LI HS Track Star Wins State Championship On Heels Of Legal Fight: Report

LONG ISLAND, NY — Call it a double-header.

On the heels of a win in court that allowed her to compete on Saturday, William Floyd High School senior Zariel Macchia won the 3,000-meter race by posting a national-best nine minutes, 21.73 seconds to claim her second career indoor state title at the state championships on Saturday at Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex on Staten Island, Newsday reported.

Macchia sued the New York Public High School Athletic Association and Section XI Athletics New York State Public High School Athletic Association, seeking a temporary restraining order, and just in the nick of time on Thursday, a judge ruled in her favor, allowing her to compete. She had been barred from participating due to a ruling stating she had violated a regulation by taking part in a race with college athletes.

The ruling had prevented the 18-year-old from competing for the rest of the indoor track and field season.

Her track win was victory most welcomed in the William Floyd School District community.

In a Facebook post, Floyd alum Brookhaven Town Supervisor Dan Panico said that while many had their eyes focused on the smoke in the skies this weekend, Macchia "smoked the competition."