Track & Field: Riverhead sprinter wins title in 200 dash
Riverhead junior Jeff Pittman won the 200-meter dash Wednesday afternoon at the Division II Championship at Comsewogue High School as the Blue Waves finished sixth as a team with 56 points.
Pittman, who competed in four events, ran 23.04 seconds in the finals of the 200 for first place. It was his first title at division meet in his career.
Pittman finished just ahead of Hills West sophomore Jarried Redwood, who ran 23.06. In the 100 dash Pittman placed third in 11.77. Adding in his third place finish in the triple jump Monday, Pittman wound up tallying 22 points alone in individual events, enough to single-handedly outscore nine teams.
Smithtown West won the Division II meet with 100 points, well ahead of second-place Copiague.
The Blue Waves dominated in the pole vault as they’ve done all year in dual meets.
The Blue Waves took first, second and fourth for 22 points in the one event. Juniors Dan Normoyle and Jonah Speath both cleared 13 feet 6 inches. Normoyle took first for clearing on fewer jumps. Sophomore Charles Villa cleared 12-06 for fourth place.
The pole vault was originally to be contested Monday. But due to the high number of participants, only Division I went Monday. Division II and III vaulters competed Wednesday.
Normoyle and Speath will both be in the hunt to qualify for the state championship at the qualifier next weekend. They’ll face tough competition from Joe Miceli of Miller Place and Conner Olsen of Connetquot, who both cleared 14 at the division meet.
Riverhead also picked up points in the 3,000 meter steeplechase thanks to a fifth-place finish from junior Anthony Galvan. He ran 10:13.47.
In the shot put senior Anthony Stimpfel threw 46-11 for fifth place.
The Blue Waves scored four points with a fourth-place finish the 4 x 400 relay in 3:29.16.
In Division III the Shoreham-Wading River Wildcats finished fourth as a team with 48 1/2 points. Bayport-Blue Point narrowly edged Port Jefferson and Amityville for the title with 104 points. Port Jefferson tallied 101 while Amityville had 99 1/2.
Shoreham sophomore Keith Steinbrecher won the steeplechase in 10:18.71, topping his seed time by more than 30 seconds.
He was the only individual champion for Shoreham after John Lee won the 3,200 Monday.
Jordan Wright ran 11.7 for fourth in the 100 and 23.99 for fifth in the 200. Freshman Isreal Squires ran 50.56 for third in the 400.
In the pole vault junior Tom Sager finished tied for fourth after clearing 11-0. Sophomore Ryan Udvadia picked up a fifth-place finish in the 1,600 in 4:32.84 to beat his seed time by a second.
The Wildcats scored in two relays: the 4 x 100 and 4 x 800. They were fourth in 45.68 in the 4 x 100 and third in the 4 x 800 in 8:49.24.
McGann-Mercy junior Robert Folkes threw 42-04 1/2 in the shot put for seventh place.
The individual state qualifier is June 1-2 at Port Jefferson High School.
