Huntington seniors Olivia Conte and Analisse Batista turned in spectacular performances at the Suffolk Large School Indoor Track & Field Championships at Suffolk Community College in Brentwood on Sunday.
Conte was like a bolt of lightning in winning the 55m hurdles in a blazing fast 8.46 seconds. She held off Commack’s Allison Spalding, who crossed the line in 8.74.
In the very next event, Conte finished second in the 55m dash in 7.44 seconds, just off the pace of Sachem East’s Ariana Robinson, who captured first place in 7.36.
“I was definitely nervous going into the double back today because I knew that I would be running on tired legs,” said Conte about the back to back events. “But, I’m really proud of myself for setting a personal best in the hurdles. It was definitely difficult getting through it, but I’m really happy with the results.”
One of the top runners in the country, Batista easily won the 600m run in a time of 1:36.39. Junior Megan Donaghy placed fifth in the event in 1:44.16. Batista has a way of making it look easy even though no race is easy, especially with the number of gifted runners in these events.
The Blue Devils easily won the 4x400m relay behind Elizabeth James, Donaghy, Hope Bilkey and Batista (in that order) in a time of 4:13.03.
Huntington was without Kiana Nosile, who is ranked No. 1 in the state in shot put. The teenager had a family emergency and was unable to attend. She will participate in the coming state qualifier.
