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Track teams brave conditions for successful meet: Take on large schools on the road

Saturday, Jan. 23 was 28 degrees with a windchill of 16 degrees — not exactly ideal racing conditions. However, Shelter Island’s girls track team bundled up and made the trip over to Babylon under bright blue skies for their second meet of the season to compete against Babylon and Southold/Greenport.

The team had their full roster of nine athletes. Southold had an equal number, while Babylon had 30 girls available. In track, each athlete is limited to three events, so a small team can not enter as many events as a larger school, which makes it difficult to win a meet. Babylon scored 75 points to Shelter Island’s 15, while the Southold/Shelter Island head to head score was quite close at 36 to 32.

Apart from team totals, individual scores and achievements are important and highlight each athlete’s talents and progress.

Two ninth graders, three sophomores and four juniors make up the squad. Junior Co-Captains and three-year members Ariana Carter and Olivia Overstreet are team leaders and essential to the coordination of the squad during the competition. They gather the team, making sure each person is warmed up and ready for her event if Coach Kevin Barry may be required to be supervising at a separate event.

Coach Barry is proud of his athletes, who seem to be willing to try anything. Sophie Clark gave the 55-meter high hurdles a try at the meet, placing 3rd against Babylon and 1st against Southold. Clark and Kaitlyn Gulluscio also throw the shot put. Olivia Overstreet participates in the long jump.

In the early season, the team is setting goals and improving daily. Gulluscio, Alexandra Burns, Izzy Fonseca and Lily Page each set their personal records (PR) in the 55-meter sprint despite a stiff headwind.

The 4-by-200-meter relay team of Ariana Carter, Madison Springer, Andrea Napoles and Overstreet set a season best record while racing to a second-place finish.

The 1,500-meters was good to the Islanders. Andrea Napoles and Madison Springer scored for 2nd and 3rd vs. Babylon and 1st and 2nd vs Southold.

Team co-captain Ariana Carter ran the 1,000-meters in 4:34 to grab 1st place vs. Southold and 3rd place vs. Babylon. Alexandra Burns earned the same rankings as she ran the 600-meters in 2:23.

Overstreet took 3rd place in the 300-meters in 1:01.4, with teammates Izzy Fonseca and Lily Page logging 1:03.8 and 1:08.7 respectively.

Coach Barry is impressed with the work ethic of his team. “This season is all about getting better while being competitive,” he said.

As the first sports season in nearly a year is now underway, he looks at this as a developmental season. Improvement while having fun is the recipe for a successful season in any book.

Next up is Southampton at Southampton on Jan. 31.

In the boys meet, Shelter Island more than held its own, according to Director of Athletics Todd Gulluscio, with the final score 41 to 34 in Babylon’s favor. “Considering Babylon had 30 athletes and we had eight that day, I’m very proud of these guys braving the elements and competing hard,” Mr. Gulluscio said.

Giving his all. Jalil Carter strides powerfully past a Southold opponent at the boys winter track meet held at Babylon on Jan. 23. (Credit: Todd Gullusico)

Results

The 3,200-meters: Theo Olinkiewicz-13:25, Jason Green-10:30. Jason was the overall winner of the event.

The 1,600-meters: Tyler Gulluscio-5:09, Jason Green-4:57. Jason was the overall winner of the event.

The 1,000-meters: Theo Olinkiewicz-3:37, Tyler Gulluscio-3:06. Tyler was the overall winner of the event.

The 600-meters: Jaxson Rylott-1:58, Brandon Velasquez-2:16, James Durran-2:10.

The 300-meters: Hayden Rylott-48, Jaxson Rylott-52.

The 55-meters: Jalill Carter-7.4 sec, Hayden Rylott-7.0 sec.

The long jump: Jalill Carter, 15.11 ft.

The shot put: Brandon Velasquez 35.2 ft. Brandon tied for first in this event. The boy