Lindenhurst Girls Run Down by Sachem North

Preparing for Monday’s meet against Sachem North, Lindenhurst girls track coach Stephen Gosline had high hopes for his team, but injuries to four key runners – and a standout performance by the Flaming Arrows’ Kayla Cataldo – proved too much for the Bulldogs, as Sachem North easily defeated Lindenhurst 121 – 29.

With the loss, Lindenhurst dropped to 0-4, while Sachem North moved to 3-1.

Addressing his team afterwards, Gosline told them that he wasn’t disappointed with their efforts, “just the results.

“Not much went well today,” he said.

For Sachem North, however, almost everything went well.

Leading the way was Cataldo, who placed first in the 400-meter run, long jump and pole vault. Following up on a school record-setting pole vault performance (10 feet) on Saturday, Cataldo took the pole vault, clearing nine feet, easily besting Lindenhurst’s Katie Lyver (seven feet). Her 14-feet, seven-inch long jump topped Lindenhurst’s Whitney Redman by three inches.

In addition, running in the 400 meters, she took first place, leading Lindenhurst’s Rebecca Wright and Maggie Sadowska from start to finish. But in events where athletes can measure their performance on individual times and distances, Cataldo wasn’t overly pleased with her performance.

“I didn’t do as good as I would have liked,” she said. “Coming off of Saturday’s meet, I was a little tired.”

Tired or not, her performance was noticed by her coach.

“She’s one of our top athletes,” said Sachem North’s Alex Young.

Gosline, in his 10th year as Lindenhurst girls track and field coach, has only five seniors on a 70-plus roster. They’re a young squad. But missing on Monday was their best runner: New York State Top-10 Runner Alyssa Barthelmes.

Without Gosline’s star sophomore running the 200 and 400, Sachem North won both races, with Cataldo taking the 400 and Stephanie Richer winning the 200 by five-tenths of a second over Lindenhurst’s Ashley Gregg.

Gregg won the 100-meter hurdles, and also finished second in the 100-meter run, earning praise from Gosline, who also recognized the efforts of Bonnie Piscotta and Maria Manno.

“We need to keep encouraging each other,” Gregg said about how her team will need to rebound from the Sachem North defeat.

Top Performers in Selected Events:

100 Meters: Melissa Michels (S); Ashley Gregg (L); Whitney Redmond (L)

200 Meters: Stephanie Richer (S); Ashley Gregg (L)

400 Meters: Kayla Cataldo (S); Rebecca Wright (L); Maggie Sadowska (L)

800 Meters: Keira Wood (S); Nicole Bermudez (L); Victoria Quednau (L)

High Jump: Kristie Michta (S); Carly Swinford (S); Caroline Rakus-Wojciechowski (L)

Long Jump: Kayla Cataldo (S); Whitney Redmond (L)

Triple Jump: Stephanie Richer (S), Bonnie Piscotta (L)

Pole Vault: Kayla Cataldo (S); Katie Lyver (L)