Hugging out a triumph on the infield Friday was a familiar feeling for the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake girls’ 1,600-meter relay squad comprised of Samantha Torres, Cassidy Robleno, Alexandra O’Rourke and Mia Paolino. Perhaps winning a third consecutive state title in the event was not enough, so the foursome worked on their celebration again Saturday at Middletown High School by capturing the Federation 1,600 relay.
“We were super happy with our times after states,” said Paolino, who is one of three juniors in the group along with O’Rourke, who is a sophomore. “We did not want to get too stressed (for the Federation race) and just wanted to do what we did Friday again. We were not expecting to run even faster. That was a really good surprise.”
Friday, the Spartans’ standout quartet clocked in with a winning time of 3 minutes, 52.65 seconds at the 2023 New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships as Guilderland finished second. A day later, Torres, Robleno, O’Rourke and Paolino registered a 3:50.50 to again edge Guilderland in the Federation final.
“It is really awesome to win three times in a row,” Paolino said. “It is really good to have the support from your teammates.”
The Spartans will next compete this weekend at the New Balance Nationals in Philadelphia.
“We are hoping to run under 3:50,” Paolino said.
There was another relay team that repeated as state champions as the Saratoga Springs girls’ 3,200 squad made up of Alycia Hart, McKinley Wheeler, Emily Bush and Sheridan Wheeler easily prevailed in a time of 9:05.05.
Individually, the Section II showing proved strong as Taconic Hills junior standout Neil Howard produced Division II title wins in the 110 hurdles, 400 hurdles and pole vault to go along with Federation championships in the 400 hurdles and pole vault. Last spring at Cicero-North Syracuse, Howard brought home…
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