Bohan, McGrath lead South Side

By toNY BellissiMo tbellissimo@liherald.com

A winning performance in the 3000m race highlighted South Side’s effort in a challenging Nassau County Class B girls’ track and field championship meet Feb. 7 at St. Anthony’s High School in Huntington.

JURRel hall

West Hempstead Senior Track hall stole the show at the Nassau Class C Track and Field championships Feb. 8 to help the Rams to a secondplace finish. He captured the triple jump (school record 44-feet, 11-inches), high jump and long jump titles, matching a feat he accomplished last spring.

BasKetBall plaYoFFs

Friday, Feb. 17

Girls Basketball: Nassau Class AA quarterfinals

Boys Basketball: Nassau Class A ffirst round saturday, Feb. 18

Girls Basketball: Nassau Class A first round

Boys Basketball: Nassau Class AA quarterfinals tuesday, Feb. 21

Girls & Boys Basketball: Nassau Class A quarterfinals

Wednesday, Feb. 22

Girls & Boys Basketball: Nassau Class B semifinals

Friday, Feb. 24

Girls Basketball: Nassau Class AA semifinals saturday, Feb. 25

Boys Basketball: Nassau Class AA semifinals

Monday, Feb. 27

Girls Basketball: Nassau Class A semifinals tuesday, Feb. 28

Boys Basketball: Nassau Class A semifinals

Wednesday, March 1

Girls & Boys Basketball: Nassau Class B finals saturday, March 4

Girls & Boys Basketball: Nassau Class AA and A finals

Junior Claire Bohan captured the county title in the 3000m in impressive fashion, beating the nearest competitor by more than 11 seconds. Bohan finished in 10 minutes, 39.81 seconds, with Valley Stream North’s Melissa Innocent (10:50.83) runner-up by 22 seconds over third-place finisher Vallerya Rojas of New Hyde Park.

“It was an exciting race because the top three girls ran close almost the entire way,” South Side coach Chris Webster said. “With about three laps to go, Claire decided to get more aggressive. I thought she might be the second girl to make a move, but she’s become a more assertive runner. She ran a strong race and set a personal best at the distance.”

Bohan, who enjoyed a big cross country campaign in the fall to help the Cyclones capture a county title, was expected to compete in the 3000m at the state qualifier Tuesday night, after Herald press time, also at St. Anthony’s.

South Side had two additional AllCounty performances in the Class B event, won by Calhoun by a solid margin over Valley Stream North.

“The meet went basically the way we anticipated,” Webster said. “Girls Class B was a very deep field. We had some events covered well and others not as well as some of the teams that finished on top. All that great competition drove our girls to do their best.”

Junior Lily McGrath continued a dynamic throwing season and etched herself into the program record book in the shot put and weight throw. She topped 35 feet in the shot put during the regular season to set a new South Side standard and followed with a solid showing at the county meet to take third place at just under 33 feet.

“Lily has spent a lot of time developing her skills and strength,” Webster said. “She’s ranked 21st in the state in the shot put and was the conference champion as well. She’s also become a role model for the younger throwers on the team.”

Senior Cameron Coletti, a cross country star and year-round standout, added to her high school trophy case with an All-County performance in the 1500m. She finished third in 5:17.25. “Cameron has had an outstanding career and has racked up many awards over the years,” Webster said.

Other scorers for the Cyclones were senior Cailin O’Toole, who tied for fourth in Class B in pole vault after winning the Conference 4 title in the event, junior Hannah Porter (fifth in long jump, sixth in 55-meter dash), and sophomores Victoria Daniel (fifth in 55m) and Lana Jewett (3000m.)

On the boys’ side, the Cyclones were led by junior John Frazier, who produced an All-County finish (runner-up) in the triple jump with a top try covering 41-feet, 3-¼ inches.