By Frank Rizzo
MONTICELLO — “No sweat” it wasn’t for the defending state small schools steeplechase champion at last Saturday’s 21st annual Monticello Games.
His condition and his competition put a little scare into Colin Seidl of Sullivan West as the heat leveled the playing field and the sun beat down mercilessly.
With victories in the 1600 (4:41.8) and 3200 (9:56.4) under his belt, Seidl struggled in the bruising 3000 steeplechase. Though he has been running it since 9th grade, he considered Saturday’s race one of his poorer performances technically – and he still won by seven seconds with a 10:19.6 clocking.
He was named meet outstanding track performer.
“My form was off,” Seidl told runner-up Jeff Pennings of Goshen.
For the first four laps, Seidl was shadowed by David Wilbur of Monticello (third), which worried one observer – his father (and SW girls’ coach) Joe Seidl.
Wilbur, Seidl pointed out, had more short distance speed, and if he stayed close, could conceivably outkick his son at the end.
But Wilbur faded as Pennings passed him and began to stay within a couple of strides of the leader. However, it was his first steeplechase and it showed.
“I didn’t know how to jump the water pit,” Pennings admitted.
Seidl claimed he had trouble at the pit as well, but his subpar form was good enough to gain distance from Pennings every time they cleared the hurdle. With two laps left Seidl took a comfortable 15-20 yard lead.
“I was tired,” Seidl explained, adding that he had done the strenuous triple before. “I was disappointed with my time. It was nowhere close to my p.r.”
Seidl finished third overall in the state steeplechase race last June and first among Division II (small school) runners with a time of 9:33.62.
Coming into the meet, said Joe Seidl, “we were concerned about the mile. It’s not his favorite event – it’s a bit too fast for him.”
However, Seidl cruised to a seven-second win in the metric mile, setting the stage for his “trifecta.”
Tri-Valley’s Bob Fiedler won the hammer throw (144-11) and took second in both the shot put (45-103⁄4) and the discus (123-11) to gain the field outstanding performer trophy.
Port Jervis senior Sydnie Leroy cleared 12-6 in the pole vault, best in the state this season among girls, to set a meet record and garner outstanding field athlete honors.
Spring Valley’s Shilesha Johnson was the girls’ outstanding track athlete with dominant wins in the 100 and 200.
Girls Results
Team scores: 1. Arlington (A) 154.75; 2. Tri-Valley (TV) 80.75; 3. Spring Valley (SV) 77; 4. Sullivan West (SW) 73.75; 5. Monticello (M) 56; 6. Goshen (G) 45.75; 7. Red Hook (RH) 45; 8. Ellenville (E) 40; 9. Port Jervis (PJ) 34; 10. Byram Hills (BH) 31; 11. Livingston Manor (LM) 28; 12. Liberty (L) 27; 13. Eldred (El) 17; 14. Chapel Field (CF) 2; 15. Tie, Monroe-Woodbury (MW) and Fallsburg (F) 0.
