This season was nothing short of memorable for the Port Washington boys winter track team.  Schreiber’s finest track and field athletes worked all winter long to produce an extremely successful season.  When it was all said and done, the season culminated in a second place finish at the Conference One championship event on Jan. 12, 2017.  Port Washington finished second out of nine teams competing at the event.

Even though the runner ups have so much to be proud of, they won’t forget the fact that Uniondale finished a mere one point ahead of them when the results were tallied.  Port Washington’s 99 total points placed them ahead of Hicksville by 7 points, Oceanside by 8 points, Hempstead by 16 points, Syosset by 37 points, Massapequa by 58 points, Freeport by 68 points, and Farmingdale by 72 points, but the Vikings fell one point shy of Uniondale’s 100 point total.  Defeating these Nassau County powerhouse teams is a true testament to all the hard work and dedication this team has demonstrated since November.

“Hard work leads to great results,” said junior Aaron Cotumaccio. “When you put in the work, you get the times that you want in the end.”

The boys ran through all types of conditions out on the track all winter long, and their efforts were clearly successful.

“Even during days when the weather was treacherous, we pushed through and practiced to the best of our abilities,” said junior Grant Bruno.  “We had an end goal in sight all season long and decided that nothing would get in our way.  Thanks to our dedicated seniors, everybody bought into the common goal.”

The winter track team was led by a strong band of seniors that demonstrated great leadership throughout the season.  On top of their leadership, the seniors were also very reliable performers, most of whom saved their best times for last.  With a championship on the line, seniors Rory Owens, Aaron Siff-Scherr, and Jordan Hurt all finished in the top five of the 3200 meter run.  Owens finished with a time of 10:23.20, while Siff-Scherr and Hurt finished with times of 10:25.85 and 10:39.42, respectively.  These three times provided a total of 16 points toward Port Washington’s final score of 99.

In the 1000 meter run, Siff-Scherr edged out a Syosset runner by less than two seconds to win the race with a time of 2:42.53.  Siff-Scherr’s dominant performance was the final product of months of hard work and dedication.  In addition to winning the 1000 meter run, Siff-Scherr reigned supreme over the rest of Conference One in the 1600 meter race.  Siff-Scherr’s time of 4:43.24 earned him first place honors in yet another event.  His efforts were a crucial factor in Port’s second place finish.

Another event that was dominated by the Vikings was the long jump. In this event, junior Alex Zsikla and senior Stanley Elysee proved why the rest of Nassau County has feared their leaping abilities all season long.  Zsikla won the event with a distance of 21’1”, while Elysee finished second with a distance of 20’7”.  In addition to finishing second in the long jump, Elysee took home first place honors in the high jump with a height of 6’0”.  Zsikla also proved his elite status in another event by finishing second in the triple jump.  Alex’s 42’4.50” edged out second place over Uniondale’s 42’4” by just half of an inch.  While other sports can be referred to as a “game of inches,” it’s clear that track is even more precise than that.

From the first week of November to the middle of January, Port Washington’s boys winter track team showed an exemplary work ethic every single day.  The boys made Coach Donato proud all season long by consistently finishing among the top teams in the prestigious Nassau County Conference One.  While the end of the season may have been slightly disappointing, nothing can take away from the team’s repeated success throughout the winter.