Track & Field: SWR girls place 2nd in league
Shoreham-Wading River freshman Kaitlyn Ohrtman didn’t know what to expect running two distance events at Saturday’s League V Championship at Suffolk Community College in Brentwood. In a compact meet, Ohrtman had little time after running the 3,000 to regroup for the 1,500.
Rarely this season has she had to run the two distance events at the same meet. Typically after the 3,000, she would wait to run a relay at the end.
Saturday presented a new challenge.
“I tried to make sure I hydrated between [events],” Ohrtman said.
She was more than up to the task, winning both events to help lead the Wildcats to a second-place finish in the league behind Bayport-Blue Point, which ran away with the title.
Ohrtman opened the meet by winning the 3,000 in 10 minutes 57.82 seconds. She followed that with a freshman school record time of 5:07.4 to win the 1,500. She already owned the freshman school record in the 3,000 based on her performance at the Yale Track Classic last weekend when she ran 10:46.02 to win the fourth heat.
“I’ve been improving a lot in the 3,000,” Ohrtman said.
Her time at Yale was a personal record as was her 1,500 time Saturday, she said.
Shoreham coach Paul Koretzki said he prefers to limit his younger runners to two races at an event like the league championship.
“Most of my kids ran two except for kids who high jumped and did things like that,” he said.
The Wildcats tallied 83 points to finish behind the Phantoms’ 174. Bayport was the clear favorite going into the meet and the Phantoms lived up to the expectations. The Phantoms won first in six of the 15 events.
In the 3,000 the Wildcats got a second-place finish from eighth-grader Alexandra Hays (11:13.28). A cluster of three Bayport runners followed the two Shoreham girls.
“For the first half of the 3,000 I was in the front half and then I started to pull away,” Ohrtman said.
In the 1,500, Ohrtman had a more than 10-second advantage over the next closest competitor, junior Courtney Dooley from Bayport (5:17.79).
The Wildcats got a second-place finish in the shot put from senior Meghan Serdock, who threw 26 feet 5 1/2 inches. In the 600 senior Laura Lee ran 1:43 for second place.
Senior Amanda Welischer took third in the 55 hurdles in 9.44. She also high jumped 4-03 for third place. Only four girls competed in the high jump. Senior Kylie Trettner was third in the 1,500 walk in 8:21.09. Freshman Marianna McCarthy was fifth in 8:59.14.
McGann-Mercy finished sixth with 20 points.
The Monarchs got a second-place finish in the 1,000 from freshman Meg Tuthill in 3:17.83. Junior Delina Auciello was third in the 600 in 1:43.88. Junior Danisha Carter was fourth in the 55-dash in 8.05.