Track events: 3000 — 1. Jessica Fingers (M) 11:00.2; 2. Gabby Gjonaji (A) 11:13.5; 4. Rianne Erlwein (SW) 11:21.4; 6. Andrea Drollinger (El) 11:42.6. 400 — 1. Jessica Brown (SV) 60.5; 2. Ellie Kantor (BH) 60.5; 4. Nyoki Tate (M) 63.4; Katie Manzi (SW) 63.6; 6. Kasi Pilny (SW) 64.2. 400 hurdles — 1. Morgan Hawkins (SW) 70.8; 2. Carolyn Nasr (A) 71.7; 4. Jaasmine Walizedah (L) 72.3 5. Lindsey Murphy (SW) 72.5; 6. Emma Tingley (TV) 72.8. 100 hurdles — 1. Sydnie Leroy (PJ) 16.1; 2. Lucy Hinchcliffe (G) 16.1; 4. Sara Alsdorf (SW) 16.8; 5. Lindsay Murphy (SW) 17.5; 6. Jasmine Walizedah (L) 18.1. 100 — 1. Shilesha Johnson (SV) 12.2; 2. Jessica Dunnigan (L) 13.0; 3. Christina Watts (El) 13.3; 6. Sara Alsdorf (SW) 13.8. 1500 — 1. McMan (A) 4:55.3; 2. Jessica Fingers (M) 5:00.1; 5. Emily Matin (M) 5:33.7; 6. Ashley Weintraub (TV) 5:40.9. 800 — 1. Sarah Reed (A) 2:28.0; 2. Kristen Harrington (M) 2:31.7; 3. Rebecca Concors (M) 2:39.4; 4. Rachel Sanborn (TV) 2:41.2. 200 — 1. Shilesha Johnson (SV) 25.2; 2. Jessica Brown (SV) 27.0; 4. Jessica Dunnigan (L) 27.4; 5. Katie Manzie (SW) 27.6. 2000 steeplechase — 1. Rachel Sorna (A) 7:37.5; 2. Emma Cohen (M) 8:11.0; 5. Caroline Bertholf (TV) 8:35.2; 6. Rianne Erlwein (SW) 9:00.5.
Field Events: High jump — 1. Rowan Willigan (RH) 4-9; 2. Danielle Baker (LM) 4-9; 6. Tie, Kendra Barker (SW) and Agnes Pompeii (TV) 4-6. Pole vault — 1. Sydnie Leroy (PJ) 12-6 ; 2. Kristin Hasselgren (BH) 9-0; 3. Morgan Hawkins (SW) 8-0. Discus — 1. Amanda Schafer (RH) 90-8; 2. Mary McArthur (RH) 89-5; 3. Tehnyat Kahn (TV) 86-7; 4. Kaitlan Torres (TV) 86-4. Long jump — 1. Brittany Foote (G) 15-4; 2. Shilesha Johnson (SV) 15-3; 6. Jasmine Walizedah (L) 14-31⁄2. Shot put — 1. Megan Lovelace (PJ) 33-01⁄4; 2. Chris Reed (LM) 32-01⁄4; 3. Dominique Darby (TV) 31-8; 4. Tehnyat Khan (TV) 31-5; 6. Kelly McNamara (TV) 31-11⁄2. Hammer — 1. Kaitlyn Exner (TV) 98-8; 2. Dominique Darby (TV) 93-8; 4. Heidi Furman (TV) 91-1; 6. Brittany Reddish (SW) 75-6. Triple jump — 1. Samantha Gabriel (SV) 31-113⁄4; 2. Kendra Barker (SW) 31-33⁄4; 3. Monay Allen (LM) 30-113⁄4; 6. Jessica Dunnigan (L) 30-2. Javelin — 1. Kane (A) 83-8; 2. Fleming (BH) 80-3; 3. Heidi Furman (TV) 76-01⁄4; 4. Danielle Darby (TV) 74-9; 5. Dominique Darby (TV) 69-5.
Relays: 800 — 1. Sullivan West (Alsdorf, Peters, Hawkins, Barker) 1:55.5; 2. Ellenville 1:56.0; 4. Tri-Valley 2:02.0; 5. Liberty 2:05.9. 3200 — 1. Arlington 10:16.4; 2. Tri-Valley 10:56.8; 4. Eldred 11:15.8; 5. Sullivan West 11:37.5. 400 — 1. Spring Valley 51.0; 2. Sullivan West 54.2; 3. Liberty 54.3; 4. Monticello 54.5. 1600 — 1. Arlington 4:16.2; 2. Sullivan West 4:21.3; 3. Monticello 4:22.8.
Boys Results
Team scores: 1. Arlington (A) 163; 2. Ellenville (E) 142.75; 3. Byram Hills (BH) 58; 4. Tie, Liberty (L) 56, Red Hook (RH) 56; 6. Spring Valley (SV) 50; 7. Monticello (M) 49; 8. Sullivan West (SW) 41.5; 9. Goshen (G) 36; 10. Tri-Valley (TV) 28; 11. Chapel Field (CF) 8; 12. Fallsburg (F) 7.5; 13. Eldred (E) 6; 14. Livingston Manor (LM) 3; 15. Monroe-Woodbury (MW) 2; 16. Port Jervis (PJ) 1.
