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Boys Track and Field: Riverhead’s Coulter adds division title in 1,600

Riverhead track athlete Luke Coulter 052516

Keith Reda’s record is safe — at least for now.

Mattituck High School senior Jack Dufton was approaching the school pentathlon record of 2,933 points that Reda set in 1990.

Entering the 1,500-meter run, the fifth and final event of the Division III pentathlon in the Section XI Division Championships at Centereach High School on Wednesday, Dufton needed to clock a time of 4 minutes 21 seconds or better to set a new school record. He came close with a time of 4:24.87.

It left Dufton seven points shy of the record, but was enough to give him the pentathlon championship with 2,926 points. Bayport-Blue Point senior Prabnoor Singh was second, 15 points behind Dufton.

Earlier in the day, Dufton long jumped 5.37 meters. In his other pentathlon events on Monday, he ran the 110-meter high hurdles in 17.33 seconds, high jumped 1.78 meters and threw the shot put 10.10 meters.

It was also a good meet for Riverhead senior Luke Coulter, who added a 1,600-meter title to the 800 he won two days earlier. Coulter clocked a winning time of 4:16.62 in the 1,600, passing Harborfields’ Ryan Scanlon with about 100 meters to go. Another Riverheader, Eric Cunha (4:22.58), finished third behind Scanlon (4:16.89).

Two Bishop McGann-Mercy seniors, Dale Kelly and Alex Frabizio, ran their best times to bring them second-place finishes in Division III. Kelly blazed to the finish in 49.76 seconds in the 400 and Frabizio completed the 400-meter intermediate hurdles in 56.72.

In the high jump, Mattituck senior Darius Brew placed second with a height of 6-2. He entered the competition at 5-8, which he cleared on his first attempt as he did at 5-10, 6-0 and 6-1 before he needed his third try at 6-2 to make that height. He failed on three attempts at 6-4.

Jyles Etienne, a 6-6 Stony Brook junior from the Bahamas, entered the competition at 6-6 and won with a height of 6-10.

Shoreham-Wading River senior Brendan Frances produced personal-best distances in both the Division III shot put (second at 48-1/4) and discus (fourth at 133-4). Another Shoreham thrower, Bailey Jung, was fifth in the discus at 129-11.

Shoreham’s 4×400 relay team of Dylan Meloni, Michael Godfrey, Carmine Romano and Patrick Flannery was second in 3:32.30.

In the pole vault, Riverhead’s Kyle Gevinski took third at 11-0. Shoreham’s Ryan Ledda (11-0) and Nicholas Maritato (10-0) finished fifth and sixth.

Riverhead took fourth in the 4×400 relay, with Chjuvaughn Cameron, Coulter, Cunha and Marcus Reid timed in 3:24.08.

In the 100, Greenport/Southold’s Maleik Yoskovich finished fifth in 11.69.

Godfrey was fifth in the 1,600 in 4:39.47. Mattituck junior Dan Harkin, who nearly lost his left shoe when another runner clipped the back of his shoe at the start, leaving it halfway on his foot, nonetheless finished the race seventh in 4:41.86.

Mattituck’s 4×100 relay team of Joseph Kelly, Zachary Bokina, Pandeli Pando and Brew finished fifth in 46.52.

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Photo caption: Riverhead’s Luke Coulter, right, passed Harborfields’ Ryan Scanlon, left, down the stretch to win the Division II 1,600-meter title in 4 minutes 16.62 seconds.