Paul Qualifies for Millrose Games, Others Have Strong Outings for Sachem East

A select group of Sachem East distance runners and throwers headed into the esteemed 168th Street Armory Wednesday night in order to compete in the Trials for the 105th Millrose Games.

First up for the Arrows was the Invitational Weight Throw in which Juniors Brittany Sepe and Gabby Trejo competed. Sepe threw just short of a personal best with a final of 33'8.5" while Trejo notched a throw of 26'10" in a safe throw after two fouls.

Sepe and Trejo were both helped out on meet day at the Armory by East alum, and Slippery Rock freshman thrower, Brittany Christiansen who holds the East school record in the shot put, weight throw, and hammer throw. 

Up next for East was the Invitational Mile, where Rachel Paul got to run in her first truly elite race of the season. Pacing most of the way with Kelsey Margey (a Villanova-bound Senior) of Nassau's Friends Academy, Rachel Paul (a Georgetown-bound Senior) ran a solid race finishing second behind Margey, running a near personal best for the mile in 4:52.95, and qualifying for the Millrose Games for the second consecutive year.

The two future Big East harriers separated themselves from the pack early making it clear they would be the two from the race to punch their automatic tickets to Millrose. To close out the exciting night, Sachem East's 4x400m relay team took the track. The team of Laurie Semetsis (Junior), Melanie Notarstefano (Fordham-bound Senior), Nicole Silvestre (Sophomore) and Casey Gelderman (Sophomore) ran in the top-seeded section of the Suffolk County 4x400m relay and finished 5th overall, running an impressive East season best of 4:08.89.

Last year, no East 4x400 relay broke the 4:10.0 barrier until April during the Spring season. Running with Suffolk elite speedsters like Bay Shore, Northport, and Brentwood helped Semetsis (60.6), Notarstefano (60.2), Silvestre (62.6), and Gelderman (65.4) run some very fast times and show they are ready to make the shift towards high-quality post-season meets. 

Stay tuned for Rachel Paul's showing at the 105th Millrose Games run at the Armory (no longer at the famed Madison Square Garden) on Saturday, February 11.

Watch for the Sachem East girls this weekend at the Zeitler Relays at Suffolk Community College and the Archbishop Molloy Stanner Games at the 168th Street Armory.