LET S GO JETS!!! Hi Everybody! The warm and sunny weather has provided a terrific start for the East Meadow High School athletic program this spring. Our fields, courts, and track are busy with activity. Our boys and girls track teams have been impressive early in the season with convincing wins in meets hosted at EMHS last week. The boys team scored 89 points to defeat Valley Stream Central (59) and Hicksville (23). Impressive performances were turned in by Sean Grady (4:34), Mike Grady (4:34), and Brad Kaufmann (4:36) to sweep the first 3 places in the 1600. Sean and Brad were joined later by Adam Qureshi in 1-2-3 sweep of the 800. Kyle Bettex won the triple jump with a leap over 40 feet, and then place second in the 110 hurdles and high jump. Over the spring vacation the team had an array of personal best performances highlighted by Sean Grady winning the first ever Cougar 3200 Race. Nine runners began the race and the trail (or last) runner was eliminated on each lap. Sean s efforts resulted in a Nassau County best time of 9:44 which was highlighted by Newsday. The team also combined skills to win the Decathlon Competition with strong performances by Joaquin Bautista (100), Peter Vo (110 H), Sean Chennells (200), Rui Cunha (400), Eric Jiminez (400 H), Jigar Gosalia (1600), Chris Garzia (long jump), Kyle Bettex (high jump), and Tay Sean Kidd (shot). The ladies hosted the same schools in their meet last Monday and also had great success. Marrol Cajoles may only stand 5 feet tall but she won the high jump with a clearance of 4 10. Megan Grady won the 1500 meters in a tremendous personal best time. Rachel Levy and Amanda Franzese were not far behind and completed a sweep of the top 3 positions in the race. Karissa Stankes, Meghan Peysson, and Dalia Elbasty did the same in the 3000. Kayleigh Morein won the discus with a distance of 90 6. Amanda Ashe, Alex Dagnell, and
Nilam Patel are also strong distance runners scoring points in meets for the Lady Jets. Alyssa Roberts has competed well in the 100 and 200 while Jen Flores won the 100 hurdles in the first dual meet. The teams will host another event next week with Port Washington, Syosset, and Uniondale coming to EM. The girls meet is on Monday and boys on Tuesday. One of the strongest teams in our athletic program is softball. As county runners up last year after winning the title in 2010 the Lady Jets play in the toughest ability based conference in Nassau County. In addition Coaches Fritz and Wachsberger have sought a tough nonleague schedule to prepare the team for another run at a county championship. The team has a league record of 5-2 (7-4 overall) and during a recent stretch surrendered only 1 run in 35 innings. Sophomore Kerri Shapiro has been strong on the mound and with her bat. A 3 run home run on Friday against Syosset was the latest of her offensive highlights. Juniors Danielle Cutuli (SS) and Taylor Conti (3 rd ) provide a solid defensive wall on the left side of the infield and each has contributed timely hitting. Danielle has home runs against Hicksville and MacArthur while Taylor has multiple hit games against Hicksville, Island Trees, and MacArthur. Sophomore catcher Madison West returns behind the plate and brings her batting power to the lineup. A non-league 10-2 win over Hicksville demonstrated the allaround skill of the squad with key hits and great play from Claire Travis, Casey Kaplan, and Sandra Foster. Emma McKillop has contributed at first base and on the mound. Marissa SanAntonio patrols the outfield and had 2 big hits against Long Beach. Senior Jenna Dragoon has played a sharp 2nd base and had a 2 run home run against MacArthur. Coach Fritz reports that a wonderful group of new players to the varsity Ariel Cornfield, Tianna LaRosa, and Dina LaRosa will be expected to bring energy and production to the field. Our boys lacrosse team is off to a 6-3 start with impressive wins over Uniondale, Valley Stream, and St Josephs by the Sea. Dylan Curry, Chris Buschi, and Bobby Bender have contributed on the offensive end while Andrew Lynch, Adam Suchocki, Billy Andrle and goalie Kevin Borg have stood out on defense. Nick Suchocki, Chris Fuger, Bryan Lehmann, and freshman Joe Barbato have also contributed solid play.
