Pearl River Sweeps Section Boys, Girls Track Team Titles

Pearl River trailed Harrison early on in the boys team competition at the Section 1 Class B Track and Field Championships Saturday at Pearl River. 

That led the Pirates to switch Brian Cook into the 400 Hurdles, which he won to help Pearl River battle back to win the boys team championship with 119 points to second-place Harrison's 110.

"We were down by a good amount," Pearl River Boys Track and Field Head Coach Gilby Hawkins said. "I think 24 points was the biggest spread. We almost thought it was over. We made some shifts. We threw Brian into the 400 hurdles and he won the event. That was the big shift for us. He had a really good day."

The boys' victory allowed the Pirates to sweep both team championships Saturday. Pearl River dominated the girls competition, winning the team championship with 161 points, more than double second-place Irvington's 61.

"It was a big win," said Pearl River girls first-year Head Coach Mike McCafferty. "I'm proud of the girls. They really pulled together as a team."

Amanda Moroney won individual section championships in the 100 hurdles (14.9 seconds) and the 400 hurdles (1:06.2).

"Amanda Moroney was one of the big names as always," McCafferty said. "She helped pull things together."

Pearl River's Kelly Hayes won the 3000 run in 10:11.9 and the 1500 in 4:47.4. She also ran the third leg of the Pirates winning team in the 4X800 relay, which finished in 9:58.4.

The Pirates also won the 4X100 relay in 52.8 seconds and earned individual titles by Sandra Wilson in the Pentathlon (2370 points), Kayla Clohessy in the long jump (16-6 3/4) and Kristin Hanson in the pole vault (8-0). Hanson came in as the fourth seed in the event. In addition to the long jump victory, Clohessy set a personal best while taking third in the triple jump.

"She didn't jump her best in the long jump, but she still won with a great jump into the wind," McCafferty said. "The conditions were not idea."

The athletes had to deal with wind, rain and cooler temperatures throughout the met. Hawkins said that might have helped his team.

"We are a gritty team that embraces things like this," Hawkins said. "I think this is where we really come through. We weren't happy it was raining, but we knew we'd have an advantage."

Cook also provided an edge for the Pirates. In addition to the 400 hurdles, he won the 3200 in 9:32.7, finished second in the 1600 and ran on the Pirates' winning relay in the 4X400 (3:35.4).

The 4X400 was the final event and Harrison still had a chance, so the Pirates had to be careful not to get disqualified. Pearl River trailed most of the race, but sophomore Patrick Metcalfe gave the Pirates the win with a strong anchor leg. 

Other Rockland Results

Nanuet's boys finished fifth in the team standings, with Nyack ninth.

Nanuet's Tom Flannery won the Pentathlon with 2757 points. Teammate Kyle Chesterman finished first in the 3000 meter steeplechase with a time of 10:08.7.

Nyack's top finisher was Ahmed Ahmed, who took second in the 3200 with a time of 9:49.5. Ahmed was also foruth in the 1600. 

Nanuet also won the 2000 steeplechase on the girls side, with Brook Madry running it in 7:16.8. The Golden Knights finished fifth in the team standngs. 

Nyack's top individual performance was Ifetayo Tyler's third-place run in the 800 in 2:23.3. 

Editor's note: For full team and individual results, see the PDF files attached to this report.