Blue Devils Shatter
24-year old Record
The Huntington girls’ track and field team closed out its season with bang last weekend as the Blue Devils shattered a 24-year old school relay record at the Suffolk championships at Port Jefferson High School.
Huntington’s 4 x 100m relay team consisting of Cristina Badalamenti, Lauren Visbal, Dania Merilan, and Jen Polster, ran a blazing 51.20 seconds to break the previous school record of 51.94 in the event. That mark was set in 1986 and had stood for an awfully long time, but for weeks there had been signs that the record was ripe for breaking.
After the Blue Devils’ “fantastic four” ran a 52.04 to win the Seahawk Invitational at Cold Spring Harbor, Huntington knew “the potential was there to break the record,” head coach Debra Cheskes said. “After that performance the girls became extremely focused on shattering the record,” Cheskes said.
But, after an original member of the relay was injured and lost for the season, the prospects for breaking the record appeared bleak. Then in stepped Badalamenti. “I had faith that when we chose Cristina to fill the spot, she would rise to the occasion,” Cheskes said. Badalamenti is coming off back-to-back winter and spring track seasons and was a member of Huntington’s indoor county championship 4 x 200m relay team. As it turned out, she helped the Blue Devils shatter the long established mark and finish ninth in Suffolk despite being seeded 13th coming into the championships.
Merilan also finished sixth in Suffolk in the 200m dash, crossing the line in 26.51. Alexandra Martinolich, whose goal was reached by just qualifying for the championship meet, placed 16th in the 400m intermediate hurdles. Celine Takekoshi ran in 3000m and 1500m, placing 15th and 21st, respectively, in a field packed with strong athletes.
Visbal, a senior, closed out her Huntington career with an 11th place finish in the triple jump. Visbal was undefeated in the triple jump in league competition and was the team’s leading point scorer. “Lauren’s athletic ability has been an asset to the team for four years and she will be greatly missed,” Cheskes said.
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