory, with a long 42'8 put. BUt it was the rarely contested Weight Throw that snagged our attention. Darby ranks 17th in the Nation, despite having only limited meet experience. The runner up at the Millrose Games also placed well in the New Balance Nationals, placing 16th.
Relays
W – Fayetteville-Manlius (4x800 – 8:58.18)
1 – Garden City (4x400 – 3:47.49, 4x800 – 9:00.92)
2 – Medgar Evers (4x200 – 1:38.71, 4x400 – 3:49.25)
3 – North Shore (4x800 – 9:04.99, DMR – 11:43.23)
Breakdown: By far the toughest decision of all this years' awards, the ranking of these teams came at no easy task. The four teams could not be more different in their approach to the Indoor season, as well as the stories revolving around their performances. In the end, it was the girls from Fayetteville-Manlius that came out on top. Their seasonal strategy is not without risk; they had not run a stacked 4x800 until their state qualifier. While other teams were busy achieving race experience and US #1's, FM was still training. Going into States, it was still yet unknown how well they could keep up with race-hardened opponents, but they once again proved their excellence by taking the race early, and finishing nearly a lap ahead of the competition. Returning the next week at Nationals, they repeated with another exceptional performance, despite an obstacle created by another team. Running through another teams hand-off exchange, the girls from FM ran a US #4 All-Time performance of 8:58.18. They get the edge in the rankings because FM ran with exacting precision, always accomplishing what they set out to do, no more and no less. The teams behind FM were no slouchs either, with Garden City and the Medgar Evers sprint squad, which had a dream season of their own. Where FM may have had limited races, Evers' was the complete opposite. Having a heavy season did have its' benefits for the panthers, as the Girls went undefeated in both relays for much of the season. Besides a close finish behind the Mount Vernon 4x200, Evers' dominated the sprints this Winter for New York. With junior Kadecia Baird anchoring most relays, their impressive 4x200 time repeatedly was right around the 1:40 mark. With the ability to include the ineligible Farquharson at Nationals, the Evers' girls lowered that down to 1:30.71, to take 3rd place overall, which placed them at US #3 in the 4x200 ans US #3 in the 4x400. Their 4x400m time of 3:49.25 was also second in the state, by less than two seconds. The team with that state leading 4x400 was Garden City, who also pulled out an impressive win in the same event at Indoor State Championships. Also showing dominance in the 4x800, Garden City had the US #1 time until FM toppled it at Nationals. Still residing at #2 for the event Nationally, the girls of Garden City are ranked as first honorable mention for their impressive standings in the rankings. US #2 in the 4x400, and US #2 in the 4x800 is no joke for this very young squad. The relays are rounded out by the earl season performances from North Shore, who were on track to challenge the recordbooks. With an impressive National record in the 4x1500, Shore also put out impressive DMR and 4x800 times. However, with Samantha Nadel taking the latter season off for recovery, the team chose to respectfully save the relays as well.