Great day at Easterns - Groton and 4 x 800 win!

It was a great day for Somers at the Eastern States Meet at Iona Prep on Sunday June 6. The boys team posted two wins which we have never done before. Jonathan Groton won the 200 meter dash with a time of 22.80 FAT into a stiff headwind. He would have approached the school record of 22.3 (hand time) had it not been for the wind.

The 4 x 800 also won with a time of 8:02.25 for the team's best time of the year and our first ever Easterns relay win. Frank Licursi went out hard and ran without any help from other teams, posting a time of 1:59.9 running into a strong wind on the finishing straight. If Frank had someone pushing him, we may have approached the 8:00 mark. Scott Friedman also ran a great race, going out in 58.4 and battling in hard to ran a PR 2:01.6 keeping a 40 meter lead. Isaac Shelby, determined to finally get out fast, did just that, setting his 400 meter PR with an opening lap of 56.7. He battled the wind on the home straight and stayed tough driving in to a PR of 2:02.5. Germantown made a run on Somers and pushed Albert Tunas on the final leg. Tunas went out in 57.4 with the Germantown anchor closing in. The Germantown runner came to Albert's shoulder on the final straight and Albert, always clutch, pulled away with a great finish to clock a PR 1:58.0 to secure the win a season best team time of 8:02.25.

TWO SCHOOL RECORDS - Crowley in the hammer throw and the 4 x 200 meter relay. John Crowley, a senior, finally broke the hammer throw record with a heave of 131' 10" after coming close several times this season.
The 4 x 200 meter relay, with four seniors, also finally broke a record they have been chasing. Sam Hettich (23.8), Anthony Pierrotti (23.1), Jake Robatel (24.3), and Jonathan Groton (22.0) posted a time of 1:33.69 FAT to break the former record of 1:33.6 (handtime) set in 2005 by Rob Gonzalez, Nick Gonzalez, Morgan Abdelbnour, and Andy Macaluso. The team placed fifth to earn medals. Groton blazed a 22.0 anchor leg (with some watches timing in 21.9) showing what was to come in the open 200.

Senior Jake Robatel set a PR in the triple jump with a leap of 40' 9" placing 10th. Kevin Nolan matched his recent PR of 12' in the pole vault and placed sixth. Dan Lisowski made the finals twice placing sixth in the discus at 137' 2" and sixth in the shot put at 42' 4 3/4". Lisowski, struggling with fouls recently, threw a 49 foot plus bomb on his final throw and barely fouled, almost holding himself in the circle. Rob Gorecki who has been the heart and soul of our distance program for the past four years ran his final race for Somers, going out hard in the 2k steeple and battling to hold on with a time of 6:45.18.

Sam Hettich medaled in the 100 meter dash in fifth place with a time of 11.98 into the wind.

Sami Persic cleared 8' in the pole vault with a massive clearance of over a foot. She injured her ankle on the approach of her first attempt of 8' 6". It seemed clear to everyone there that she would have cleared 9'. Sami placed seventh.