Track events: 3200 — 1. Colin Seidl (SW) 9:56.4; 2. Klaus Schmidt (RH) 10:04.8; 5. Thomas Gonzales (M) 10:25.4. 400 — 1. Ray Valencia (E) 51.6; 2. Zach Grieb (G) 52.3; 5. Dyhy Anthony (F) 53.5; 6. Matt Rodriguez (M) 54.5. 400 hurdles — 1. Sam Pozorski (E) 59.2; 2. Nate Pickett (A) 59.3; 3. Tim Burgio (L) 60.1; 5. David Wilbur (M) 61.2. 110 high hurdles — 1. Domonique Thompson (A) 15.3; 2. Nate Pickett (A) 15.5; 6. Joe Counts (E) 17.1. 100 — 1. Winslow Dorsainvil (SV) 11.0; 2. Leroy Royse (A) 11.0; 4. Malcolm Strother (L) 11.3. 1600 — 1. Colin Seidl (SW) 4:41.8; 2. Chris Cioffoletti (BH) 4:49.0. 800 — 1. John Byrne (RH) 2:02.4; 2. Adam St. Germain (CF) 2:03.4; 3. Thomas Gonzales (M) 2:06.2; 6. Tim Martin (M) 2:08.9. 3,000 steeplechase — 1. Colin Seidl (SW) 10:19.6; 2. Jeff Pennings (G) 10:26.7; 3. David Wilbur (M) 10:37.1; 5. James Dzurica (M) 11:09.7. 200 — 1. Geraldo Cetoute (SV) 22.2; 2. Leroy Rouse (A) 23.1; 3. 4. Malcolm Strother (L) 24.2.
Field Events: Long jump — 1. Tim Burgio (L) 20-33⁄4; 4. Dyhy Anthony (F) 19-81⁄2; 5. Charles Wolf (El) 19-7. Shot put — 1. A.J. Boriello (E) 49-8; 2. Bob Fiedler (TV) 45-103⁄4; 3. Gabe Felix (SW) 44-33⁄4. High jump — 1. Mike Scott (RH) 6-0; 2. Jordan Wilson (M) 5-9; 3. Malcolm Strother (L) 5-9; 4. Austin Erlwein (SW) 5-3; 5. Ethan Herrera (F) 5-3; 6. Tie, Doug Lewis (E) and Anthony Nicoletti (SW) 5-3. Triple jump — 1. Jordan Wilson (M) 41-41⁄2; 2. Dominque Thompson (A) 40-91⁄2; 5. Gerald King (El) 40.5. Hammer — 1. Bob Fiedler (TV) 144-11; 2. Frank Casamento (E) 120-2; 6. Stephen Rogers (LM) 88-9. Discus — 1. Gabe Felix (SV) 131-1; 2. Bob Fiedler (TV) 123-11; 5. Stephen Rogers (LM) 114-7. Javelin — 1. Zack Sherwood (A) 154-2; 2. Chris Cuzzola (A) 135-8; 3. Brandon Tompkins (L) 134-95. Gabe LaGrutta (SW) 120-4. Pole vault — 1. Greg Castro (L) 13-6; 2. Tom Brace (A) 13-0; 4. Brent Kaplan (M) 10-6. Eric Larsen (TV) 9-0.
Relays: 800 — 1. Arlington 1:33.3; 2. Ellenville 1:34.3; 6. Eldred 1:40.0. 3200 — 1. Goshen 8:36.6; 2. Red Hook 8:52.1; 5. Liberty 9:17.0. 400 — 1. Arlington 44.1; 2. Byram Hills 45.7; 3. Liberty 46.1; 5. Monticello 46.6. 1600 — 1. Ellenville 3:36.2; 2. Arlington 3:38.5; 3. Monticello 3:38.7; 5. Liberty 3:49.5.