Results From Rye Indoor Track’s County Championship, Tune-Up Meet Prior to Class B Championship

The Rye Indoor Track Team had two key meets within the past two weeks, sending some premiere athletes to the Westchester County Championship Meet (“Counties”) on Saturday, January 25, and then taking part in full in the Purple Champions Invitational on Saturday, February 1. Rye had several stellar standouts from both meets, the latter of which serves as a tune-up for the all-important Class B Championship Meet on Sunday, February 16.

Counties

On the final Saturday of January, Erin Ball solidified her spot as Rye’s Athlete of the Month, finishing 2nd in the long jump event and first in the high jump. She is now a Westchester County Champion in the high jump after her exceptional performance. Ball was the only Garnet to even medal, doing so twice, including the gold.

Eleven Garnets set new personal records (PRs) on January 25th at Counties, including Ben Truman in the 600M relay, in which he finished fourth. Kate Schatz did so in two events – the triple jump and 600M – earning fifth place in the former. The full list of PRs from Counties are as follows:

Lily Oberbannscheidt (1500)
Grace Wang (1500M race with obstacles)
Ben Truman (600) – 4th place
Kate Schatz (600 and triple jump) – 5th place in triple jump
Clayton Stark (600)
Claire Curran (600)
Sophia Ambrosini (600)
Jill DeSanto (300)
Riho Fukudome (55M hurdles)
Alex Schatz (triple jump) – 6th place
Claire Carey (weight throw)

Purple

As a group, the Rye coaching staff decided to join the Purple Champions Invitational on February 1 to help their athletes see  competitive action before their Class B Championship meet on the sixteenth. “We really liked the idea of the Purple Champions Invitational for two main reasons,” Girls Head Coach Kevin Murphy told MyRye.com. “First off, it’s a meet that has a high number of quality runners, so we knew that our athletes would be tested and really pushed in their events. Second, it’s always good to have a meet during this big break in the schedule… we wanted to have something to help keep us sharp.”

Ball shone once again in the penultimate meet of the season, earning second in the high jump event with a 5′ 2″ vert. On the boys side, Tino MacKinnon ran the 1600M race in an impressive 4:31.51. Other finishers of note include:

Ben Truman – not a PR, but finished 3rd in the 600
Riho Fukudome – PR, 55M hurdles
Jack Truman – PR, 600
Sophia Bubeck – PR, 400
Jill DeSanto – PR, 300

What’s Next?

The Garnets have only one more scheduled team event for the 2024-25 season, the Class B Championship meet on Sunday, February 16. Whether it’s Ball, Truman, or someone else stepping up, Rye will look for one more big push to cap off their successful winter.