MIDDLETOWN- With exemplary performances including the evincing of two national fastest times, a panoply of sterling medalists and countless personal records, the NYSPHAA track and field championships were unquestionably the zenith of the 2022-2023 high school sports array. 

Over the course of the two days, onlookers bore witness to NY’s best runners, jumpers and throwers. To appreciate what transpired one needs to understand context. 

It’s one thing to be tops in a school or section, but quite another to compete at the state championships against the public high school elite and beyond that for the most talented, the champions from the top contenders from NYSPHSAA, NYC’s Public School Athletic League (PSAL), the Catholic High School Association (CHSAA) and the Independent Schools (AISAA) in the Federation Championships. 

Sullivan County sent nine athletes to states this year and three of them came home with medals. Monticello senior Taina DeJesus finished fourth in the D1 400 Intermediate Hurdles with a PR of 1:03.67 and then came back in the Federation championship to claim sixth with yet another PR of 1:03.62. Her graceful and speedy performances were beyond the pale, her radiant smile at winning two medals will be long emblazoned in the memory of her coaches and family. 

Tri-Valley senior Adam Furman competed in a rainy 3200 Federation Championship on Friday night and finished second among D2 competitors with a PR of 9:11.15. He was seventh overall in the race, thus claiming medals for his D2 and Federation placements. 

Homestead freshman Gabriela Almonte took fifth in the D2 100 with a medal-worthy time of 12.36. To vie at states is a testament to uncanny hard work, persistence, and commitment. To be present on the starting line or prepared to engage in a throwing or jumping event is proof of being a standout among the vast legion of young men and women that participate in HS track and field across the state.  

Track and field involve more athletes than any other sport in the state canon. Yet, for all its remarkable feats, heroics and intensity, it is sadly under-reported in the triage of high school athletic headlines and stories. 

These kids are warriors who are building character and acquiring lessons that will endure long after their sports careers end. In short, they are experiencing the opportunity to become the best version of themselves.

Tri-Valley junior Craig Costa also ran in the 3200 championship. He finished 13th among the D2 contenders, and 30th overall with a time of 9:46.23 in the downpour that arrived just in time for the start of the race. T-V junior Amelia Mickelson was 22nd in the 3000 with a PR of 11:07.10. She finished 35th overall. 

Athletes who come to states learn first-hand what the best of the competition looks like. Those who get to come back the following year know first-hand how hard they must train to move up in that daunting hierarchy if they want to medal. 

That lesson also befell T-V phenom Van Furman in the 3000 steeplechase, an event the young standout was confident about prior to the race. Furman’s style which has served him superbly in cross-country and indoor track as well as in spring track against much less talented competition, has been to hang back and pick off the people in front of him one by one. But in this race that strategy was ineffective. 

Furman’s slow start allowed the speedy runners to widen the gap in front of him from start to finish. Next year, Furman will be on the attack and use his deft skills and speed to inhabit the front of the pack instead of the back. He finished 9th among the D2 contenders and 21st overall with a time of 10:10.76. 

His disappointed countenance notwithstanding, his future in all three running seasons is brighter than bright. 

T-V’s girls qualified for the 4x800 relay championship. Clearly, they were going to be overmatched by the field but their effort as well as their future prospect is noteworthy for track and field state first-timers. Kudos to Em Richardson, Mya Ibarra, Amelia Mickelson and Brynn Poley. 

Their time of 10:38.51 and their 15th place among D2 (29th overall) now becomes a baseline from which to work as they prepare to hopefully vie at states next year at Cicero North High School in June of 2024. 

This was also the final sports event of this writer’s 21-year career as both a wordsmith and photographer. I am truly grateful for my fledging years at The River Reporter and even more so for my treasure trove of stories and photos that made it to the pages of   the Sullivan County Democrat. I am also indebted to the schools and communities, coaches and parents for the opportunity to bring my love and passion for sports to bear on celebrating the outstanding deeds of young men and women across the county and Section IX in the rainbow of sports in all three seasons. 

Sports is indeed the theatre of life, and it is a stage on which young athletes not only perform, but mature and grow. Its value is enormous and life-changing and the cogent stories that have appeared in this paper have emphasized the lifelong relevance of many things athletes experience.