Pearl River Track Gears Up for County, Section Meets

Track and field takes center stage over the next two weeks as the Pearl River boys and girls teams try to continue outstanding seasons. 

The Pirates will compete in the Rockland County Championships 5 p.m. today and 4 p.m. friday at Clarkstown North, followed by the Section 1 Class B Meet hosted by the Pirates starting at 1 p.m. May 27.   

Both the boys and girls squads boast undefeated dual meet records and League 4B titles.

Girls coach Dan Doherty is extremely pleased with his squad,

"(The team) has struggled and by using mirrors and some magic gone undefeated," Doherty said.  "This is not my deepest team.  But, by winning our league meets and the League 4B championship, we continued to accomplish the goals that we have tried to reach.

“Margaret Moore, Kelly Hayes and Molly Shine have really carried the load all year.  A great example is the 65 points they scored in our victory in the League 4B meet (over a third of the team's total team points).” 

In the county meet, Doherty is hoping that the Lady Pirates will perform well enough to finish in at least one of the top three spots in the race for the team title. 

 “With the defending meet champs North Rockland, winter track champs Suffern and the fact that we won very close battles with Nanuet and Tappan Zee, this won’t be easy," Doherty said. "I just want my team to perform up to the level of its ability.  Even though Rockland County is the smallest county in New York state, it is one of the best in track and field and one of the most competitive.  Pearl River has won this meet seven times, the last two times in 2000 and 2001.

“Our top three will have to compete in multiple events and produce a lot of points.  Our role players including Maria Kohlbrenner, Kristin Hanson, Ceili McMorrow, Amanda Moroney and Kayla Clohessy will have to chip away and also get us some points.”  

A field of eleven teams will compete in the county meet, including Albertus Magnus, Clarkstown North, Clarkstown South, East Ramapo, Nanuet, Nyack, North Rockland, Pearl River, Spring Valley, Suffern, and Tappan Zee

In the sectionals, the Lady Pirates have been the dominant program for over 25 years winning 24 of the last 26 meets including the last five in a row. 

Coach Doherty looks to Nanuet, Somers and Harrison as title contenders.

"People will have to perform," Doherty said. "It is a one-day meet and kids are going to have to come back on the track several times and continue to perform.  If some one has an off day, people will have to step up.

The Pirate boys also hope to add more luster to Coach Gilbert Hawikins eighth year at Pearl River. 

“We have achieved our goals and this is definitely what we expected this season," Hawkins said. "We have some very strong senior and junior leaders who have come through in every way that you could want.  They have acted maturely, acted as leaders and performed extremely well”

The key performers for the Pirates include two seniors who compete in the pole vaut. Chris Spadaccini broke the Pearl River schoool record with a height of 14'6'', food enough for fifth best in county history. Francis DePinto has a seasion best of 13'6'' and he has run the 400 in 52.5.

Juniors Tom Bonaro, who has posted a time of 50.4 seconds in the 400 meters, and miler Kieran Brennan, with a season best of 4.29.7, have also been critical to the Pirates' success. 

“I am looking forward to what these guys can continue to produce in the championship season,” Hawkins said.

In the county meet, he realizes that there will be stiff competition from the larger schools.

“I would be disappointed if we did not place in the top three," Hawkins said. "North Rockland should dominate and Suffern will probably be a strong runner up. But it should be a dog fight between most of the other teams including Clarkstown North and Clarkstown South, but if all goes right we should have a slight edge.

“This is my best team since I have coached at Pearl River. Assistant Coach Mike Kiernan and I just want to make sure that our guys are prepared and can compete on the same level with the bigger schools.  We look for outstanding performances in the pole vault and we should place high in the long jump and triple jump”

In the sectionals, Hawkins expects similarly tough competition.

"We do have an advantage because our boys have a lot of pride in our track and our home field," Hawkins said. "But, we are going to have a tough time.  Harrison won the section championship during the winter indoor season and Somers finished second.  We were third.

“This is certainly our biggest goal of the season and it going to take a lot of hard work.  Everything will have to go our way in order to win it.”