Yorktown and Lakeland athletes excel at NYS track & field qualifiers; Husker Bevilacqua headed to states

YORKTOWN, N.Y. — It was a busy three days for Yorktown and Lakeland/Panas, which competed at the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) Section 1 Class A state qualifier on June 3 (hammer, walk, javelin) at Hendrick Hudson, with the rest of the events spread out between Arlington High School on June 5 and at Suffern Middle School on June 6.

Standing out for the Huskers was senior Isabelle Bevilacqua, who placed fourth in the 400-meter dash in a time of 57.26 seconds. That was a new school record, which qualified her for the state championships, which will be held Friday, June 13, and Saturday, June 14, at Middletown High School.

Yorktown coach Keith Smith was rightfully ecstatic about Bevilacqua’s accomplishment.

“Big shoutout to Isabelle Bevilacqua for a great race, earning a trip to the state championships,” Smith said. “She ran a very aggressive race, pushing it right from the gun. The icing on the cake was in the process of qualifying, she set a new school record. She did a great job.”

Yorktown’s 3,200-meter relay squad of Anna Dudek, Ivy Chacko, Mary Cabral and Ansley Edelmann took sixth (11:15.65), Peyton Case was seventh in the high jump (4 feet, 8 inches), Jane Hanson was seventh in the discus throw (78-7) and eighth in the shot put (31-3.5), Makayla Winslow placed ninth in the 100-meter hurdles (17.29), and Cabral earned a 10th-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles (1:19.95).

Performing well for the Husker boys was Marcello Silvestro, who placed sixth in the 800-meter run (2:02.00).

Standing out for Yorktown’s boys squads at the hammer, walk and javelin meet were Jack Shaw (hammer throw, first place, 118-2), Daniel Tangredi (hammer throw, fifth, 103-7), Timothy McGuire (javelin throw, first, 158-11), and Glen Capshaw (javelin throw, fifth, 106-6).

Keilana Kim (1,500-meter walk, third, 9:53.16), Hanson (hammer throw, second, 108-9; javelin throw, fourth, 78-4), and Sadie Forde (javelin throw, first, 83-7) produced for the Husker girls squad.

Doing the job for Lakeland/Panas at the hammer, walk and javelin event on the boys side were senior Joe DeSantis, who achieved a personal record in his final javelin competition, taking second in Class A (126-7). Sophomore Steve Sandoval threw in his first hammer meet and finished third in Class A (112-3), while DeSantis finished fourth (109-10, personal record), with freshman Alex Araujo throwing hammer for the first time and placing sixth (60-9).

The Rebels’ girls squad also had standout performers, including freshman Eden Picardi (second, Class A, racewalk, 9:42.87), and in the Class A hammer throw, senior Hannah Arbid (first, 134-5, personal record), sophomore Naomi Edwards (third, 95-6, personal record), senior Nichelle Clough (fourth, 95 feet), and senior Bianca Graham (fifth, 94-7).

“These events (hammer, walk, javelin) get ignored at so many meets, yet they're at nationals, in college meets and even in the Summer Olympic Games,” said Lakeland/Panas coach John Benvin. “I'm just glad it gets its own day for recognition.”

Lakeland/Panas excelled as well on June 5 and June 6, with many of its athletes standing out then also.

“The new three-class format made qualifications much harder for larger schools, but the team sent many athletes over the two days,” Benvin said.

For the Rebel girls, senior Lily Day finished fourth in Class A (fifth overall) in the 1,500 meters (4:53.33), while senior Layla Collazo placed fifth in Class A in the high jump (4-8).

Sophomore Riley Scott finished tied for eighth in the Class A 100-meter dash but missed out on being the eighth runner to make the finals by .004 seconds (multi-decimal tiebreaker needed to make sure only eight athletes make the finals) with a run of 13.24 seconds. The 4x800 relay team of Day, senior Jill Cinquina, sophomore Margaret Keating and freshman Aaliyah Thomas finished third in Class A (10:18.18).

For the boys, sophomore Billy Pike was seventh in Class A in the 1,600-meter run (4:45.88). The boys 4x400 squad of Gianni Simpson, Giovanni Simpson, Bryant Galiber and Trent Patane ran one of the hardest relays ever, as a back-and-forth contest that saw teams move from second to fifth in the final two laps ended with the Rebels finishing fifth (personal record, 3:26.01).

“We didn’t get anyone through to states in the spring, but we did in the fall and winter seasons,” Benvin said. “Class A/large-school division always has competitive teams in competitive races. Sometimes making state qualifiers is the reward in itself. We may have a few compete at nationals next weekend, but I'm proud of the season this team had.”