Hurricanes Ode, Ehlers, Haynia Win County Track Titles

After winning the 200-meter dash at the Section XI Track and Field Championships at Commack High School on Thursday, June 17 — gaining her second gold medal on the day after winning the 100-meter dash earlier in the meet — an excited Westhampton Beach senior Oceane Ode said her mind was going 100 miles per hour, which just about explains how fast she was running that day.

Alright, maybe Ode didn’t clock 100 mph, but she was certainly fast. She won the 100 in 12.15 seconds and broke the 25-second barrier to win the 200 in an impressive 24.97 seconds, becoming the first-ever Westhampton Beach girl to win double gold at the county meet. Ode also broke school records in both events, surpassing Sarena Choi’s 2016 record of 12.2 seconds in the 100 and Lauren Lorefice’s 2015 record of 25.44 seconds in the 200.

Ode was also unanimously named the Sprinter of the Year in Suffolk County directly following the meet. According to head coach John Broich, Ode finishes the year as the top runner in the state in the 200 and second in the state in the 100 — all state meets were canceled this year due to the pandemic.

After her victory in the 200, Ode initially said she couldn’t believe she had won both sprints, but after giving it some thought she retracted that statement.

“I am [surprised], but then again, no, because I worked for this,” she explained. “Over quarantine I trained every day. I would drag my mom to the track, like, ‘You have to let me on to the track.’ I would train and train, and I was really hard on myself, so the reward from that — I didn’t do that for nothing.”

Ode wasn’t done after winning both sprints. She was the final leg of the 4x100-meter relay team which wound up placing second overall in a season’s best 50.11 seconds, not too far behind the winning Middle Country team, which won in 48.34 seconds. Sara Dunathan, Valerie Finke and Leila Reaves ran with Ode on the relay team that earned All-County status and is ranked fourth in the state, according to Broich.

Finke was another Westhampton Beach girl who earned All-County honors after finishing third in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:05.35. The top three runners in the race were separated by one-tenth of a second, with Sayville senior Jaden Catalina winning in 1:04.88 and Miller Place senior Paulina Gasparis finishing in 1:05.30. Finke also competed in the 100-meter hurdles where she finished seventh in 16.13 seconds.

Keira Falvey finished the 1,500-meter race in 5:11.39 to finish 10th in the county. Anabel Velloso was one of three sophomores to compete in the 1,500-meter race walk and finished 10th in 8:24.48. Madison Phillips competed in the pentathlon and finished 11th in the county with 1,906 points. She finished 11th in the 100-meter hurdles (18.71 seconds), 10th in the shot put (23 feet 4 ½ inches), tied for ninth in the long jump (13 feet 7 inches), 10th in the high jump (4 feet 2 inches) and eighth in the 800-meter run (2:58.87).

Westhampton Beach sophomore Maximus Haynia didn’t necessarily come out of nowhere to win the 3,200-meter race at the boys Section XI Track and Field Championships at Comsewogue High School on Friday, but he also wasn’t the favorite. That title went to Port Jefferson senior Brian Veit, who was seeded a few seconds ahead of Haynia coming into the meet, but Haynia wound up besting the field in 9:29.87, a personal best and nearly six seconds ahead of the next finisher, Northport senior Cristian Zabala. Veit finished third in 9:37.97.

Haynia was one of two gold medalists for the Hurricanes at Friday’s meet, with junior Gavin Ehlers winning the 1,600-meter race in 4:16.43, a personal best, but it was the sophomore who stole the show for the ’Canes. Westhampton Beach freshman Trevor Hayes also competed in the 3,200 and finished ninth in 9:58.01.

“I don’t really know what to say,” Haynia said after his win. “I came into this meet knowing that I had a good shot at winning so it was good to capitalize on that. My start was a little iffy. I’ve been having this sinus congestion issue. Yesterday I slept all day, came to practice, went back to sleep. Today, came into school, came here and gave it all I got.”

Haynia said he was a bit nervous when he saw how fast the race had started, but he pushed through.

“I still felt pretty good throughout the whole entire thing,” he said. “I could feel the nasal drip coming in, I just didn’t let it bother me. I just knew that I could do what I needed to do out there come that last 1,000 meters.”

Ehlers was the favorite to win the 1,600, but as the 3,200 showed, anything can happen. Ehlers held the lead the entire race but he really didn’t start to separate himself from the rest of the pack until the final 300 to 150 meters. Eastport-South Manor senior Michael Silveri was right there with Ehlers until he decided to really turn it on at the end.

“It was a tough race. Definitely working that whole time,” he said. “Getting out fast helps separate things quickly. I heard Silveri behind me the whole time. I could tell he was working the whole time too. Then kind of started closing the gap at around 300 and then really made my move around 150.

“I feel like I could have moved a little bit earlier to try and work on getting that time down,” Ehlers added. “I definitely felt like I had a little bit left in me, but a win’s a win so I can’t complain.”

In each of the events the ’Canes competed in, they either won or earned All-County honors. Colbie Mason placed second in the pole vault, clearing 13 feet and matching his personal best. He beat out East Islip senior Jay Conzo for sole possession of second since he cleared 13 feet on his first try.

David Alvarado placed fourth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 10:09.50, a 30-second personal best.

“What they guys were able to do last week at the county championship was really a testament to the hard work they’ve been putting in really since last spring. They didn’t take any time off, haven’t eased up a bit,” he said. “They all show up to practice every day ready to give 110 percent. When they take a look at their success during the cross country season, to come back to track season and race kids that maybe didn’t run cross country or didn’t run at the end of the cross country season for whatever reason, to take it easy or to peak for track, to essentially go out undefeated is really something special.”

What’s even better is that all of the athletes who competed at counties on Friday are all returning next season where their goals will be even bigger.

“The goal next year is always to improve on what we did this year. So winning a county championship is definitely a goal for many of them,” Ryan said. “I always tell the guys the same thing: ‘Don’t worry about the racing. Worry about competing and the winning heights. Our time will come. Don’t come in trying to hit a certain height or time. Be a competitor and those times and those marks will find a way there.’”