Wolves finish third at Panther Palooza track and field meet

Dylan Scott and the Wolves teamed up for a win in the distance relay. Ava Koch concentrates down the stretch. Dakota Cameron of John Jay in the long jump. Skylar Monasch hurls the discus at the Panther Palooza. GREGORY KAPLOWITZ PHOTOS

By JIM MACLEAN

The first week of the season, a lot of newcomers on the varsity roster that included 90 athletes overall, and it was a fun day for the Wolves as the John Jay varsity track and field team competed in the Panther Palooza at Rye Neck on Saturday, April 5.

John Jay held its own against a field of 12 teams as both the boys and girls teams finished third in the team standings with a number of individual standout performances.

In the boys competition, John Jay was third behind only host Rye Neck in first and Mamaroneck in second, while the girls team was third behind Rye Neck and Eastchester. 

“Both the boys and girls placed third overall, strong individual finishes across the board, a great baseline for the kids to build from,” said John Jay coach Sue Guziac. “A good meet under not the greatest conditions. Then a lot of them turned around the next day to run in the John Jay trail race.”

It always helps to have two of the best distance runners in the state on the roster, and as usual Andy Condon and Sloan Wasserman did their share to lead the way for the Wolves.

Condon led the way for the boys team as the senior was victorious in both the 800 and 1,600-meter races, and he was the anchor leg to lead the Wolves to victory in the Distance Medley relay. He ran a personal best time of 2:06.68 to win the 800-meter race with teammate Dylan Scott close behind in third place. Condon then won the 1,600-meter race with a time of 4:34.51. Scott was fifth and Lucas Mongiello was eighth for the Wolves. In the distance medley relay it was Rohan Patel, Nicolai Elias, Scott and Condon teaming up for the victory.

Skylar Monasch also had a big day for the John Jay boys team as he finished first in the shot put with a heave of 39 feet 6.25 inches, and he was fourth in the discus. Owen Campisi was right behind in discus in fifth place with Cody Laska-Kent in 10th place, and in the shot put Nicholas Candia was ninth for the Wolves.

Zachary Goldberg was second in the boys triple jump. Haolin Li was fifth in the 110 hurdles and 10th in the long jump. A trio of Wolves tied for fourth-place in the high jump as Jason Samuels, Rainer Kyle and Oliver Kuszynski all cleared the same height. Other top-10 finishers for the boys team included Nicolai Elias in eighth-place in the 200-meter race, Wesley Controne in seventh in the 110-meter hurdles, and Elijiah Bahna-Outman was 10th in the 100-meter dash.

Wasserman was busy to lead the John Jay girls team as she competed in three distance races in the meet. The highlight for the girls team came in the 3,000-meter run as Wasserman was first with a time of 10:04.08 with teammate Emma Barniv next to cross the finish line in second place. Wasserman set a personal record to win the 800-meter race with a time of 2:24.36, with teammate Lila Baker in sixth and Aleksandra Milich in ninth for the Wolves.

In the girls 1,500-meter race John Jay had four girls finish in the top 10, led by Wasserman in second place and Barniv in third place. Ava Koch was sixth, and Brodie Albert was seventh for the Wolves.

Helena Schembri was also busy for the Wolves as she placed in the top five in three events. Helena Schembri was second in the 100 hurdles with her sister Lorelei Schembri in sixth followed by Juniper Herbst in seventh and Dakota Cameron in ninth. Helena was fourth in the long jump with Lily Parker in ninth place for the Wolves. Elysa Hermanto finished second in the high jump, with Helena Schembri in fourth place.

Kaylee Jean was third in the triple jump.

Other top-10 finishers for the John Jay girls included Kylie Paige Topey in eighth-place in the 100-yard dash, and Penelope Wein in ninth place in the 200-yard race.

Overall, it was a good start for the team and a sign of good things to come for the program with veterans leading the way and a lot of newcomers.

“This year we have 90 kids on varsity and we’ve got a bunch of new ninth graders that are branching out into the field events,” said Guziec. “There’s been a big buildup for the program on modified with well over 100 seventh and eighth graders, building the program starting at that level. We have a lot of veterans who had a season to get their feet wet and they’re really getting into it. All the nerves and first-time jitters are gone, they’re competitive and eager to learn and want to grow and get to where they want to be.”