The team had a tough loss to Long Beach this past Saturday but looks to rebound in important league games against Farmingdale and Hempstead this week. On Saturday March 24 th the team hosted Illinois state champion Waubonsie High School. Although we lost a tight 8-7 game players and spectators from both schools were able to enjoy a barbeque together following the game. Thanks to our lacrosse team parents and Coach Lago for organizing the event. Coach Rhodes will look to the leadership of Ryan Lao and Mike Siska to propel his JV Jets. An early season win over MacArthur was highlighted by Dan Fuger s 3 goals. Tom Dolley and Matt Caramante work hard and make things happen on the field. Both teams were joined by members of our girls team on a trip to West Point earlier in April to see the annual Army-Navy game. It was a great opportunity to see some great lacrosse as well as see the beautiful campus. Play ball!! The varsity baseball team has a 5-4-1 record after their second week of league play. Senior pitchers Matt Castaneda and Ben Wright have both thrown well and helped with their hitting. Nick LoCascio and Cody Zafran have been run producers as well. An important league series with Plainview JFK is on this week s schedule. Tennis anyone? The boys varsity tennis team has a 2-2 record this season. The boys have defeated Clarke (6-1) and Calhoun (4-3). Winners against the Colts were Trevor Mitchel (1 st singles), Dan Baruch (2 nd singles) and Alec Koondel (3 rd singles). Alec fell short in the first set of his match but was able to battle his way back to a victory. Louis Pollenz and Adam Cooperberg were the deciding match and were able to beat their opponents in 2 sets with a score of 7-6, 6-2. Inside on the badminton courts Coach Pat Burnside and her ladies are off to a 2-3 start. Leah Wong leads the team with a 5-0 record at 2 nd singles while the newly paired Brittany Piket and Anosh Zehra are 2-0 together. First singles player Jackie Tortora has played to a 3-2 record, matching the results of the first doubles pairing of Becky Syers and Amanda Carlin. Nicole Hartcorn and Mehjabeen Pirmohamed
are starting to see success as a team. After some early season hesitation the girls are coming together and looking forward to a strong second half of the season. The girls varsity lacrosse team is struggling with a 1-7 record but continues to work hard and improve. A variety of goal scorers have put the ball in the back of the net including Jenna Borresen, Jackie O Leary, Kristina Sanicola, and Emily Fitzsimmons. Senior Kaitlyn McGuinness scored the first goal of her varsity career in a recent game at Southside. Madison Young had a nice game defensively against those same Cyclones with 6 ground balls. Last Thursday the squad lost a tough 10-9 to league opponent Syosset but the Lady Jets had their best game of the season. They executed well on offense and played tough on defense. Lindsey Hoffman had her best outing in the goal with 15 saves. The team hopes to use that effort and performance as a springboard to bring home more victories this season. I will try to bring you more highlights as the season progresses and hope you can join us for a contest or two. Have a great week and LET S GO JETS!!! HOME ATHLETIC SCHEDULE 4/24 5/2 Tuesday 4/24 JV baseball vs. Plainview JFK 4:30 GV lax vs. Port Washington 4:45 JV softball vs. MacArthur 4:45 Wednesday 4/25 V baseball vs. Plainview JFK 4:30 BJV lax vs. Farmingdale 4:30 McVey BJV tennis vs. Hewlett 4:30 Thursday 4/26 V softball vs. Mepham 4:30 GJV lax vs. Mineola 4:30
Friday 4/27 V baseball vs. Plainview JFK 4:30 BV tennis vs. Bellmore JFK 4:30 Saturday 4/28 V softball vs. Oceanside 10:00 Monday 4/30 G track vs. Syosset/Port/Uniondale 4:30 JV baseball vs. Valley Stream Central 4:30 BV tennis vs. Calhoun 4:30 Tuesday 5/1 B track vs. Syosset/Port/Uniondale 4:30 V baseball vs. Valley Stream Central 4:30 BJV tennis vs. Clarke 4:00 JV softball vs. Carey 4:30 Wednesday 5/2 BV lax vs. Baldwin 4:30 JV 9 baseball vs. Massapequa 4:15 Badminton vs. Uniondale 4:30