February 2, 2025 was a momentous day for the East Islip Varsity Girls’ Winter Track team. The girls won the Small Schools County Championship for the second year in a row and the second time in team history.
In order to secure this win, athletes on this team had to have extreme dedication to this sport and their team. The team – the girls, Coach Reynolds, and Coach O’Connor – worked diligently for this win since November. Senior co-captain Brianna Tucci shared, “The team has a dynamic like no other. We are truly like family and aspire to win for each other.”
To make it to counties, each individual must qualify for their event against every other girl in the county. For the winter season, the top 24 girls in each event make it to county championships. From there, the top 6 girls in each event score points for their team. The team with the most points at the end of the meet wins the County Title.
When the East Islip girls walked off the bus on the day of the County meet an aura of dominance followed them.
In the first event Brianna Tucci and Alexa Menendez competed in the 55m hurdles. Shortly after, Alexa ran again in the 55m dash with Maya Brown and Chloe Garatina.
Later on, the 1000m run was called where sisters Danielle and Kathryn Simonetti lined up to run an exciting and eventful race. Both scored points for the team with Kathryn taking 6th place and Danielle outperforming her seed with a soaring second place.
7th grader, Avery Ernst, ran an impressive personal best of 45.5 seconds in the 300m.
The 1500m race walk consisted of three East Islip girls: Brianna Tucci, Ashley Williams, and Kathryn Sawtelle. Brianna exceeded the expectations and ended up scoring 2nd place.
The 600m was yet another exhilarating race. The first heat consisted of the 7th grader, Samatha Garatina and Senior, Emily Graziano. In the fourth heat Danielle Simonetti and Danielle Birner both ran a thrilling race. Danielle Simonetti ended up in first place securing 10 points for the team.
While all the events on the track were taking place, the girls in field events were making history. In long jump 7th grader, Gabrielle Seda, and Juniors, Grace Micali and Chloe Garatina were jumping at remarkable distances. Chloe Garatina earned first place because of her jump which broke the school record, which she set the year prior, by almost a whole foot. The whole track echoed with cheers once her distance was announced.
At high jump, Grace Micali and Kathryn Simonetti scored an important third and fourth place. Grace again scored in jumps earning second place in the triple jump where Kaylee Garatina also jumped an impressive distance.
While the races were going on, throwers Sally Attard and Neissa Jean both competed in shot put, throwing an incredible distance.
At this point within the meet, East Islip was tied with Sayville. This meant that it all came down to the relays.
The first relay was the 4x800m which consisted of an all sophomore line up. The first leg was led by Kathryn Simonetti with a speedy first split. She handed off to Kaylee O’Boyle who kept a solid time which steered the team into success. Caylee Smith then got the baton who kept the team together and used her judgement to run a fast last 200. Lastly, the anchor was Alison Coppinger who ran her first 200m at an alarming speed of 33 seconds which later resulted in the team’s success of earning third place when they were seeded to only win sixth.
Although the girls got points for coming in third in the 4x800m, Sayville got first place and were then in the lead. It was now time for the 4x400m to shine. Danika Tidridge started the race out strong and then passed the baton to Menendez who maintained a fast time through the second leg. Sprinter Avery Ernst strided through her 400m and passed the baton to Danielle Birner. Birner finished the race off with an incredible 62.5 second sprint, earning the girls second place.
By this time in the competition, Sayville was winning 71-69. The 4x200m was the make-or-break race for who gets to go home with the title. The gun went off and Maya Brown started the race fast and passed on to Danielle Simonetti. Together their split kept the relay strong and at the top of their game. Kaylee Garatina ran a powerful third leg and perfectly handed off to her sister Chloe Garatina. Chloe ran a remarkable stride throughout her entire race, ending the relay with conviction! Their time of 1:49.241 placed them in an astounding third place and ahead of rivals, Sayville, to win the county title!
“Going into the race was super nerve wracking,” 4x200m anchor Chloe Garatina said. “I didn’t know if we were in the lead or not, but finishing the race knowing that our relay secured us the win was such a good feeling.”
“We all have been working so hard from the beginning of the season just for this meet and it paid off,” Senior co-captain Danielle Birner said. “I’m so proud of everyone who competed and I’m excited for what our team will bring to the spring season.”
