The 2021-2022 boys winter track season is about to come to a close.  After coming home with the county championship last spring, Coach Arnold Donado and the boys are gearing up to win the county yet again.  The Vikings began the season with outstanding performances from returning seniors and juniors, and new upcoming underclassmen.  

However, after this strong start, the team was struck with outbreaks of COVID-19 during early December.  “When COVID-19 struck us early in the season, the morale of our team really lowered. It felt as if we had to restart the season all over again”, said freshman Riley Funk.  The team would continue to practice even without many of their teammates in attendance, making it difficult for everyone to bond.  Apart from team spirit, the COVID outbreak also negatively affected the team’s physical performances.  Running is a sport based on repetition – constant practice is crucial to improvement, so sitting at home for over a week set many athletes’ times back.  Despite the outbreak, they continued to work hard and improve every day at practice.  At meets, the team now makes sure to stick together and social distance from other schools, hoping to prevent another outbreak from occurring.  With COVID-19 out of the way, the team began practicing as a whole for its conference and county championships.

“The team’s outlook is very high for the rest of the season, as we have put COVID-19 behind us early on.  Now that most of the team is back, we have enough time to train properly for conferences and counties, and can hopefully bring in another win,” said junior Joseph Asselta.  

Much of the team’s success this year has come from the returning upperclassmen athletes.  Seniors Colin Funk, Kevin Taylor, Max Meehan, and Terry McGinty have been involved with the program each season they have been at Schreiber.  Through hard work and year-round practice, they rapidly progressed each season to reach the point they are at now.

At one point, these four held the number one time in New York State for the 4x800m relay.  Taylor had top five times in the 1000m race, mile race, and two mile race.  As of Jan. 7, Funk had the first or second best times in the county for the 1000m race, the mile race, and the two mile race.  Funk was also ranked as a Newsday Top 25 Runner on Long Island.  

Now tasked with the responsibility of leading a team, these seniors have stepped up to the challenge and then some, leading by example and acting as role models to the younger runners on the team.  In perhaps the most mentally and physically exhausting sport, they have successfully instilled drive and motivation into the struggling newcomers. In addition, they have produced exceptional times this season.  

“Being a team leader, the expectations are higher.  Also, sometimes I have to step aside from doing my own thing to give advice and encouragement to younger teammates, which is a very rewarding experience.  When my team needs me, I know that I have to step up and produce,” said Funk.

Other seniors have also had success on the team this year such as Will Lane and Charlie Bosworth.  Bosworth recorded a season’s best and the lead county stat in the high jump at 5’10”.  Devesh Mohan had a season’s best stat with 39 feet in the triple jump, scoring top three in the county.  

In addition to the team’s seniors, there have also been many underclassmen who have stepped up big.  The team has built a great environment and the experienced runners and coaching staff are very welcoming for the new runners and athletes.  Will Ahmuty and Julian Kimball lead a talented freshman group, and sophomore Max Marro has shined all season.

“The team has been very successful this season even though we had our struggles with COVID-19.  Everybody who had COVID-19 worked really hard to make a comeback.  We have tried our hardest all year even when half our team was gone.  The people on the team really welcomed me and overall I had a great experience.  All the coaches gave it their all, even at times where decisions were not easy.  The seniors are great role models and I look forward to following their footsteps,” said freshman runner Robert Higgins.  

Going into the conference championship on Jan.11, the team was projected to finish fourth in the conference.  With an injury to star runner Funk, it would be hard for the team to win without him.  Even with his injury, the team had many runners really step up, including Taylor.  At conferences, he came in first for the 2-mile race with a time of 10 minutes and .81 seconds and the 1000m race, and came in second for the one mile race with a time of 4 minutes and 43 seconds. Marro also stepped up in the 2-mile race, coming in fifth, and Terry McGinty came in fourth for the mile, with a time of 4 minutes and 48 seconds. In the 55 meter dash, Joseph Green came in fourth with a time of 7 seconds and also helped Port Washington come in third for the 4×400 relay with help from Devesh Mohan, Joseph Asselta, and Antonio Sottile. 

Although the team finished fourth, many have truly stepped up this season, demonstrating the strength and depth of the team.