Season in Review: Fort Lee Indoor Track

With all winter sports seasons having concluded, Fort Lee Patch now takes an in-depth look at how each team fared over the past few months.

With the first of five installments, the season in review segment begins with the indoor track team.

When the season began on photo day back in December, Coach Ed Garrison had one of the largest groups in recent memory with a total of 87 student athletes signing up.

The turnout was evident in the largest Fort Lee team photo of the day where a little over half the student athletes had the proper uniform.

“We weren’t ready uniform-wise, but we have a lot of kids,” Garrison said of his team that afternoon. “Track and field is a numbers game, and if you have numbers and talent, you can cover a lot of events.”

And as the team competed in more meets throughout the year, coach Garrison was able to learn more about his squad.

With the high volume in numbers, there was plenty of room for surprises like junior Nick Gogic and sophomore Masaru Yamaguchi.

 “It was their first year on track and they both placed consistently in varsity events,” Garrison said of the pair.

And on the girls' side, it was freshmen Melanie Plattner and Ashley Jenq who were both named All-Conference runners and key parts as the last two legs of the 4 x 400 medal relay.

“We knew Ashley was very quick the first time we saw her run,” Garrison said of the medal-winning sprinter and relay racer. “Plattner brought her time all the way down to the low 2:30’s [from 3 minutes] which is quite an accomplishment.”

Captains Yu Yu Fahmy (junior), Frankie Goris (senior) and Ollia Pappas (senior) led Fort Lee into the Division 7 Championships this year where both teams finished in third place.

One of the highlights of the year was the come-from-behind win by senior Nancie Sophias in the 600 meter run where she made a pass on the final straightaway to finish in first place.

“I worked so hard and was patient throughout the whole season,” Sophias said after the year ended. “To win that race with my best time [made me] really happy.”

Nancie was also named to the All-Bergen County 1^st Team in the 600 meter run and is expected to be the girl’s athlete of the year in winter track.

The race on the boy’s side for most valuable player was a lot closer but the coaching staff is leaning towards Yu Yu Fahmy.

“He had the best time in the 800 meter run, 1000 meter run, and 1600 meter run,” coach Garrison said. “[Yu Yu] had three out of the four best times in the distance events this year.”

And as the team reflects on the season, Garrison looks back with positive memories.

“We had great numbers and great balance between the returnees and the new recruits,” Garrison said of the winter track season. “The new recruits stepped up and helped quite a bit, enabling us to be one of the best teams in our conference.”

But where other sports end with a final game, meet or match, these track athletes have the luxury of continuing to compete in the spring when another season starts for Fort Lee.

Here is a list of all the Fort Lee honored winners from the indoor track season who received All-Conference Awards in Division 7:

BOYS:

3200 Meter Run:

Second Team - Jenya Dyagilev

4 x 800 Meter Relay:

First Team -YuYu Fahmy, Joe Kim, Jonathan Spenst, Sochiro Itagaki 

1000 Meter Run:

First Team - YuYu Fahmy

1600 Meter Run:

First Team - Jenya Dyagilev

4 x 400 Meter Relay:

Second Team - Frankie Goris, YuYu Fahmy, Masaru Yamaguchi, Jonathan Spenst

55 Meter Dash:

Second Team - Frankie Goris

55 Meter Hurdles:

First Team - Nick Gogic

Triple Jump:

Second Team - Samuel Topaz

Honorable Mention: Daniel Koch

GIRLS:

4 x 800 Meter Relay:

Second Team - Julie Lau, Victoria Tam, Melanie Plattner, Nicolette Pappas

600 Meter Run:

First Team - Nancie Sophias

4 x 400 Meter Relay:

Second Team - Nancie Sophias, Julie Lau, Melanie Plattner, Ashley Jenq

55 Meter Dash:

First Team - Ashley Jenq

55 Meter Hurdles:

Second Team - Sophia Luppino

Honorable Mention:  Christina Ramirez

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