The Calhoun High School girls track & field team earned their first Nassau County championship title in school history.
After winning their third consecutive county title this past winter, all eyes were on the girls from Calhoun this spring. A spring county championship has served as a thorn in the girls' side for the past few years, finishing runner-up to powerhouse Valley Stream North; but this year was different.
Coming into the Nassau County championship, the girls fought to win their 7th consecutive conference title and 8th straight division. In the process, the girls earned their 103rd consecutive victory. All three of these are currently the longest women’s track streaks in all of New York State.
“We knew we would get everyone's best shot week in and week out. Everyone wanting to be the team to knock off Calhoun,” Coach Joseph Migliano said.
The girls got off to a fast start at the county meet with Captain Kaitlyn Stibritz taking second place in the 2,000-meter steeplechase, followed by sophomore standout Sophia Delcid taking 4th and running a 15-second personal best. This opened a 12-point lead over the talented Valley Stream North team. However, that lead was short-lived as Valley Stream took 1st and 2nd in the High Jump and Shot put, scoring a combined 36 points in those two events. Dana Wauchope would take 4th in shot, with Lauren Rosario taking 3rd in High jump to mitigate.
Valley Stream's lead was halted as Calhoun walked onto the jumps runway.
“It's no secret the jumps program at Calhoun has been the heart and soul of the team for the past six years, earning the honor of the best jumps program in all of New York State for the second year in a row,” Migliano said.
Sophia Hines would lead the squad of Yolina Bastien and Danielle Lawrence to another clean sweep in the triple, scoring 24 points for the team. In between jumps, Danielle Lawrence took 3rd running a season-best and one of the top times in NY in the 100-meter dash, going 12.35 seconds. Hines and Bastien were right back on the runway for the long jump where they finished 1st and 3rd in the event and bring jumps newcomer Lauren Rosario along with them for a fourth-place finish as well, adding another 20 points to the team's total.
As the girls were celebrating a tremendous jumps performance, all eyes went back to Lawrence as she set up to run the 100-meter hurdles final. This was a crucial race for the team as Valley Stream was slated to finish 2nd, 3rd, and 5th. Danielle continued her breakout day running a season-best time for 2nd in the hurdles, knocking Valley Stream down to 4th, 5th, and 6th places.
“Our girls came into the meet as the best jumps program around, and they didn’t disappoint, but Dani today was something different,” Migliano added. “Everyone accounts for Sophia and Yolina to handle their business, but Danielle is the one that turned the day around for us. She had a historic meet and hands down was the MVP.”
Kaitlyn Stibritz took 4th in the 3,000-meter run, and Dana Wauchope finished 3rd in Discus. The strong finish came from the team's 4x800m relay, led by freshman standout Kristin Higgins. Higgins waited all day for this race and when her opportunity arose, she came through, running a 10-second personal best in the 800, to lead the team of Sophia Delcid, Kaitlyn Stibritz, and Jamie Menninger-Low to a 4th place finish.
Calhoun went on to win the meet 94-77 over Valley Stream North, claiming their first-ever spring county title.
Coach Migliano said he explained to the girls the significance of this meet and why it meant so much to him and the program.
During the 2020 spring season, the girls were the most complete team they ever had; sadly, that season was cut short due to the COVID pandemic.
Elizabeth Tuzzolo, who was a member of that team and now a coach, said this win was unlike any other.
“We didn’t want to just win for us, but we wanted this for our 2020 class,” Migliano added. “The hardest thing I ever had to do as a coach was tell that amazing class that there would be no spring season. This win is bigger than any athlete, bigger than the team; this win is for the program; Elizabeth, and those girls who came before us.”
Date Added: 5/22/2024