Rams and Lady Rams T&F team race their way to winning five bronze and silver medals in NYC
February 14, 2024 at 10:46 p.m.
All that glitters was not gold, but the Port Chester Track & Field Team nonetheless ran off with five silver and bronze medals in their latest meet at the Armory in New York City.
And while the euphemistically-named indoor winter season has offered few chances to compete, the Rams and Lady Rams made the most of the Novice Meet Jan. 31, racking up medals in the sprints, relays, distance and field events.
The leading ladies
Even though no local T&F performer hit the qualifying times or distances to make the Sectional Championships, there were lots of Port Chester highlights, none more inspirational than those supplied by the Cruz sisters (Alexandra and Liz) and two former doubles stars (Casey Schultz and Juliana Castillo) of the undefeated Lady Rams league championship tennis team.
In the 4x200-meter sprint relay, for example, Schultz, Castillo and Alexandra Cruz ran the first three legs that had the Lady Rams in medal contention going into the final turn with Liz Cruz breaking out of the pack to pass the Yonkers runner for second place and a silver medal, just behind the New Rochelle gold medal first place finishers.
What made that finish so inspirational is the story behind the runners—the Cruz sisters are solid students, never miss a practice after school and go from the track to work long hours day in, day out. And Schultz and Castillo exemplify the best of Port Chester's blue collar work ethic because they weren't born as country club types with tennis racquets and expensive lessons but let their speed do their talking for them during a season where they lost just one match.
The fastest times
Schultz emerged as the Lady Rams’ fastest runner in the meet, clocking 8:14 in the 55 meters, fast enough to finish fourth overall and win a bronze medal with Liz (Elle) Cruz right behind her in sixth place with a time of 8:23. Alexandra Cruz ran one of the Lady Rams’ fastest times in the all-out middle distance sprint that is the grueling 600 meters, hitting the finish line in 2:03.31. And Castillo ran one of the fastest times in the relay.
Chenoa Marquez turned in the Lady Rams’ fastest middle distance times, running the 1,000 meters in 3:50.71 for what amounts to slightly more than a half-mile run. Mayerin Torres covered the same distance in 3:56.90.
Marquez and Torres came back to complete a grueling double by running the metric equivalent of a half-mile on the fifth-place, bronze-medal-winning relay that included Kathrine Espinoza and Camila Ramos.
The Rams picked up bronze medals in events ranging from the sprint relay to the shot put to the metric equivalent of the two-mile run.
The Ram top scorers
In the 4x200 meters, football player John Delcid ran a strong opening leg, followed by Anderson Duran, Johan Espinal and Jaycee Rodriguez. They finished in the bronze medal-winning third place time of 1:43.44.
John Pauletti, another football player, took third in the shot put with a throw of 36:08, good for a bronze medal in that event.
And Jonathan Abraham ran the 3,200-meter distance run—the metric equivalent of two miles—in the third place bronze medal winning time of 11:21.94.
In the other prime middle distance event, Alejandro Salinas finished sixth in the 600 meters in 1:38.96. That's a real test of conditioning because the event is like running a quarter mile full speed and still having at least another 100 yards to go. And that's not easy.
Abraham and Salinas both came back to run strong legs on the 4x800-meter relay, each relay leg the equivalent of a half-mile run, with Chris Zamora and Santiago Velasco rounding out the quartet that finished in sixth place in 9:52.73.
"Considering the limited amount of opportunities to run during the winter season, the T&F team worked hard and did well," said Rams veteran head coach Nick Mancuso. "Especially the Cruz sisters who never seem to stop working, between school, practice, meets and their after school job. What they do is nothing short of inspirational. They personify the best of Port Chester's hardworking ethic."
So, all that glitters may not be gold, silver or bronze, but takes on many other forms including human effort that all too often goes unnoticed.
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