Girls Track Caps Winning Season With Victory Over East Islip

It was a day of competition and celebration at West Islip High School on Monday as the girls track and field team completed another winning season with an 82-68 victory over rival East Islip.

For the seniors at West Islip, who were honored after the meet with flowers and individual recognition, the win capped a fourth-straight winning season for the class. According to Coach Nick Grieco, this group is the first class to have four winning seasons and brought the program its first league championship in history. The team finished up 4-2 overall this season.

The girls were all smiles afterwards receiving flowers and praise from the coaches but during the meet they were all business. West Islip dominated the distance events, including a great showing in the 4x800m in which they lapped both East Islip relay teams.

Senior captain Ali Foote was particularly impressive, picking up victories in the 800m, 1500m, and 3000m. After the meet she spoke not of her individual accomplishments but of her feelings for her team.

“This year was really important to me because we were all really close,” she said. “I think that’s what helped us pull together and have a winning season.”

West Islip took the top three spots in the 1500m and 3000m. Julie Laudenschlager finished second behind Foote in both events with times of 5:08 and 11:28 respectively.  Annie O’Connell was third in the 1500m with a time of 5:08.8 and Marleana Lenaitre finished the 3000m in a time of 11:59.

Erin Vandette was another outstanding performer who broke her own school record in the triple jump with a leap of 34’9. bShe had previously broken the record earlier this season.

Besides their feats on the field the team was also named a New York State scholar athlete team for the spring season, which means they had a cumulative average of over 90, according to Coach Chris Kaigh.

“While I am proud of their athletic accomplishments, there in the classroom are unbelievable,” Kaigh said. “I’m so proud of them in many different ways.”

Two of the other senior captains, Alyssa Gatto and Blair Gallante, summed up the general feelings of the team after the event.

“Track always means a lot, some times more than other sports,” said Gatto, who competed in the long jump and triple jump. “Track is more like a family than a team. The team always comes together and we work really hard to win and more importantly to support each other.”

Gallante echoed similar sentiments.  "Tthe past two months track has been pretty much my life," she said.  "I’ve been spending two or three hours a day with all these girls. It’s just great to end with a winning season.”