Yesterday, members of the boys’ and girls’ track squads turned in a number of excellent performances at the 8th Annual New York Relays held at Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island. In the shadow of New York City, the Bears battled some of the best talent in the tri-state area and came away with some fine finishes and several personal records.

The first event for the Brook was the 400 meter hurdles where seventh-grader Rebecca Hollis bested her personal record by over three seconds with a time of 1:14.49 to place 5th in her heat and 10th overall. Forrest Hull ran well in his heat of the 400 hurdles, narrowly besting his personal best 62.8 with a time of 62.66, finishing 3rd in his heat and 21st overall. Matt Hollis finished 7th in his 400 hurdle flight in 70.1

Next up for the Bears were the invitational 100 meter preliminaries. Khoren Lawson ran out of lane five in the first of four heats and won his flight in a quick 11.35 that earned him a place in Saturday’s final. Taylor Colucci was placed in lane seven for his heat, but overcame the difficult spot to win in 11.41 to leave him just one place shy of the final.

Next, Margot Rashba stepped up to the line in the open 3000 in one of the most exciting races of the day for the Blue and White. Prior to the race, the freshman was a bit intimidated by her surroundings and as the gun went off  her apprehension showed as she settled into last place. However, as the race unfolded she began to show the mettle that won her the County Championship during cross country season as she used her combination of speed and endurance to pick off the runners in front of her one-by-one.

Entering the bell lap, she was in 10th place, but with 300 meters to go she made her move, easily kicking past two laboring runners on the backstretch before setting her sights on her 7th place opponent. Still trailing by 10-15 meters going around the final turn, she found another gear and motored past her adversary, prompting the meet announcer to say, “and finishing with a kick, Rashba!” The time shattered her personal best by over a minute in 11:52.64, good enough for 7th place overall, just one spot away from a medal. Wyatt Piazza showed similar strength in his 3200 as he spent most of the race near the back of the pack, but blew by a quorum of runners on the homestretch to run a personal record 10:57.65.

The last individual competitor of the day for the Brook was Colucci in the 200 where he ran 22.96, a disappointing finish in his eyes, but a valiant one nonetheless when considering his hamstring was feeling tender in the chilly twilight temperatures.

By the time the 1600 sprint medley relay came around it was after 7:00pm and the midday warmth had given way to 40° temperatures. The girls’ relay team of Kathy Kim, Brianna Stiklickas, Hollis, and Rashba combined to run the legs of 400, 200, 200, and 800. The girls ran well and overcame a dropped baton to finish 4th in their heat in 5:02.76. Rashba again displayed her elongated kick with a strong finish that overcame two other runners on the homestretch.

The boys’ sprint medley team of Hull, Hollis, Jeffrey Fung, and Piazza ran in the final heat of the day and, behind a strong performance by Hull in his first ever 400 and a gutsy close by Piazza, ran a 4:08.11 to finish 4th in their heat.

The team will travel back to Manhattan this morning as Lawson will attempt to medal in the 100 final and the 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 relay teams will gain some valuable experience for the Penn Relays coming up in just 12 days.

Results

400 Meter Hurdles
Rebecca Hollis	1:14.49	10th
Forrest Hull	62.66	21st
Matt Hollis	70.1	34th
100 Meter Dash
Khoren Lawson	11.35	7th
Taylor Colucci	11.41	9th
3000 Meter Run
Margot Rashba	11:52.64	7th
3200 Meter Run
Wyatt Piazza	10:57.65	28th
200 Meter Dash
Taylor Colucci	22.96	13th
1600 Sprint Medley Relay
Boys (Hull, Hollis, Fung & Piazza)	4:08.11	26th
Girls (Kim, Stiklickas, Hollis & Rashba)	5:02.76	19th