To conclude the winter track season, Port sent representatives from the boys and girls teams to the 2015 New Balance Indoor Nationals.
The girls sent to the event included seniors and captains Jenny Aguiar and Neve Devine, while the boys who were sent included juniors Andrew Adelhardt and Peter Kirgis and sophomores Joey Levine and Aaron Siff-Scherr.
Very few runners from around the country have the honor of being selected for nationals, and these runners were proud to represent Schreiber and the track team.
The boys ran the 4 x 800 meter relay at the event.
“We ran very well. We finished fourth in our heat and 28th in the country,” said Kirgis.
Seeing as no seniors from the boys section were at nationals, and those who were will return to the team next year, Port has high hopes for next season and expects to get back to the same spot.
“We beat East Meadow, who is our conference rival, at the finish line. I caught their runner after he had a 50 meter lead,” said Kirgis.
Kirgis took a step further and decided to bring home a piece and memory of the competition.
When offered some free items of clothing in exchange for a new haircut, Kirgis and Siff-Scherr accepted and had the New Balance logo shaved on the back of their heads.
For the girls, Aguiar ran the 400 meters and Devine high-jumped.
Devine was not particularly happy with her performance, yet was glad she got the opportunity to participate at the meet.
“It was a long season. I performed much better the week before at states,” said Devine. “I think I was just having an off day and I’m going to refocus for spring.”
Coming into this season, Devine said that reaching nationals and states were two of her main goals.
“I was so glad to make it to states again. The meet is such a great experience. I placed well overall at the state meet. It was also amazing to win conferences as a team for the second time,” said Devine.
Although both track teams had impressive seasons, each team knows that there is still a lot of room for improvement.
“I think we can improve for the outdoor season and win the division meet and possibly qualify for states and nationals as a relay,” said Kirgis.
Kirgis is focused on spring track and finishing the year strong, adding to an already accomplished year.
“I qualified for the state meet and we qualified for nationals as a relay which were my two top goals for the season. Both personally and as a team, I met my goals for the season,” said Kirgis.
Both Devine and Kirgis thought their seasons met their expectations.
“All the girls stepped up to come together and win as a team. Individually, I had a consistent season and some personal bests in my other events,” said Devine.